Karma?

Here's a definition I found online:

"Karma is a sum of all that an individual has done and is currently doing. The effects of those deeds actively create present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life."


Does Karma, for real, exist?

I don't know. I just had an experience that makes me think maybe it does:
I bought several used Vision cages recently and purchased 6 from one individual. After I bought the cages but before he shipped them out, he suffered a terrible loss, his Dad passed away.

Showing incredible integrity, he proceeded with the deal. He was having real problems getting them shipped Fedex,however, and because he was doing this despite his recent loss I told him to just have UPS pick up the cages, which was way more convenient, and sent an additional several hundred dollars to cover the extra shipping.

The cages arrived today, and he had seriously underrepresented what he was sending. Instead of the 332s I thought I was getting, he sent three 433s, and instead of the 622s I was expecting, I got three of the deeper 632s, all much better and more expensive cages. I was honest about it and emailed him immediately to see if he thought I owed him anything additional and he said no, he thought we had a fair deal.

I had to rearrange the room once again because the 433 arboreals are tall cages, I now have a total of 12 Visions and my acrylic cages I made and the room is just beautiful. I am awaiting the package with the glass and I can then complete the setup. My critters are gonna be so happy!

Karma, because I offered the additional shipping? I don't know.
Sometimes, life is a mystery.

Have y'all had any events in your life that makes you thing there really is Karma, that what comes around, goes around?

ALL the time. I'm a FIRM believer in Karma. Do good things, and good things will happen to you. The one problem is - everyone wants instant karma, and not all karma is instant.

There are several good things that have happend in my life recently, due mostly to something that I have done for someone else. Those involved will know what I mean. I don't feel like I should discuss the particulars, as much of it is private and could also be easily seen as me doing something with the expectation of something to come back. In truth, I did what I did because it was the right the for me to do, and I had zero expectations of anything coming back. That, for me, defines doing something "good". As a result, other people have done some really awesome and unexpected things for me.

Karma works the other way as well. Do something bad, and it will come back to haunt you. "You reap what you sew" is a highly appropriate phrase to remember.

WOW - that was a very vague post! I hope you understand what I'm trying to say.

The Karma theory is a good one. However, it doesn't really mean anything, because bad things happen to good people.

KelliH said:

The Karma theory is a good one. However, it doesn't really mean anything, because bad things happen to good people.

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No doubt, Kelli.

My thoughts on karma are quite complex and would be entirely too hard to explain here. As a general rule (and a good way to live life) it is to know good things are rewarded and bad things are punished in time. The difficulty with my belief is that the good and bad things that occur are usually not directly related to something identifiable. This is just scratching the surface of my thoughts on life...and as I don't want to lose too many people (or start sounding like a nutball), I'll leave it as it is.

Bad things do happen to good people (you have lived the hardest proof of that statement). That doesn't mean to give up on being a good person (not that I think you will).

I don't think I've ever had such a hard time explaining what I'm thinking!! Part of it is because I don't want to belittle your loss in any manner. Because my thoughts on this subject are so complex, and involve many other ideas on life and spirituality in general, it is impossible for me to say more without risking something being taken the wrong way. I could write a book, and many people would still not understand as they are my own personal beliefs and it's not necessary for them to understand or agree.

There is also this to be thinking of Kelli and I mean no disrespect to you or any of yours but it may not be YOUR karmic burden that is primary in your recent and trajic loss. There is an entire world out there that has an integral part in all of our lives in ways so miniscule that we are never even aware of most of them.

There are indeed some REALLY crappy hands dealt out sometimes. The thing is, the game goes on whether you win or lose. It goes on whether you're in it or not. If you're not in it then the good guy side is down one good player and we're already the underdogs.

I've got to hope that there is an ember of your hope left smouldering somewhere deep down inside you and that maybe someday some errant breeze will find it's way down there and fan it into a flame again.

The last thing I'll say on Karma is that the more you think about it the less it works.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that karmic retribution occurred on a grander scale. Just because you do good doesn't mean the outcome will be immediately apparent. Instead, it's more as though if you made a lifetime of doing good, then you would reap the rewards in your next life. That was my understanding of Hinduism anyway.

Xelda said:

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that karmic retribution occurred on a grander scale. Just because you do good doesn't mean the outcome will be immediately apparent. Instead, it's more as though if you made a lifetime of doing good, then you would reap the rewards in your next life. That was my understanding of Hinduism anyway.

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You are correct. Your "balance" is carried with you throughout many lifetimes. You may not have done something in this lifetime that is bad that would spur the karmic backswing, but a previous lifetime you have (or could have).

People tend to think of karma as a quick reaction. An eye for an eye. The balance in one lifetime rarely zeros out...often there are unpaid balances (both positive and negative). My own thoughts are much more in line with Hinduism, though not exactly.

