Do You Believe In "Karma"?

[LoneKiller]

I'm really not sure myself. Maybe on some issues it has proven true, but I can't say with any certainty, which is why I thought that I'd bring it up. Do you believe in "Karma"?

 

[Sci-Fi]

To an extent I guess. Like if someone is a bad person, I believe they will get theirs in the end somehow, someway.

 

[The Good Citizen]

Maybe you just reap what you sow rather than it being Karma. As in if someone continually shits on people it will in some indircet way comeback to bite them in the future as a direct result of their actions but not in a way that is obvious.

 

[passage]

No becuase karma doesn't explain why babies die.

 

[Sci-Fi]

...uh...what?

 

[passage]

Karma (the western interpretation: what goes around comes around). Why would babies die, if they haven't done anything wrong?

 

[sunshinemisa]

Absolutely! I can recall two different situations where both parties were doing something wrong, some of us that raised concerns eventually either got fired, laid off or demoted. I never got to see the end result but, I heard about it later .

 

[joejoeyjoseph]

I believe Karma is just a word -but- there is a certain power in our minds that controls what we do and in turn what happens to us.

For example, if I'm only doing positive things, positivity will be at the frontmost part of my mind and I will certainly notice positive things above all other things I can experience. On the other hand, if all I'm doing is being and acting negative, I will certainly notice negativity before anything else I can experience.

Since personal experiences are the only reality I can truly comprehend, I believe in the cyclical nature of Karma, where good actions perpetuate good experiences to myself and to society.

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

Yes, I do. I've seen it happen right in front of me.

 

[Frito Bandito]

Yes, I believe in some version of karma. Whether it's mechanism is divine or instead dependent wholly on physics, I am not sure. My observations of the world around me have brought to light, over the years, one fact: patterns repeat in nature. Look at the swirling the swirling bathtub drain, the swirling eddie in a river, the swirling hurricane, the swirling galaxy, the swirling cosmos, etc. Look at orbits, the way the planets revolve around the sun, the way that electrons revolve around the nucleus of an atom. We know that in the physical world "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". Since patterns repeat, I would not be surprised if this also applies in other more sophisticated (or larger) ways. I too, anecdotally, have seen what I believe to be multiple instances of karma occurring right in front of me.

 

[passage]

Yes, I believe in some version of karma. Whether it's mechanism is divine or instead dependent wholly on physics, I am not sure. My observations of the world around me have brought to light, over the years, one fact: patterns repeat in nature. Look at the swirling the swirling bathtub drain, the swirling eddie in a river, the swirling hurricane, the swirling galaxy, the swirling cosmos, etc. Look at orbits, the way the planets revolve around the sun, the way that electrons revolve around the nucleus of an atom. We know that in the physical world "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". Since patterns repeat, I would not be surprised if this also applies in other more sophisticated (or larger) ways. I too, anecdotally, have seen what I believe to be multiple instances of karma occurring right in front of me.

Do you not understand how you did not make a logical argument?

 

[Frito Bandito]

Yes, I believe in some version of karma. Whether it's mechanism is divine or instead dependent wholly on physics, I am not sure. My observations of the world around me have brought to light, over the years, one fact: patterns repeat in nature. Look at the swirling the swirling bathtub drain, the swirling eddie in a river, the swirling hurricane, the swirling galaxy, the swirling cosmos, etc. Look at orbits, the way the planets revolve around the sun, the way that electrons revolve around the nucleus of an atom. We know that in the physical world "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". Since patterns repeat, I would not be surprised if this also applies in other more sophisticated (or larger) ways. I too, anecdotally, have seen what I believe to be multiple instances of karma occurring right in front of me.

Do you not understand how you did not make a logical argument?

I wasn't attempting to make a logical argument. I was stating my opinion and personal belief.

Hence the usage of the words:

- I "believe" (as opposed to "I know" or "It is so")
- "My observations" (as opposed to "fact is")
- "anecdotally" (as opposed to "proven")
- and another instance, for dramatic effect near the end of "I believe")

Are you suggesting that I need to back up my beliefs with logical arguments or not have them at all?

1. Patterns repeat in nature.
2. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
3. If "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" in the physical world, maybe it is a PATTERN THAT REPEATS in the spiritual world. Therefore Karma may be a force similar to physics.

Is that better?

