What KARMA means to you???

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Mar 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Ramses	11 Mar 2003
Hey folks ... How are you?...I hope you´re all fine!!! Well...it seems that, as we could see in the Inquisition thread, not everybody agrees on the same definition of KARMA... As Kiama well suggested, I´m starting now a thread about it... I would like to start with an extract from the book "Science of the Spirits", second part, chapter 2, by Eliphas Levi : "The infinite, making use of its force over the finite, must, necessarily, punish to correct and not to avenge. The forces of sin do not excede those of the sinner, and if the punishment is greater than the offense, the punisher, made into a cruel executioner, would be the true criminal, totally unapologizeable, and he, himself, would only be worthy an ethernal suffering. (...)" well, I do not agree with "must punish to correct...", nor with "an ethernal suffering"...but I agree with what Levi said (at least most of this extract)... I could write a whole book to imply explain my personnal view of Karma, and yet, it would be imcomplete...to me, for someone to understand the idea of karma, this person would have to have a great knowledge of spiritism, budhism, and a lot more ....but, eventhough, this person wouldn´t be able to say, for sure, that he/she knows what karma is all about... We did not make the world and the Universe...we don´t know all about anything...and as Socrates used to say : "All I know is that I know nothing" But going back to the subject...we cannot simply reduce the concept of karma to the formula "I make a mistake, I gotta pay for it"...there´s a lot more involved... To me, karma is the principle of reincarnation (samsara)...and it means that karma is not there as a punishment tool...it exists as the mecanism of the Universe to make us grow...karma means learning, evolution...and if there´s no other way for us to grow other than some pain, so let´s have it ... If the Universe thinks that we , under some circumstances, may learn to be good (after doing something really bad) without having to suffer (from the consequences of our acts), so it will act for so...but, if a person, encarnation after encarnation, still didn´t get it that being evil to others is bad, so maybe this person will only learn after being the victim of his/her own acts... But, how can we know for sure it works this way??? I know that I learned a lot to be more responsible in life after I was fired from my last job....but, it doesn´t mean that it was the only way for me to learn to be more responsible...it was just one of the ways.... So, for me , Karma means only a necessary mechanism that makes us grow, learn...it doesn´t mean, necessarily,learn through pain...but, if pain is the only way for a person to learn, after given all the chances to grow, so pain is what this person gets... But...once again...I´m not the maker of the Universe...none of us are...we can only guess in this world...sometimes we may be right about things...many other times we are not...but, maybe, through a nice discussion, a friendly debate, and after spending a life trying to work, study and learn, we may figure things out TOGETHER.... And, that´s just my opinion....What´s yours????

DarkElectric	11 Mar 2003
I am more familiar with one of the Japanese Buddhist views of the concept of Karma. This is also refered to as the "Law of Cause and Effect", or for every action or inaction, there is an opposite reaction, or inaction to balance, or neutralise it. In a way, it's similar to the "Law of Return" which is espoused by many Pagan traditions, only there isn't a threefold (or more) return. Or, even the old "What goes around, comes around" which is a popular American colloquialism. It's simply this- you reap the benefit of whatever you sow, for good or for ill. As I understand it, it's less about reincarnation, and more about what you do in this lifetime, although one can be reincarnated into fortunate circumstances if they make good causes in this life, and expiate enough negative karma to facilitate this. As one cleans their karma up, they become closer to the condition of Bhodisattva. This is where the soul chooses to either cease repeating the cycle of birth and death, or can continue, as a teacher, to assist other souls in attaining "enlightenment", which is, freedom from the cycle of birth and death. This is how I understand it, anyway. Good thread you got going here!

cheekyminx	12 Mar 2003
http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/freenet/...ths/karma2.html http://www.buddhanet.net/fundbud9.htm

The What KARMA means to you??? thread was originally posted on 11 Mar 2003 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.