What exactly is Karma?

Question

Sorry about the vague question. I'm a slight believer in karma, however I don't know everything about it. I've researched a lot, but never saw anything about the "backfire" it has. (Don't know if that's the right word to use) For instance: I do nice things for people and bad things happen to me. For a long while I've just let it slide thinking things will be fine, I just want to learn more about it.

Answer 1

Karma is an  idea that is used by lots of people. their idea of it is to mean that if someone does something bad, the 'victim' can count on the bad person eventually getting hit by their bad karma for all the bad things they did.

In Christianity we don't believe in karma because Jesus died on the cross for our 'sins' so we don't have to worry about the 'sins' catching up with us and biting us in the heiney as long as we lead a honorable,  truthful, and faithful life as a Christian.

Answer 2

You ONLY reap what you sow. ("Karma" is just a man-made imagination of 'new age' belief.)

Answer 3

It comes from the teachings of the reincarnation religions like Hinduism an Buddhism. Karma is not a being, or force according to the beliefs. It is simply a law. In each reincarnated life people will have suffering due to the bad karma they have built up in a former life. Bad karma is built up from bad behaviors, not following the right paths of life. People should learn from their bad karma in each life and begin building up good karma (finally getting life right). The goal of life is to finally escape the reincarnation cycle due to its' lack of any mercy (it is not an intelligence). Once someone builds up enough god karma the cycle can be escaped and a person will enter "Nirvana where he or she will join the energies and life forces of the universe, ceasing to exist as an individual entity.

  I cannot believe in it personally because if it were true' humanity should be getting better and better as people should be learning from their bad karma and living better and better. The population of the earth should be going down as surely some would be dispersing into Nirvana and not coming back.

   If I believed in evolution I surely couldn't believe in it because then there could not be any existence beyond the molecular and nothing beyond death. No so-called "higher self " could possibly exist.

Answer 4

Karma is basically all about treating others how you'd expect them to treat you. If you go around doing bad things to people you know, or sending ill wishes, then its gonna come round and bite you on the ***. However, if you do good things for people and generally do good things, then good stuff will happen to you in return.

As for your cases of doing good things which end up bad; the question is, was there an alternative motive behind what you were doing? If so, that could be why it backfired on you?

Answer 5

The laws of karma and reincarnation are man made and wretched.

If you travel to a places in the world where people truly believe, you will find the true nature of it and how it holds people in it's grip.

Thanks to lack of education and with the help of men like Deepak Chopra,

Westerners have a very watered down idea of it.

Take for example a person that has caused much destruction - Hitler, for example, as his name always comes up. Karma and reincarnation teaches that upon his death, the bad karma he accumulated goes on into another life but the recipient has no idea of the weight they are carrying. Hitler's soul could be reincarnated into another person, animal or insect. There are some people that wear mouth and nose coverings to avoid breathing someone in.  (I'm not joking.)

In countries where karma rules the day and homeless children roam the street, other citizens do nothing to help them. Not because they are cruel but because the child has accumulated bad karma and they believe the sooner the child dies he can begin again. I saw a news article a few years back about a heartbroken mother that had lost her 13 year son to an early death. Just after the funeral, an iguana walked into her home. The photo showed her with tears rolling down her face as she held it - because she was convinced it was her son reincarnated.

I stronly suggest the book by Ravi Zacharais called "Jesus Among Other Gods". He was raised in India and has a clear understanding of these things - and he takes strong offense to the tripe dished out by Deepak Chopra.

Answer 6

Karma itself is rooted in the belief that all people are created equally and by the same God or force, and are therefore connected. Because of this,the basis of Karma lies in the ability of humans to act beyond their own self interest to help others- to realize this unity; that's what good deeds are according to the philosophy of Karma. Therefore, to expect things in return for good actions is a breach in the very foundation upon which the philosophy of Karma is built, for to expect something in return for an action means the action itself must have been done only because of one's own self-interest. As the Indian theologian Swami Vivekananda puts it, "The Vedic doctrine of karma is the same as in Judaism and all other religions, that is to say, the purification of the mind through sacrifices and such other external means." What Swami V. means by "purification of the mind" here is that the mind stops being so egocentric and begins to focus on the connection that exists between all people, based on the assumption that all people are created equal. Therefore, Karma is not 'what goes around comes around' like most people take it to be. It's the lessening of ego centrism and "purification of the mind" through good deeds that are based on selfless motives.

Answer 7

Karma is not real.

However Jesus said "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Answer 8

"Karma" is, plainly and simply, the universal law of cause and effect. It extends far beyond the small boundaries of the individual, encompassing the entire cosmos. It is what creates you and sustains you, so you are as much as result of karma as you are a creator of it.

Good and bad things are all mixed up in karma and don't necessarily correspond one-to-one in a way that you could instantly notice it. It's far too complex to be able to single out one event or one thing and compare it to one other thing.

Answer 9

Karma states that anything you put out into the world is returned to you threefold.  Do good things, things three times as good will happen to you.  Do bad things, you get the picture.

Answer 10

Karma is "what goes around comes around". some people believe in it.

Answer 11

"Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others. The results or 'fruits' of actions are called karma-phala. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well." (1)

In other words, do unto others as you would have them do unto you ... because if you don't, you are going to get back what you give out.  The biggest difference with the eastern religions, is that your Karma is passed on to you through successive generations.

Esoteric Christianity embraces this concept to a higher degree than mainstream Christianity.

Answer 12

what goes around , comes around. when someone says something mean to you , just say Karma's a b**** , isnt it?

Answer 13

Karma is the "bank" of good and bad things you do. Although it may appear that you do good things and bad things happen to you... you most likely are not looking at the whole picture. Have you EVER done anything wrong? Been mean to someone, selfish with something, lied, stole, anything? Almost certainly you have. Have you ever had GOOD things happen to you? Ever got a passing grade on a test, got a job you applied for, a person you wanted to date ever ask you out?

It is easy when things seem bad to feel like it is unfair, and undeserved. But like I said, we aren't always looking at the big picture.

Also, "bad" things happening isn't always about karma. Sometimes it is about life lessons. Other times it can be about setting you on a different path.

Everything that has ever happened to you has contributed to who you are, what you have, what people think of you, everything. It may not always seem fair, but it is always neccessary.