The Fallacy of Instant Karma (Spoiler: It's not gonna getcha)
Instant Ramen Karma
The
idea, or people's understanding, of Karma is fundamentally flawed. I
would say the basic definition most people understand would not be
the formal definition of the religious principle.
The formal definition is as follows: the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existence
This is a belief that is, at least, rooted in a long storied history of ideology. The less formal is basically wishful thinking. It's pop culture's definition. It's what John Lennon famously called Instant Karma.
From Simple Dictionary: Karma (car-ma) is a word meaning the result of a person's actions as well as the actions themselves. It is a term about the cycle of cause and effect. According to the theory of Karma, what happens to a person, happens because they caused it with their actions.
It's the opposite of the other common idiom: No good deed goes unpunished. In this world view, if you do bad you get paid back or if you do good, you reap the rewards. Krishna said "work not for the reward." Galatians says "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we." Both are very clear. You will not be paid back on Earth for any good that you do. In fact, you most likely will be punished for it. After all, Jesus said "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family."
And don't be confused. That is about your hometown and your tribe. People will hate you if you do good even amongst your own people. I try to provide examples from different teachings to illustrate that these truths can be found all throughout the history of thought.
But consider this, has your good deed gone unpunished? When you push, does the world push back? Is there a constant swing of the pendulum keeping everything balanced. Bad cancels out good, good cancels out bad? There is a lot of talk about us living in a relatively complex computer simulation. Now, I don't really believe that, but I do enjoy the thought exercise it encourages. If we were, indeed, in a simulation, why might the idea of the universe pushing back happen? Because you can't escape your programming. You are trapped in a pattern of events and reactions and it's nearly impossible to push out of that. You have your place and the universe pushes back when you push it. That would be Instant Karma only the good also gets an opposite reaction. Call it balance, unfortunately, the status quo means a lot of misery and suffering.
Who is define the good? Maybe that's a reason for The Balance. Maybe there is no definition of "good" like the theme song for the 1980s Gary Coleman (RIP) vehicle says "Now, the world don't move to the beat of just one drum, What might be right for you, may not be right for some." There are some evils you'd think that we could agree on, but watch the line as it moves depending on ideology. You'd think police hitting fleeing women in their heads, pushing 75-year-old men and covering their identities would be evil. But The Balance says, for as many people who believe that's wrong, others are seemingly totally cool with it. The Balance, man. The Balance.
I worked with a militant atheist at a radio station a while back. She wasn't on-air, but worked in the office. I don't remember the basis for this story, but I remember our short conversation afterwards. Something bad happened to somebody that she deemed deserved it and she was roaring about how "karma got him!"—You already know that Karma (capital K) means how your actions effect your next life, so let's assume she's using the lowercase karma.
I tried to stay silent but the goaded me into the conversation. "It's karma, Dales!. Karma." I answered "Except karma doesn't exist." Man did that piss her off. I was going to mansplain the two different concepts of karma but she wouldn't let me. She fired back "well Dick, neither does Jesus." She was very proud of herself. I simply said, "I wasn't talking about him." But, beet-faced, she stormed out of the office. It seems that Traffic Donna did have a religion after all. Her own stitched together ideas about the universe was her religion. It must be nice being able to put your faith in whatever makes you feel comfortable. But, I can't do it. I wish I could. —Dales
The formal definition is as follows: the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existence
This is a belief that is, at least, rooted in a long storied history of ideology. The less formal is basically wishful thinking. It's pop culture's definition. It's what John Lennon famously called Instant Karma.
From Simple Dictionary: Karma (car-ma) is a word meaning the result of a person's actions as well as the actions themselves. It is a term about the cycle of cause and effect. According to the theory of Karma, what happens to a person, happens because they caused it with their actions.
It's the opposite of the other common idiom: No good deed goes unpunished. In this world view, if you do bad you get paid back or if you do good, you reap the rewards. Krishna said "work not for the reward." Galatians says "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we." Both are very clear. You will not be paid back on Earth for any good that you do. In fact, you most likely will be punished for it. After all, Jesus said "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family."
And don't be confused. That is about your hometown and your tribe. People will hate you if you do good even amongst your own people. I try to provide examples from different teachings to illustrate that these truths can be found all throughout the history of thought.
But consider this, has your good deed gone unpunished? When you push, does the world push back? Is there a constant swing of the pendulum keeping everything balanced. Bad cancels out good, good cancels out bad? There is a lot of talk about us living in a relatively complex computer simulation. Now, I don't really believe that, but I do enjoy the thought exercise it encourages. If we were, indeed, in a simulation, why might the idea of the universe pushing back happen? Because you can't escape your programming. You are trapped in a pattern of events and reactions and it's nearly impossible to push out of that. You have your place and the universe pushes back when you push it. That would be Instant Karma only the good also gets an opposite reaction. Call it balance, unfortunately, the status quo means a lot of misery and suffering.
Who is define the good? Maybe that's a reason for The Balance. Maybe there is no definition of "good" like the theme song for the 1980s Gary Coleman (RIP) vehicle says "Now, the world don't move to the beat of just one drum, What might be right for you, may not be right for some." There are some evils you'd think that we could agree on, but watch the line as it moves depending on ideology. You'd think police hitting fleeing women in their heads, pushing 75-year-old men and covering their identities would be evil. But The Balance says, for as many people who believe that's wrong, others are seemingly totally cool with it. The Balance, man. The Balance.
I worked with a militant atheist at a radio station a while back. She wasn't on-air, but worked in the office. I don't remember the basis for this story, but I remember our short conversation afterwards. Something bad happened to somebody that she deemed deserved it and she was roaring about how "karma got him!"—You already know that Karma (capital K) means how your actions effect your next life, so let's assume she's using the lowercase karma.
I tried to stay silent but the goaded me into the conversation. "It's karma, Dales!. Karma." I answered "Except karma doesn't exist." Man did that piss her off. I was going to mansplain the two different concepts of karma but she wouldn't let me. She fired back "well Dick, neither does Jesus." She was very proud of herself. I simply said, "I wasn't talking about him." But, beet-faced, she stormed out of the office. It seems that Traffic Donna did have a religion after all. Her own stitched together ideas about the universe was her religion. It must be nice being able to put your faith in whatever makes you feel comfortable. But, I can't do it. I wish I could. —Dales
posted by Arthur Dickie Dales @ 10:33 AM
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