Karma: What is it?

[watershield]

In a number of places the word karma keeps popping up.
Do we understand what it is when we use the term, or do you feel that the word itself has grown to encompass a larger meaning. And if so, what does it mean to you?

If you Google the word Karma, you can find a number of good links. Here's an example of one very short link.


In Buddhist teaching, the law of karma, says only this: `for every event that occurs, there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful.' A skillful event is one that is not accompanied by craving, resistance or delusions; an unskillful event is one that is accompanied by any one of those things. (Events are not skillful in themselves, but are so called only in virtue of the mental events that occur with them.)

[arsenic]

Hmm...
I feel that these days, the meaning of Karma has changed a lot, or perhaps it is that people believe it is one thing while another believes something else. But I do agree that this word, 'Karma', is appearing a lot in many parts of the world.

I agree that for everything you do, there is a consequence that goes with it, whether it be positive or negative. That is a law of cause and effect... and for me, that is kind of what it is, only for me it doesn't effect the current life, Karma effects the life that proceeds it from a preceeding life. But this is still a cause and effect idea.

[vermindaspirit]

I have to agree, for me Karma is Cause and Effect...What i say or do will have a reaction and a consequence and depending on that action to what the effect will be...

I personally like to think that what we reap is what we sow, the laws of cause and effect .....Works for me and i have noticed throughout my life so far that what i do and say has an effect and comes back to me....Good and bad...Thats why now at the age of 37 i try to be the good person i know i am...For good things come back to me...Im not perfect and i mess up and when i do i feel the force of it, sometimes big sometimes just enough to make me aware......

I think those that are malicious and untrue eventually wound themselves...We think that some people seem to get away with doing bad things but we really don't see what goes on in their lives, how they get treated by others for the way they behave, and how their lives turn out...

As for Karma from previous lives, yes this works for me also, after all how are we to fully understand what lessons we are to learn if we don't experience all there is to experience..After all as the saying goes we are spiritual beings living a human excistence....

[watershield]

The article that I was quoting goes on to explain (in summery) that to use harsh or angry words is to act without skill. As a result later your may experience karma by feeling regret.

It basically implies that intentional acts, good or bad, may be skilled and therefore not incur "bad" karma.
What Karma really means is very much out of focus. Depending on if you are reading from Hindu, Buddhist, or Tibetan Buddhist, each has their own interpretation.

[lunarose]

I guess I'm gonna stick my head out here and say this: I really don't believe in a divine punishment. I think that Karma is a word that describes spiritual evolution and lessons that are learned and lessons that need to be learned. I think that our current understanding of Karma is due to the fact that not all Eastern terminology, can be understood by our Western ways of discernment and Understanding. Karma is just one of those words that does not translate very effectively. Life is a cycle. Good things happen, and bad things happen... to everyone. A horrible person is still a spiritual person, and by his actions, will bring to him the right lessons needed for him in order to evolve. A not so horrible person goes through cycles of ups and downs as well, but they bring to them all of the lessons that they need to learn as well. This is not a punishment/reward for good or bad deeds. Simply a lesson in spiritual evolution.

I must also give credit to the mind here. The mind is very powerful, and if we truly believe that when we do something wrong, that we are gonna get punished, we are very likely attracting a punishment for the guilt we feel when we do something wrong. I noticed myself that when I detached from this way of thinking, that I stopped attracting rainclouds to form over my head whenever I felt guilty about something. I think I will leave it at that.

[Ebony]

My Christian background taught me that any religion that was not Christian was bad. So when I started doubting the theology of Christianity, and started looking into other religions, Buddhism and Taoism were on the high end of the list.

In studying the Eastern religions, I learned that the term Karma does not translate into the Western world, but is a spiritual feeling, or meaning. To me Karma is a state of mind in which one must decide if an action will lead to positive or negative consequence. If the action leads to a positive conclusion, the mind is at ease (peace). If the action leads to a negative conclusion, the mind is not at ease. To reach transgression, a higher plane, heaven, Val Halla, nirvana, what have you, one must have a mind that is at ease with his/her life. You cannot reach attainment if you have not lived the best life you can live.

The Western world, especially the USA, has a way of taking words and totally corrupting them. Some of this is due to television and films. Then there are those people who hear a word, don’t understand it, but start using it anyway, passing along their concept of the word, or changing the meaning completely. This misconstrued word is passed along in the wrong context and is soon a new buzz word that everyone is using.

I personally know a few people who use the word “Karma” like some use the phrase “the devil made me do it.” In this case, the phrase is “my karma will supply all my needs.” These people float around like giant butterflies flitting from field to field, using and abusing anyone and everyone they come across in order to meet the needs their karma is supposedly supplying. These people don’t have a clue one what they are talking about. I cringe every time they use the word karma for personal gain.

[watershield]

Well said Ebony. Best grasp of the word I've read to date. ;D