Karma

[CylindricalParadox]

I want to describe my interpretation of the mechanics of the Karma system. I believe Karma is definitely similar to an ironic event, it sums up to, do unto others what would be done unto you or as TOOL would say "Do unto others what has been done to you." There's two experiences in reality, birth and death, there's also a belief that reincarnation is real but whether you believe in it or not its really not relevant for consciousness.

The persona is the character or role you play in life, your personality or how you act towards others, It's pretty much an act. The persona is illusory to consciousness and makes the mistake of thinking it is actually the persona. I'ts not the ego its just a trickery of the mind, in other words you play different roles through your experience of birth and re-birth. Consciousness is doing this forever, a very repetitious nature, and is quite possible that you may have experience every single persona that ever existed through the eras of time.

You are born into the world and what you do to it will have an impact on you and no one else. Bad Karma is simply, I hurt you, and If you hurt others or harm the world (leaving it in a worst shape than you found it). Eventually you will end up playing the role of the person that you hurt and experience a world that you destroyed. You can relate to this, how many times has someone else made you cry? Good Karma can lead to more good karma. You're born into a world that takes time to understand and you have the power to make someone else's life better and when you die, you did all you could to make the world better for future generations. That's my view of a Karmic system, take from the world put back into it and improve it for your future self.

[h_k_s]

I want to describe my interpretation of the mechanics of the Karma system. I believe Karma is definitely similar to an ironic event, it sums up to, do unto others what would be done unto you or as TOOL would say "Do unto others what has been done to you." There's two experiences in reality, birth and death, there's also a belief that reincarnation is real but whether you believe in it or not its really not relevant for consciousness.

The persona is the character or role you play in life, your personality or how you act towards others, It's pretty much an act. The persona is illusory to consciousness and makes the mistake of thinking it is actually the persona. I'ts not the ego its just a trickery of the mind, in other words you play different roles through your experience of birth and re-birth. Consciousness is doing this forever, a very repetitious nature, and is quite possible that you may have experience every single persona that ever existed through the eras of time.

You are born into the world and what you do to it will have an impact on you and no one else. Bad Karma is simply, I hurt you, and If you hurt others or harm the world (leaving it in a worst shape than you found it). Eventually you will end up playing the role of the person that you hurt and experience a world that you destroyed. You can relate to this, how many times has someone else made you cry? Good Karma can lead to more good karma. You're born into a world that takes time to understand and you have the power to make someone else's life better and when you die, you did all you could to make the world better for future generations. That's my view of a Karmic system, take from the world put back into it and improve it for your future self.

Youre talking about a religion topic. Not philosophy.

[CylindricalParadox]

I want to describe my interpretation of the mechanics of the Karma system. I believe Karma is definitely similar to an ironic event, it sums up to, do unto others what would be done unto you or as TOOL would say "Do unto others what has been done to you." There's two experiences in reality, birth and death, there's also a belief that reincarnation is real but whether you believe in it or not its really not relevant for consciousness.

The persona is the character or role you play in life, your personality or how you act towards others, It's pretty much an act. The persona is illusory to consciousness and makes the mistake of thinking it is actually the persona. I'ts not the ego its just a trickery of the mind, in other words you play different roles through your experience of birth and re-birth. Consciousness is doing this forever, a very repetitious nature, and is quite possible that you may have experience every single persona that ever existed through the eras of time.

You are born into the world and what you do to it will have an impact on you and no one else. Bad Karma is simply, I hurt you, and If you hurt others or harm the world (leaving it in a worst shape than you found it). Eventually you will end up playing the role of the person that you hurt and experience a world that you destroyed. You can relate to this, how many times has someone else made you cry? Good Karma can lead to more good karma. You're born into a world that takes time to understand and you have the power to make someone else's life better and when you die, you did all you could to make the world better for future generations. That's my view of a Karmic system, take from the world put back into it and improve it for your future self.

Youre talking about a religion topic. Not philosophy.

I wouldn't consider Karma, death and re-birth a religion because i'm not talking about a god to worship.

[CylindricalParadox]

I want to describe my interpretation of the mechanics of the Karma system. I believe Karma is definitely similar to an ironic event, it sums up to, do unto others what would be done unto you or as TOOL would say "Do unto others what has been done to you." There's two experiences in reality, birth and death, there's also a belief that reincarnation is real but whether you believe in it or not its really not relevant for consciousness.

The persona is the character or role you play in life, your personality or how you act towards others, It's pretty much an act. The persona is illusory to consciousness and makes the mistake of thinking it is actually the persona. I'ts not the ego its just a trickery of the mind, in other words you play different roles through your experience of birth and re-birth. Consciousness is doing this forever, a very repetitious nature, and is quite possible that you may have experience every single persona that ever existed through the eras of time.