The Karma theory is a good one. However, it doesn't really mean anything, because bad things happen to good people.

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In MHO it's very difficult to tell if a bad thing is indeed bad or it is a good thing in disguise. Only time will tell what will the outcome will be. Sometimes terrible things happen to good people and in the end it's the best thing that could have happened to them. The same goes for those that have a lucky strike without deserving it. I'm a strong believer in destiny and that things are aligned in a certain manner, call it karma if you will. Several things had to happen in my life both disguised as good and bad for me to be able to be typing this. If we do the right things just because in the end those will turn have a positive impact in our lives we might be sadly mistaken. Do what you feel is right regardless of the outcome. That in itself is what matters in the end.

Regards

I believe in karma, but I also believe that we are ALL dealt tragedy at various times in our lives. It's necessary. Ying and yang and all that. Tragedy changes us just as fortune does. It's all part of the process.

I would describe my life as good....although I had lost both of my parents before I was an adult, have buried 2 of my foster children, and suffered a nearly fatal (and permanently debilitating) illness when I was 19 that took months and months and months to recover as much as possible from. Each of those events changed me, but it was by choice that they changed me for the better. We always have options as to what we're going to do when faced with tragedy....I could have used many of those events as an excuse to slide downhill....and I've seen many who do that.

For me, I've come to terms with suffering, with my own mortality, and with the absolute knowledge that the circle will continue to go on.

Like Dan, I acknowledge that tragic, painful things happen to good people, but I don't know if I have enough knowledge of the big picture to call them "bad". I know I'd rather they not have happened, but I also understand somewhere deep down that maybe it kept something even WORSE from happening.

I pray that I leave this earth before my children, my grandchildren, and my husband. I know that I have no control of whether or not that prayer will be answered in the way I want it to be, but I have faith that it will all work out in the end.

Well said - both of you. Sometimes life's tragedies are hammerblows to make us stronger.

Wel said Shanti. In the words of Nietsche: "That that doesn't destroy us will strengthen us".

Regards.

Wilomn said:

The last thing I'll say on Karma is that the more you think about it the less it works.

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I think I interfered with my own Karma then, by starting this thread: the last box containing the glass never arrived. Next time I'll be quieter and more circumspect.
Then again, knowing myself, maybe I am doomed.....

Just found this on a bumper-sticker:

"The popular definition for karma is "action that has consequences." I believe that ALL action leads to karma. When the consequences of your karma lead to circumstances that are out of control, we go spinning into a rage and resort to blame rather than looking at how we spend our lives".

Things that make you go, "hmmmmm".

Golden Gate Geckos said:

Just found this on a bumper-sticker:

"The popular definition for karma is "action that has consequences." I believe that ALL action leads to karma. When the consequences of your karma lead to circumstances that are out of control, we go spinning into a rage and resort to blame rather than looking at how we spend our lives".

Things that make you go, "hmmmmm".

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That one requires a big bumper. LOL

Or the eyesight of an eagle to read the small letters.

Of course it's real. I know this for sure.

Done enough wrongful things in my youth, and paid prices later on for it. Took a while to add the two together, but when I became more concience of myself, and the wrong I was doing, and put myself in check, the bad things eventually quit happening.

Works the other way too. When I got involved with wildlife rescue, and started helping people, and animals, that actually needed the help, regardless of the financial bind it puts Me in, it seems that good things actually happen more frequently these days.

This has led me to believe in Karma quite a bit. Now I "try" to follow the adage, "do unto your neihbor, as you would have him do unto you" . Not that I'm all that religeous, just that when I was young, it was more like, "before he does unto you"

Robert's story

While reading this thread and everyone’s ideas on karma and purposes in live I thought I would share one of my own experiences.


When I was about 25 weeks along in my first pregnancy I woke up one night in pain. I realized very quickly that the pains were 5 min apart and that I was in labor. Once I got to the hospital the Doctor said they could not stop the labor and I would have my son that night. They took my husband and mother out of the room to let them know they had to help me proceed but that the baby was to early and wouldn’t be born alive or if he was would probably not make it more then a few minutes. The whole of labor took about 10 minutes after arriving at the hospital and my son Robert was born.

Due to a major storm they could not get the med evac helicopter for him so a special ambulance was sent to pick him up from a hospital over an hour away. My son survived 4 and half hours with minimal help until the ambulance got there and he was taken to a hospital with a nicu (ICU for babies).

The Doctor who took care of him did not leave the hospital for the first 3 days after he arrived and was very honest in the fact that he had little hope for survival but as time passed and Robert became stronger the Doctor finally told me that we had passed the rough time and now it was only a matter of getting him off the ventilator and getting his weight up. This was the first night I decided not to sit with him at the hospital but take a night to get some sleep, which would be the first time I had done so in the two months sense his birth.

