My Take on Karma

@derek_a (10874)
March 29, 2016 6:07am CST
There is no doubt about it, karma is created every day. Good, bad or neutral, I create it constantly. The intense unpleasant karma, is not so much a matter of what I do, but the baggage that I have regarding the deed that I believe I have done. I am attached to the "right or wrong" or judgement of the deed. If I believe that I have done something wrong them I could for instance, expect punishment. Expectation is always imaginary. Imagination happens in the mind. So my guilt is all in my mind. Where else could it be? If I believe that I have done something right, then I could for instance, feel great pride. Pride is always imaginary. Imagination happens in the mind. So pride is all in my mind? Where else could that be? Please feel free to share..
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6 responses
@gofsey (1912)
• Madurai, India
29 Mar 16
Yes, some kind of justification for the actions we do is called for. The most general instance is called karma. Undoubtedly, there are many more that people do not discuss so openly.
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@derek_a (10874)
29 Mar 16
Thank you for responding to this discussion, @Vivian Sudhir My take is that something moves in life in a certain direction and there will be an effect to that movement it will move the whole, even if ever so slightly.. I am thinking here also that movement is life, if life is an energy that cannot be known in the mind making it very mysterious. regardless of how many times it is asked, 'what is life?'. Energy has always been and is therefore has no beginning, so therefore its movement is unpredictable from one thing to another. That is why I feel that karma occurs in duality which involves judgement that we lay on ourselves.
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@derek_a (10874)
29 Mar 16
@gofsey The higher plane of existence is something that I cannot know through my mind as the mind is dualism and therefore illusory. I recognize this where I am right now, and work with it in meditations. it is a mystery to be lived, as they say in Zen circles.
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@gofsey (1912)
• Madurai, India
29 Mar 16
@derek_a Yes every reality must have its opposing entity. Without this counterpoint, every work will fail. Our dreams, therefore, pertain only to the work in progress. You are making things clear to me.
• United States
29 Mar 16
Yes much of all is in the mind. I do believe with enough momentum however, thoughts can take on a shape of their own, outside of us.
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@derek_a (10874)
29 Mar 16
Thank you @OceanTiara .for sharing.. I would first of all like to point out, that what I will write now, comes to me without too much thought! Not to be believed, but supports further thought.. If you get what I mean I see thoughts as a form of soundless sound - we can hear our own thoughts, but nobody else can. Sometimes they can get quite noisy. As a Zen practitioner, in meditation I notice that it is next to impossible to stop my thoughts, Even thinking about not thinking, is still thinking. When thoughts are spoken, they are words. These words can create karma in our environment and in this way shape our experiences in our relationships with others. Thus they appear to take on a shape of their own. I have observed that thoughts come to me - I have not 'thought' them but are channelling them into my awareness. If I could choose what to think, I would choose not to think negative thought as they create disharmony. As a therapist, I often had people come to me asking me to help them to think positive thoughts and improve their quality of life. I would like to share that I have never met anyone who could deliberately think positively, as the positive has to come with the negative because the mind is duality. I discovered over the years that we have to begin from where we are right now, and become aware duality, and then we will naturally shape what is outside of us, in a positive way. However, it is tricky to realize (make real) that we exist in dualism and whilst our mind is present, there will be another dualism. When we realize dualism, we will surely move to an opposing view and not realize it.
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• United States
29 Mar 16
@derek_a Your words are very clear to me as if I am listening to my own thoughts my friend.Thank you, it is soothing to me.
@Sreekala (34314)
• India
29 Mar 16
If we do any mistake then definitely we have to face the punishment. Whether we expect or not we can't escape from the punishment.
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@derek_a (10874)
29 Mar 16
Thank you for joining the discussion @SreekalaIf I will share the thoughts I get as I read your comment... If we believe we are to be punished, then that punishment will come in some way. The ]belief that we are to be punished is punishment for we will be anticipating some bad will happen to us. If we look at the universe, it will nurture the thief just as it would nurture the the saint - it doesn't seem to punish. In duality, in order to know right, we need to know wrong. Both exist. Is there really anything 'definite' in life? Guatam Buddha discovered that the route of all suffering is desire. I would query in this case if desiring is a mistake...
@cherriefic (10401)
• Philippines
29 Mar 16
I think that karma is for real. So we all have to be careful with our actions.
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@derek_a (10874)
29 Mar 16
Thank you @cherriefic My thoughts are that if karma is for real, then it would be not two, but one, Karma is duality. Cause is 1 and effect is 2 - which is duality. Yes, we need to take care of our actions, but it is through our mistakes that we learn more about our human condition in dualism.
@cherriefic (10401)
• Philippines
29 Mar 16
@derek_a Yeah. The saying what goes up must come down is a cause and effect thing which is like physics.
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@Shiva49 (26164)
• Singapore
29 Mar 16
Karma reflects cause and effect. We act against our conscience like cheating another and that leaves an indelible mark on our conscience. Our life path is changed and we try to justify our action but it is clear we have invited negativity on us. We can wish it away but the action will be a permanent blot and will lead to one after another and change the way we behave. And I believe our actions will revisit us when we leave this world and also can impact our future beyond here if there is one. Karma is the ultimate justice that gives meaning to our lives - siva
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@derek_a (10874)
29 Mar 16
Thank you @Sivaramakrishnan A My thoughts are, that it is not that we do actions to invite negativity, but that we are being responsive to our thoughts that come to us that originate from the here-now. The here-now, we cannot know in our thoughts as it happens, but only in retrospect. . Karma here in duality is a lesson in learning about our experience of duality and that it (duality) must be an illusion. If we can realize our duality we cannot really know it or speak of it, but are aware of it. If we attempt to analyse our duality, then we immediately enter the duality of the mind as in analyser(1) and that what we are analysing (2) and again we are within duality.
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@Shiva49 (26164)
• Singapore
30 Mar 16
@derek_a My take is we have choices to make but sometimes we take those that are unfair to others and we know them. But we take that path to gain short term advantage - mostly material. Those invite bad karma. Likewise, we invite good karma through positive actions though we forgo selfish advantage thereby. Our actions are in a way a reward by themselves. Mostly we are aware of the consequences of our actions - how they affect us and others. Yes, thoughts at the moment lead to actions - siva
@devil89 (68)
11 Mar 17
Sometimes reactions are seen very early and sometimes take very long. But it is law of universe to create an equilibrium in energies. All we can do is to do good deeds and have patience for their results.