You are born into the world and what you do to it will have an impact on you and no one else. Bad Karma is simply, I hurt you, and If you hurt others or harm the world (leaving it in a worst shape than you found it). Eventually you will end up playing the role of the person that you hurt and experience a world that you destroyed. You can relate to this, how many times has someone else made you cry? Good Karma can lead to more good karma. You're born into a world that takes time to understand and you have the power to make someone else's life better and when you die, you did all you could to make the world better for future generations. That's my view of a Karmic system, take from the world put back into it and improve it for your future self.

Youre talking about a religion topic. Not philosophy.

I don't consider Buddhist Philosophy a religion. These ideas came from a man called Buddha, he was an enlightened man and not a God, he also did not preach this as a religion. The basic structure of Karma is that consciousness is stuck in the wheel of Samsara (re-incarnation) and the only way to stop this is by reaching an enlightened state of consciousness. What you are basically saying is that you think Karma is a religious idea and since its religious is not worth talking about it in philosophy.

[Marvin_Edwards]

I want to describe my interpretation of the mechanics of the Karma system. I believe Karma is definitely similar to an ironic event, it sums up to, do unto others what would be done unto you or as TOOL would say "Do unto others what has been done to you." There's two experiences in reality, birth and death, there's also a belief that reincarnation is real but whether you believe in it or not its really not relevant for consciousness.

The persona is the character or role you play in life, your personality or how you act towards others, It's pretty much an act. The persona is illusory to consciousness and makes the mistake of thinking it is actually the persona. I'ts not the ego its just a trickery of the mind, in other words you play different roles through your experience of birth and re-birth. Consciousness is doing this forever, a very repetitious nature, and is quite possible that you may have experience every single persona that ever existed through the eras of time.

You are born into the world and what you do to it will have an impact on you and no one else. Bad Karma is simply, I hurt you, and If you hurt others or harm the world (leaving it in a worst shape than you found it). Eventually you will end up playing the role of the person that you hurt and experience a world that you destroyed. You can relate to this, how many times has someone else made you cry? Good Karma can lead to more good karma. You're born into a world that takes time to understand and you have the power to make someone else's life better and when you die, you did all you could to make the world better for future generations. That's my view of a Karmic system, take from the world put back into it and improve it for your future self.

Reincarnation has a technical problem. No one remembers their prior life. So no one can bring lessons learned in a prior life into their next life, nor could they understand why their current bad experiences were justified.

[Papus79]

The more I've looked at it the idea that it's any sort of moral accounting system, if it's even a real thing, doesn't seem to reflect in the world we live in. At the most I could see there being equilibrium reactions in nature pulling on us if we stray outside of a certain zone where the rest of the local universe is at but that's just non-conformity or being an outlier in some way or another and it doesn't have much if anything to do with people squaring accounts with each other.

Reincarnation has a technical problem. No one remembers their prior life. So no one can bring lessons learned in a prior life into their next life, nor could they understand why their current bad experiences were justified.

I'd really leave reincarnation and karma as two separate things. There's no reason to believe that karma is required for reincarnation and similarly if conscious agents get recycled and if it's an organic process it would be indifferent to whether we're looking to incorporate it into some form of religious or moral system. Looking at some of the University of Virginia and IANDS people it seems like they'd go in the later direction when following up on Ian Stevenson's work, ie. that what evidence there is for it tends in the 'it just is on its own' direction rather than edifying the religious creeds that showcase it.

[h_k_s]

Youre talking about a religion topic. Not philosophy.

I wouldn't consider Karma, death and re-birth a religion because i'm not talking about a god to worship.

Karma, death, and rebirth are definitely religious topics.

God on the other hand is a topic of philosophy. Check out Aristotle on The Prime Mover, Descartes on The Greatest Good, and Aquinas on The First Cause, etc.

[h_k_s]

Youre talking about a religion topic. Not philosophy.

I don't consider Buddhist Philosophy a religion. These ideas came from a man called Buddha, he was an enlightened man and not a God, he also did not preach this as a religion. The basic structure of Karma is that consciousness is stuck in the wheel of Samsara (re-incarnation) and the only way to stop this is by reaching an enlightened state of consciousness. What you are basically saying is that you think Karma is a religious idea and since its religious is not worth talking about it in philosophy.

There are statues of a mythical Buddha all over South and East Asia. He has definitely been deified.

[Gee]

Reincarnation has a technical problem. No one remembers their prior life. So no one can bring lessons learned in a prior life into their next life, nor could they understand why their current bad experiences were justified.

