Karma, etc.

[DavidDvorkin]

The childish concepts of karma and the moral arc of the universe are the descendants of the Medieval Church’s cynical instructions to the poor that they should accept their lot placidly because they would be rewarded and the evil punished in the afterlife.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Some religions that do not claim ancestry from the Medieval Church also have karma

Kahuna Death Prayer, for one.

[kimbutgar]

2. I hope karma is real

I am an older woman but love this Taylor swift song about karma.
I so wish karma on all repukes and TFA and do believe in it! But karma doesn’t have to happen in the afterlife but here and now.

Karma
Taylor Swift
EXPLICIT
You're talking shit for the hell of it
Addicted to betrayal, but you're relevant
You're terrified to look down
'Cause if you dare, you'll see the glare
Of everyone you burned just to get there
It's coming back around

And I keep my side of the street clean
You wouldn't know what I mean

'Cause karma is my boyfriend
Karma is a god
Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend
Karma's a relaxing thought
Aren't you envious that for you it's not?
Sweet like honey, karma is a cat
Purring in my lap 'cause it loves me
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
Me and karma vibe like that

Spider-boy, king of thieves
Weave your little webs of opacity
My pennies made your crown
Trick me once, trick me twice
Don't you know that cash ain't the only price?
It's coming back around

And I keep my side of the street clean
You wouldn't know what I mean

'Cause karma is my boyfriend
Karma is a god
Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend
Karma's a relaxing thought
Aren't you envious that for you it's not?
Sweet like honey, karma is a cat
Purring in my lap 'cause it loves me
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
Me and karma vibe like that

Ask me what I learned from all those years
Ask me what I earned from all those tears
Ask me why so many fade, but I'm still here
(I'm still, I'm still here)

'Cause karma is the thunder
Rattling your ground
Karma's on your scent like a bounty hunter
Karma's gonna track you down
Step by step from town to town
Sweet like justice, karma is a queen
Karma takes all my friends to the summit
Karma is the guy on the screen
Coming straight home to me

'Cause karma is my boyfriend (karma is my boyfriend)
Karma is a god
Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend (weekend)
Karma's a relaxing thought
Aren't you envious that for you it's not?
Sweet like honey, karma is a cat
Purring in my lap 'cause it loves me
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
Me and karma vibe like that

Karma is my boyfriend
Karma is a god

Karma's a relaxing thought

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[DavidDvorkin]

3. "What goes around comes around" is another version of the same idea

And just as unrealistic.

[2naSalit]

4. That's not really what karma is.

It's not the same as "behave or go to hell" because some gawd will be mad at you. Rather it informs you that you have choices to make and there are consequences of various types for you choice. Not that anything is punishment or praise, though many interpret it that way, it is about making choices and weighing the benefits within a concept that life doesn't end in the nonphysical world but is a cyclic process that is unending and includes episodes of physical life.

Different from the judeo-christian belief systems that insist on a hierarchy that includes punishment and control over others.

[Voltaire2]

5. However it is typically connected to a magical system of reincarnation

that sorts whatever it is that supposedly gets reincarnated into 'higher and lower' targets according to some moral standards.

[2naSalit]

8. I wouldn't say...

"Magical" when it is something that has not yet been explained to the satisfaction of some.

Reincarnation is the physical life part, many of us come back to the physical after having experienced it once or more. Personally, I am not certain of how long I was "out there" but I recall, like it was yesterday, how and when I came back this time. Guess that's why I don't question it.

[Voltaire2]

9. I agree you obviously don't think it is magical.

[Martin68]

6. One way in which the concept of karma is scientific is that doing good things for other people and avoiding

hurting them increases the quality of relationships, which has been shown to result in lower stress levels. That improves both health and quality of life. It is only sociopaths and psychopaths who do not feel guilt or the need to develop meaningful relationships.

[sanatanadharma]

7. The word "karma" is widely and wildly missunderstood and used wrong so of course it is nonsense

The word "karma" is widely and wildly misunderstood and used wrong so of course it is nonsense.

Karma means action (not the results of action).
Action is real. Karma is action, thus who will deny the reality of karma?

Now onto the results of actions, that which we seek searching to satisfy of our desires.
The accurate word here is "karma-phala" (fruits of actions).
Who will desire that actions bring results?

If it were otherwise, we would not act. If the results of actions were entirely random, we would cease acting in expectation of particular satisfactions. We act because karma-phala is generally consistent with our desired results. But, there is many a slip between cup and lip.
Results are not always completely foreseen nor wanted. Desire is like blinders on wisdom.
Bad and stupid choices, actions, usually bring poor results, shitty lives here and now. Actions habitually taken that manifest better results smooth our way in this life.

That is the meaning of karma, taken as a philosophy that is self sustaining without reincarnation.
I am one of those who live life knowing that karmic-results of karmic-actions are as certain as gravity.
Of course, there exist folk who insist that gravity is not real.

[Farmer-Rick]

11. That makes no sense

So the pedophile who locked his daughter away and abused her for 12 years before she died gets karma? Is his 2 years of imprisonment before he died from a beating his karma?

But that poor abused child gets to die before she even reaches puberty. Did she get her karma too? Raped and abused for 12 years while the perp got away with it for most of his life.it makes no sense.

[twodogsbarking]

10. I like Karma. It is fun. About all.

[Farmer-Rick]

12. The trouble with karma is that it doesn't work

It doesn't stop babies from getting cancer. Where is their karma when their short lives are filled with pain and suffering?

Where is the karma for the abused, the suffering poor, the hungry, the unfairly treated. Why doesn't everyone get their karma?