Karma?

Totally inspired by talking to Flara. <3

I think I saw something like this back at OKP but I have no clue if anyone ever resurrected it here.

Okay, so many of you may believe in "karma," "fate," all that jazz.

I, for one, don't believe in either. Eh, "don't believe" is not the right term. More like "they don't affect me if they exist".

I've done both good and bad things before... REALLY good things, and REALLY bad things... and I've yet to suffer a major repercussion or receive a major blessing for these things. Karma's never come around to bite me in my shifty-energy behind.

As for fate, being a random blob of energy stuff inside a human body, I hardly think I have an ordered "path" to anything.

So, what is your take on either, both, neither, or sunday morning waffles?

I don't believe in karma, because anybody that's lived at least ten years can observe that a lot of people don't get what's coming to them, one way or the other.

I refuse to believe in fate, because to believe that everything's fated would make all actions pointless.

I believe in karma in the loose sense. I believe that, eventually, you will be rewarded in some way for "good deeds" and will reap the repercussions for negative actions...on a cosmic scale. I don't think karma will bite you in the butt for say, squishing an ant, but if you say...burned a particularly important angelic/demon/whatever at the stake, that might be different.

As for fate, I believe in free will which kind of stands as a counterpart for fate in my book. Fate implies set in stone in a way. I believe what is meant to be will be, but that what is meant to be changes. So I guess in a way I believe in fluid fate. That it changes based on one's actions, decisions, etc.

As I told you in that last message I don't believe in it either. I believe in balance, but I believe it's not always maintained person to person. And as I've said before, I dont believe in Karma so I do whatever I want to people who piss me off <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s -->

As for fate, I believe there are a few things our souls have decided HAVE to happen, but other than that there is no clear cut lines of fate. . There'd be no point in life.

I think the only rewards you get for your good deeds are personal rewards, from feeling good about it to (IMO) moving along in your incarnations well. I believe if you do bad things, you don't advance very quickly...not because some superpower decides this...but simply because your soul hasnt matured enough yet. The problem is not so much about doing bad, its more about not being the type of person that chooses to do good. Thats as far as I believe in karma. And fate? not really.

As for the moving along in incarnations well, I'm about 99% positive I chose this craptastic lifetime is because its so SIMILAR to stuff going on soulwise. In fact the memories from "home"(Note, I have no distinctive home, so that means just in my energy form) bombard me consistently along with memories of my childhood here. There's a lot of things I have to deal with on my own here before I can even hope to accomplish the things I want to.

I personally believe we choose the bodies we go into due to a need to learn more/etc. Unless of course you were sent here as punishment (which I know a few people who have... heh heh heh -insert evil grin)

I don't believe in karma, but I do believe in connections. Everything a person does affects the world around them in some way. If I want to live in a better world, then I should try to make those effects good ones. Everything is alive. Everything is related. Everything is part of everything else.

Doesn't mean that I don't squish bugs, but it does mean I won't intentionally torture them for no reason.

As for spiritual development, that involves paying attention and following the path in front of you, whichever path that may be.

I object entirely to how Karma has been changed into something it is not in the western world and will stomp my foot here for emphasis. *stomps*

Seraphyna Wrote:I believe in karma in the loose sense. I believe that, eventually, you will be rewarded in some way for "good deeds" and will reap the repercussions for negative actions...on a cosmic scale. I don't think karma will bite you in the butt for say, squishing an ant, but if you say...burned a particularly important angelic/demon/whatever at the stake, that might be different.

*nods* This is also how I view karma. If you're a decent person throughout your life, you will be rewarded either in a pleasant afterlife or by coming back to a better life than you had before, really that depends on how you view what happens after you die. Similarly, if you're a bad person you will eventually be punished in some way. Is karma something that effects how/why I do things? No, it's just something that I figured was there to help keep balance. *shrug*

As far as fate, yes I believe in it but not in the you-don't-control-your-own-choices sort of way. Was I fated to work that summer job, meet my mate and fall in love, eventually getting married to him? Absolutely. Was it fate that fired me from one job after only two weeks, led me to a job fair which got me a bank teller job and then months later a job at the state capitol? Absolutely. Was it fate that made me type this post? Hell no. Was it fate that made me buy a betta fish for my office? No. Fate, at least as I understand it, contributes to major events in your life. Do we have the power to make our own choices throughout our life for better or worse? Yes, of course we do. But is there something that drives us to choose one thing over the other for whatever the reason? That 'something' in my mind is part of fate.

simim23 Wrote:So, what is your take on either, both, neither, or sunday morning waffles?

On that last subject, my husband makes the best waffles! Homemade batter with chocolate chips for me please! Yummy!

I believe very strongly in karma and I believe it is very difficult to explain. Its not the boogeyman, its not a threat; its wit and purpose are sharper than mine. It is not retribution, entitlement or the hand of a cosmic scale: It is not something that works for you to make sure you get what you deserve. It is more like the belief that no deed, good or bad, is forgotten. It is the butterfly effect, the pay-it-forward, the tendrils that connect one man to another.