 

[joejoeyjoseph]

Yes, I believe in some version of karma. Whether it's mechanism is divine or instead dependent wholly on physics, I am not sure. My observations of the world around me have brought to light, over the years, one fact: patterns repeat in nature. Look at the swirling the swirling bathtub drain, the swirling eddie in a river, the swirling hurricane, the swirling galaxy, the swirling cosmos, etc. Look at orbits, the way the planets revolve around the sun, the way that electrons revolve around the nucleus of an atom. We know that in the physical world "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". Since patterns repeat, I would not be surprised if this also applies in other more sophisticated (or larger) ways. I too, anecdotally, have seen what I believe to be multiple instances of karma occurring right in front of me.

Do you not understand how you did not make a logical argument?

I think the last sentence was the only part that literally didn't make sense, because of the adverb anecdotally contradicting with the whole belief statement he made there. Other than that though, it's his viewpoint so you can't successfully argue with someone about what they believe... well, unless you're related to George Carlin or something.

 

[flaneur]

I'm assuming we're discussing the literal/spiritual use of the term, because the metaphorical one doesn't require any discussion.

I absolutely do not. This is one of those beliefs that seemed appealing when people subscribed to a black-and-white view of ethics, i.e., "good people" are those who do "good" things and "bad people" are those who do "bad" things. The reality is, much of our decisions are controlled by external circumstances. For example, a destitute thief may not have been a thief if he had not been born into poverty. Is he "bad" because he's doing what most people would have been forced to do under identical circumstances? How, then, can he be held accountable? Every action we do can be traced back to an endless chain of former influences. It's called determinism. Furthermore, morality is not objective. What one society perceives as moral can be immoral in another time or place. Would I receive bad karma for restricting my hypothetical wife to the home, while a man in Afghanistan receives positive energy for doing the same thing due to its accordance with his people's standards? Or is karma going to be showing favoritism? The only way karma, like any spiritual term, has any validity is when it's used metaphorically.

Also, I don't understand how anyone can claim they've seen evidence of karma. Whenever you do something, you have two possible outcomes: positive or negative. With a 50% probability, of course you're going to see instances where people do something bad/good and experience the same result in return. If that were evidence, I'd be able to point out one of the countless scenarios where someone did something immoral and was rewarded, and then be able to say that that's evidence karma doesn't exist.

 

[Rue]

Sure as hell used to. Well, not quite actual Karma, but I always felt like things balanced themselves out, over time. It made sense; when something bad happened, there'd always be something good that happened that made up for it, whether it came a few hours later, or a few days later. At some point, I wondered if I was just taking completely disconnected coincidences and occurrences and plugging them into the pattern I wanted to see. Like, my proof that the world balances itself out was basically indistinguishable from proof that stuff just happens to people, except then I thought about all the ways in which different people's lives were fundamentally unbalanced... I'm sure there are ways that you could reason through that, but at that point, the idea just kinda broke for me, and after a while I just stopped trying to support it.

 

[Frito Bandito]

For all the genius displayed thus far in this thread, it's funny what has been missed.

The title.

"Do you believe in karma?"

...not...

"Do you want to debate your belief in karma in a logical argument format?"

 

[Ghost Boy]

To some extent yes. I believe if you continually do bad things, it will eventually bite you on the ass. With the polar opposite, you could reap the rewards later on. But like someone said, bad things do happen to good people and good things do happen to people who are undeserving.

 

[Limlim]

Of course most people are probably using the term incorrectly. Karma was supposed to be a force that affects your community rather than the individual. I guess it became simpler in the western world to make it a flat out "good things happen to good people" rule.

 

[okidoke]

I don't know if I do or don't. It seems a little random to me, and unfair at times if it does exist. Having said all that, I just found out today that someone has terminal bowel cancer. This someone is a neighbour's son. He's in his early 30's. He's been mixed up with drugs for some time, causing the whole neighbourhood grief with his antics, brought on gangsters to shoot a hole thru his parent's house. I had helped him out majorly several times with things, purely because his parents are really nice people, but inevitably he ended up in prison a few months ago. His mother visits him often and said he was getting on his feet again, clear of drugs, and trying to get his life together in his mind with courses and what have you in prison, but the news just came to her that he was terminal. I can't say I feel sorry to hear that. I feel bad for his parents as they struggled so hard for him, the unappreciative, narcissistic, lying, cheating, scum that his is. Chance after chance he threw it aside to continue with his selfish acts. I was so worried for a while that his parents would die and he'd inherit the house, which would fall into disrepair and turn the cul-de-sac into a repository for ferals. He has a young son that he's already stained with poor parenting, so I hope that kid can recover. I don't want him to suffer, although he probably will to some degree, but I'm not upset about his situation. Maybe Karma has dished out this repayment to him, maybe not. I think we just like to see people getting their comeuppance.

 

[4No1]

No, I don't.
Bad things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people, otherwords bad things happen and they don't care who you are.