I agree with Papus79. Reincarnation and karma are two separate things/ideas. I am not sure about this interpretation of karma, so I can't really support it. But I am very sure about reincarnation -- it happens.

I read some of Ian Stevenson's work, but after he died most of his ideas were corrupted like in Wiki, which changed almost completely. It becomes more and more difficult to find credible references to his work on reincarnation.

As to your issue with the "technical problem", consider that the rational mind does not necessarily transfer, or at least it rarely transfers whole. Sometimes it does, but more often feelings, impressions, emotions, and attitudes transfer -- aspects of mind that are related to the unconscious. A person may remember their spouse and children because of emotional attachments, but it is unlikely they will remember what they paid in taxes last year.

Gee

[Gee]

I wouldn't consider Karma, death and re-birth a religion because i'm not talking about a god to worship.

Karma, death, and rebirth are definitely religious topics.

So is eating, bathing, families, laws, sex, dressing, working, teaching, etc., etc. What is your point?

Gee

[Pattern-chaser]

Youre talking about a religion topic. Not philosophy.

The reason I came here, and the reason why I am staying, is that all kinds of discussions are tolerated, perhaps even encouraged. Religion is a rich source of ideas, and often well worth considering, and discussing. IME.

[Pattern-chaser]

There are statues of a mythical Buddha all over South and East Asia.

Buddha was a man called Siddhārtha Gautama, who lived around 400 BCE.

Something or someone that is mythical exists only in myths and is therefore imaginary.

...

If you describe something as mythical, you mean that it is untrue or does not exist.

So, although it cannot be proven beyond doubt that Buddha lived and died a real man, in the real world, it seems quite likely that he did. So he wasn't "mythical".

He has definitely been deified.

Only by the ignorant. Buddhism is crystal clear that Buddha is not God, but only (?) an enlightened man.

[Gee]

Youre talking about a religion topic. Not philosophy.

The reason I came here, and the reason why I am staying, is that all kinds of discussions are tolerated, perhaps even encouraged. Religion is a rich source of ideas, and often well worth considering, and discussing. IME.

I agree and had a similar problem. I was enjoying a science forum, but too often saw evidence of prejudice against religion in the opinions presented. For example, I wrote a thread called Dinosaurs, Deuteronomy, and Ebola a few years back when the Ebola crisis hit. I wanted to learn more about pandemics, but because I was dumb enough to include a reference to the Bible in the title, members assumed that it was a religious thread and could not keep their minds on the topic. I learned almost nothing. Now I find that Bill Gates had similar thoughts about pandemics five years ago.

I might even start some threads here that I could not post elsewhere.

I don't think it is the topic that defines a discussion as science, philosophy, or religion -- it is the methodology that is used to study that topic. Karma is a religious idea, but it is also an explanation of balance in consciousness, and we know that balance is a truth in all of reality.

Gee

[thrasymachus]

Surprising really, that all of this very interesting discussion fails to get at the meaning of karma.

Karma is a yoga, that is, it "yokes" one to a beyond where things are resolved morally and epistimologically; you know, like realizing the atman is the Brahman. Not much to actually SAY about this metaphysical beyond, and this is not the point. But our purpose on earth is to work through matters that confront us, and these are, at a deeper level, about an evolving soul. All yogas, dhyana, jnana, bahkti, (hatha?)are simply utilities; our living and breathing in a world of problems requires us to think practically, morally, and thought here is a yoga, a utility that lets one solve problems the working through of which is our karma, and this is called karma yoga. Meditation, say, is not qualitatively different in its purpose. It is simply more direct and effective. Bhakti yoga is closer to karma yoga as the latter tends to encompass the former.

As to reincarnation and yoga, well, once the karmic end is achieved, the need for reincarnation falls away. Reincarnation is the working our of impediments to enlightenment, samsara: the cycle of rebirth.

Not that you should believe all of this, as I do. Your business, though convincing others does make for interesting philosophy. But this is essentially what the word is about.

[h_k_s]

There are statues of a mythical Buddha all over South and East Asia.

Buddha was a man called Siddhārtha Gautama, who lived around 400 BCE.

Something or someone that is mythical exists only in myths and is therefore imaginary.

...

If you describe something as mythical, you mean that it is untrue or does not exist.

So, although it cannot be proven beyond doubt that Buddha lived and died a real man, in the real world, it seems quite likely that he did. So he wasn't "mythical".

He has definitely been deified.

Only by the ignorant. Buddhism is crystal clear that Buddha is not God, but only (?) an enlightened man.

Tell me something I don't know.

(I loved that line from MSNBC Hardball.)