Day 57: A Conventional, Logical Argument for the Definition of Karma...

 I would have entitled this "Comical Conceptions of Karma..." but even though it is alliterative, it simply didn't look right in the title...

For those who believe in Karma, many completely misunderstand it… We see  a person who we view as destructive, negative and/or mean get into an accident or have something bad happen to them and we label this as a cosmic event that can be attributed to Karma… We don’t speak about Karma happening to others because we superstitiously believe that somehow, bad Karma will be returned on us… To top that off, we believe that if we do good things, then extrinsically, somehow, in some way that good Karma must be returned to us. 

First things first, There is no Karma Police… There is no force out there keeping track of good and bad and in possession of some cosmic “balance sheet” to make some sort of equilibrium in the universe… That would preclude that “good” and “bad” are somehow universally agreed upon and we all know the definitions… Philosophically, logically and culturally, this is a ridiculous thought… What is good in my culture may be anathema in others and keeping track of right and wrong in that context would be a logistical nightmare. Karma has to be personal, it cannot possibly be universal…

Wait, What?!!?!?  A personal Karma based on my actions? Yeah, guess what? You’re responsible for your own actions… 

The fatalistic “what goes around comes around” does not explain why a good person loses a child or a complete bastard wins the lottery while starving people watch… The argument can of course be made that we don’t know what is occurring other than the lottery is being won. We reason that maybe the person has terminal cancer and winning the lottery is just to punish them with the thought they will never enjoy it…Conceptually, this is trite and juvenile to think of some force in the universe that keeps a balance sheet to even out the yin and yang of creation and a single, infinitesimally small part of it did something morally wrong as defined by a truly unimportant ideology and will punished according to some unknown set of standards… It’s not only small minded and mean, it is ridiculous… 

A quick recap for clarity before we go on…

 “Karma’s a bitch,” right? We hear this all the time. Somebody does something good, they get good karma. Something bad happens to someone, that’s because they had bad karma. That’s not how it works. So what is the definition of karma? The truth is, most of us have it wrong. And this misunderstanding doesn’t help any of us.

When you truly understand what Karma means, it can be used as a powerful tool for personal development.

To begin with, let’s get one thing straight: Karma has nothing to do with “fate.”  If you do something negative, it doesn’t mean that something negative has to happen to you to “even it out.” Karma is based on your actions and thoughts in every single moment.

Karma means action, work, or deed. The term also refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called the Principle of Karma, wherein intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual…

So, you may see it as “You reap what you sow…” and while that touches the concept, it clearly does not cover it entirely.

While karma does have  a strong core of “cause-and-effect,” it’s more that your actions and thoughts will affect how you live your life. It’s less of an “Oh, I fed a homeless person today so I’ll get a good thing later on,” and more of a “my good deeds will help me to become a better person…” Only a child would do a good deed to get a reward, the nastiest kid can straighten up for Santa Claus. Still a nasty kid, just doing it for the “Santa Karma”… Doing good deeds because you want to do good, say feeding the homeless, or helping a duck with ducklings get across the street makes you feel self satisfaction. You are creating a reality where your good makes you and others feel good. Not for a reward, but because your good deeds are generated from selflessness… 

To quote from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, “A man of good deeds will become good.” Makes total sense doesn’t it? Good people do good things…

You see? It’s in the doing of the good deeds that we make ourselves better people. That’s the Karma… Your reward is your goodness, not feed a homeless person, find $20… 

Let’s take a look at some examples of how Karma actually works.

First let’s look at bad karma (it’s best to get the bad out of the way first).

What are some examples of bad Karma and their result?

    1. Oppressing people – people kick your ass…

    2. Abusing power – you get too greedy and you lose it…

    3.Stealing – big enough and you get incarcerated…

    4. Cheating – You lose your family…

Now take a look here, this isn’t some cosmic force punishing you. This is an obvious result of cause and effect. You oppress people and you get ass kicked eventually. Not always, some people die in power but their lives were lived looking over their shoulder. You steal, you lose… you cheat, you lose… This isn’t some form of balancing you out… Karma is a dynamic process; it’s not something you bank for a rainy day. You cannot “save up” Karma. When we say “that’s Karma” after a bad thing happens, what we actually mean is “that is the natural result of the negative actions that were taken.” Accidents are not Karma, that’s why they call them accidents… They are happenstance. My step-son Jacob did not die in a car accident as some form of punishment for me, his mother or myself… He died because Car A met Car B at a high speed in a clearly fortuitous event… There is no definable reason, just physics and time met in an unfortunate occurrence.

The best way to think of karma is an energy that you’re creating every moment. Every intentional action or thought generates this energy. We experience this every day, and it’s not stored for future punishment or reward. Look at it like this, if you’re reacting with anger all the time, you’re conditioning the mind for anger. correspondingly, by reacting to things with peace and calm, you’re conditioning the mind for peace and calm.

All these qualities, such as anger, discontent, joy, harmony cultivate inside you. If you do goo deeds, you will be happy… That looks on the outside like you are being rewarded, but you’re not, it is simply caused by your actions doing it, not some unseen force rewarding you… If you are a dick, then you’re going to be miserable and it will show… again, self generated and not a punishment… 

To sum it, you create your reality, a person in prison, put there unfairly can be happy and sitting next to someone with the same set of circumstances who is a miserable fuck, mad at everyone for their fate… Who is responsible for their attitudes? They are… The first person is content with the things they are getting and feels rewarded and the other is getting the same things and is not happy with their punishment… Fate dealt them the same cards and yet, one feels rewarded and one feels punished… Each generates their own Karma…

Difficult to comprehend I know but even worse to try and explain… 

The 90 Day Life Change Challenge update… 57 Days in and I am feeling a combination of good, bad, hurt and healthy... This is hard. Today was P90X3 Isometrix which takes the hardest part of yoga and extends it to brutal lengths. Instead of holding a pose for three or four breaths, its 45 seconds of balance, strength and agony... All good, I think I have hit some sort of plateau and I just need to refocus and reframe this... Counting today, I am sitting at 34 days to go... Piece of cake really, but fuck I just want a little break from the relentlessness of all this... Body holding up well, it's the mind that suffering this morning... Oh, yeah, my left knee feels like it's blown out too... Hahahaha... Everything else is on track and rolling along... 

Love you like old people love a good bowel movement… Drink lots of water today, that will make you feel better...

Something like 34 days left in this challenge and I am still not out of shit to say… Fucking unbelievable… I thought this would be the hardest part of my challenge but it is simple the most time consuming… the next 90 Day Life Change will include blogging but only once a week… What will you do without me? Hahaha…. See you tomorrow…