That night I got the call, that my son had passed away.


The Doctor who had taken care of my son had been a nicu Doc for well over 20 years and was just as devastated by the loss of my son as any family member. He left nicu a short time later to go into research stating “any child who fights so hard for life should have all the help he can get”. Years passed before I would realize how anything good could or would ever come from this horrible tragedy but it did.

Many years later I became pregnant again and because of my past history I was considered a high-risk pregnancy. One of my first Doctor visits I was informed of a new medication that would help a baby while it was still in the womb. I took home the pamphlets on the medication to decide if I would be willing to take it or not.

Inside the pamphlet I found the Doctor who had taken care of Robert was one of the leading researchers. It hit me right then that then that my son’s death had helped ensure this drug would be found and put into use and save countless premature babies. This was his contribution to the world and to me.

My second son was born (after the use of this medication and others) healthy and happy. He came home from the hospital three days after birth. I don’t know if this would be called an unusual karma or just a case of something good coming from something horrible but I know that from my son’s death many other babies (including one of my own) will have the chance for life. In his short life he did more good for the world then most people will achieve in a long lifetime.

Sorry the post got so long and thanks for letting my share my story.

I think that Karma is a state of mind as much as anything else. If you want to see the bad in everything you will. If you want to see the good in everything you will. A couple stories

Last year one of my very good friends who was in my wedding decided to quit his job and build spec homes. Months later he invited my wife and I to buy in on a piece of property to build a second spec. In the end he didn't want to work and completely changed. We lost a substantial amount of money when he fled the state and filed for bankruptcy. Meanwhile he tried to send me a virus threatened many other things (tried to blackmail etc...) Then due to her job reorganizing and a lot of political bs my wife lost her job in June (this was a big blow because she was an administrator and we had medical insurance through her). A week to the day after that I had a young girl turn in front of me causing a head on accident for me in which I broke my femur. While they were putting a steel rod in my leg the doctor splintered the bone so now instead of one break to heal I had to wait for 3 sections to create bone and join the three broken areas together. I still am not able to completely walk right and will probably not be able to for many more months. At this point we can hate God and everyone on this planet but looking at the benefits my wife was able to take care of me when I got out of the hospital, I had to quit smoking ( the doctor couldn't guarantee my leg healing if I did not) and I know that so called friend will get his in the end. I also know my wife will get a much better job that won't stress her like her old one did and in a way I think God had been telling her to quit for a long time and when she didn't he gave her a nudge.

Another story a year ago we were at a grocery store and when we were leaving my wife made the comment that there had been a young couple with a child at the check out next to us. The guy asked his wife if they had enough money for a movie rental. She I guess kind of rolled her eyes at him and said no he knew that. He just said oh end of story. When my told me this I told her to give them this five we had left over change. She went and caught them walking out of the store and gave it to them. They were gracious and it made us feel warm and fuzzy. A couple weeks later we decided to go to the movie and with funds being tight had to decide if we wanted to go out to eat before hand or have popcorn and pop at the movie. We decided to have Chinese. When we went to the movie a lady approached us and said she had two movie passes that were due that night and they used up all the ones they could use. We ended up with two free movie passes and were able to get popcorn. If that doesn't seem like Karma then I don't know what does and remember this happened only a couple weeks if not a week apart (can't remember for sure). I think you could go to the movies every day for a year and never have someone give you free passes.

Last story was when I got ripped off by Sal with my first online purchase I almost just gave up with reptiles and online purchasing. My sister in law worked with a doctor that was raising hogg island, gila monsters and some other things and would let us go to his house to see them. When we went and looked at his collection (which was very nice) he had some thayeri/ruthveni kingsnakes. I made the comment I had always liked kingsnakes. He told me to take them because he hadn't been able to get them to breed and was bored with them as a project. If it weren't for him and the 1.3 kings I probably would have just quit with reptiles. Needless to say I tried to breed them as well and in the end gave them away for free to another gentleman ( I checked with the Dr. first so he wouldn't be offended).
So I guess I believe things happen for a reason and many times we don't see it right away. I to a degree believe in Karma but also in positive thinking. Bad things happen to good people that is true but sometimes there are reasons they happened that we don't want to acknowledge or don't understand until later.
Mark Westberg

Bad things happen to good people that is true but sometimes there are reasons they happened that we don't want to acknowledge or don't understand until later.

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Great post Mark. And those seemingly bad things at that time are probably protecting us from even worse things that could’ve happened. The way we react to those things sometimes will condition the outcome. If we surround ourselves with negative people and we defend them blindly because they are our friends we will see their actions under a different light. We may even start to justify them and become aggressive against other people who view them for what they are. Things will then start going one way for us, the way we chose them to go. One thing I’m certain though there’s nothing such as good or bad outcomes, they are simply that, outcomes.

Regards.