Karma

[jimbo12345]

Karma is a mainly bhuddist/taoist theme i think (correct me if i'm wrong).

Does that mean it goes against main stream Christianity? i.e. Christians shouldn't believe in karma.

Why i say that is:

Christianity has large content about repenting and forgiveness. Say, for example, i was to really hurt someone, purposely. Though, i see the errors of my ways, and genuinely repent and make ammends.

But karma has a lot to do with "what goes around, comes around". So, even though i've repented, does this still mean i need to pay for my hurting another, if i was a Christian. And will i get reward for my repent and ammends?

Or is that the full circle? I did bad, though good came back?

What if i didn't repent? I'd go to hell, but that's not full circle.

Just started reading about Taoism (page 2).

So, to sum that all up, can Christians really believe in karma?

[thewizeard]

Can anyone really believe in God and if so, prove that it exists...

There are cases of"Karma", that have been checked, where some young children seem to know exactly about the life of someone who lived earlier; and shouldn't have .

Up until now, no one has proved God's existence. So why pick on Karma?

[j2k4]

Up until now, no one has proved God's existence. So why pick on Karma?

Why not pick on Karma?

[thewizeard]

I think karma is just an excuse for people to hide behind. It allows people that are too scared to do something that has to be done in an unscrupulous or perceived ‘wrong’ way from doing it.

I also believe that karma is only deliberated upon by people that have no or little experience of hardship and suffering, and thus, have the time and effort to dwell on it. Karma is a poor excuse for someone to be a good person. You should be good for the sake of being good and not ‘just in case’ for the sake of karma. An evil person does not change their ways because of karma (except Earl), but because of the realisation of the error of their ways.

You make up your own karma as you do luck.

People also mix up karma with destiny/kismet/fate, which I do believe in, but as something that is completely unrelated to karma because the two are completely contrary.

Anyway, my two cents.

Karma is related to incarnation. karma is not just something created in this life that then goes ahead and affects you positively or negatively. It will be created in this life but will affect one positively or adversely in this and one's next life accumulatively

Karma is the effort in past, present and future lives that can give one great powers or handicaps.

Basically if for example you did not listen carefully to wisdom in this lifetime then according to the "rules"of Karma, in your next life, if you succeed in returning as a human being, then you could be born death or with other hearing related impediments. ( this is a crude example)

[j2k4]

I think karma is just an excuse for people to hide behind. It allows people that are too scared to do something that has to be done in an unscrupulous or perceived ‘wrong’ way from doing it.

I also believe that karma is only deliberated upon by people that have no or little experience of hardship and suffering, and thus, have the time and effort to dwell on it. Karma is a poor excuse for someone to be a good person. You should be good for the sake of being good and not ‘just in case’ for the sake of karma. An evil person does not change their ways because of karma (except Earl), but because of the realisation of the error of their ways.

You make up your own karma as you do luck.

People also mix up karma with destiny/kismet/fate, which I do believe in, but as something that is completely unrelated to karma because the two are completely contrary.

Anyway, my two cents.

Karma is related to incarnation. karma is not just something created in this life that then goes ahead and affects you positively or negatively. It will be created in this life but will affect one positively or adversely in this and one's next life accumulatively

Karma is the effort in past, present and future lives that can give one great powers or handicaps.

Basically if for example you did not listen carefully to wisdom in this lifetime then according to the "rules"of Karma, in your next life, if you succeed in returning as a human being, then you could be born death or with other hearing related impediments. ( this is a crude example)

I certainly don't claim to be an expert, but I find myself wondering how the scientist who uses his discipline to attack religion would view Karma?

[bigboab]

Prepare for a long read. Unless you are not open minded and just dismiss the whole concept as cods wallop.

http://wn.rsarchive.org/Articles/ReKarm_e01.html

A small extract;

How could it ever occur to a scientist to show the evolution of one animal species out of another if the latter, in regard to its physical makeup, were as dissimilar to the former as Newton, in regard to his soul, is to his forebears: One conceives of one animal species having proceeded from a similar one which is merely one degree lower than itself. Therefore, Newton's soul must have sprung from a soul similar to it, but only one degree lower, psychically. Newton's soul nature is comprised in his biography. I recognize Newton by his biography just as I recognize a lion by the description of its species. And I comprehend the species “lion” if I imagine that it has sprung from a species on a correspondingly lower stage. Thus I comprehend what is comprised in Newton's biography if I conceive of it as having developed from the biography of a soul which resembles it, is related to it as soul. From this follows that Newton's soul existed already in another form, just as the species “lion” existed previously in a different form. For clear thought, there is no escape from this conception. Only because the modern believers do not have the courage to think their thoughts through to the end do they not arrive at this final conclusion. Through it, however, the reappearance of the being who is comprised in the biography is secured. — Either we must abandon the whole natural-scientific theory of evolution, or we must admit that it must be extended to include the evolution of the soul. There are only two alternatives: either, every soul is created by a miracle, just as the animal species would have to be created by miracles if they have not developed one out of the other, or, the soul has developed and has previously existed in another form, just as the animal species has existed in another form.

[thewizeard]

The problem being the Soul aspect. First one would have to prove the existence of an "independent" soul, of this, there is no proof.

[bigboab]

If there is no independent soul ,then there is no Karma.

[j2k4]

If there is no independent soul ,then there is no Karma.

I prefer this more succinct version.

[spamj]

Personally I think karma is a manifestation (or possibly a side-effect) of the mind's ability affect your movement through reality.

To explain:

Quantum physics suggests that the fundamental nature of reality exists as a probability wave. Energy and matter (what are different aspects of the same thing) have a specific probability of existing in each of several states. We do not know which state a particle will end up in until we observe it (or more specifically we interact with it directly or indirectly). Though we do not know definitively where an oxygen molecule will be at any given moment, we can say that it has a near certain probablility continuing on whatever path it is already on, and a near impossible probability of jumping 100 meters to the left.

If you believe in free will than you can take this to mean that each of us has some control over how these probability waves will manifest at each point of interaction. Naturally it takes more effort of will to make improbable things happen that it does to make probable things happen. Again, in terms of quantum physics you could say that at every point a choice is made (every time you interact with the world and a probability becomes a reality) two or more new universes are created and free will is a matter of deciding which one to take.

I believe karma is not a direct relationship between cause and effect. Karma is the act of realizing that every decision you make is a way of controlling your travel through existence. By making the good choices (what is good is entirely subjective) you can, to some extent, guide yourself to good results.