A very basic question about Law of Karma

[truth_seeker]

I have a question about the law of karma.

Since others can affect an individual's karma, how much is the individual responsible for the "reaction" karmas ?

For example, lets say an individual is all well, thinks good, loves all and does good to all as much as possible. One day, he is robbed bad by someone (bad karma ? ok the "someone" will face the consequences), but as a consequence of robbery, the individual looses all his possesions, his friends , relatives quit him (please dont judge them) and he is alone, thrown in the corner by world and treated badly by one and all. In such situation, out of frustration, if this individual does a bad karma (lets say steal something/hits someone) - then (1) will he have to face the consequence of this bad karma ? Because if he was not robbed - which was totally a karma of someone else - he would not be stealing, rather than giving away love and peace and help? (2) In his bad times if he still keeps on the right path - will he attain much more positive karma rather than when he was doing good karma while wealthy and capable ? - since he is walking the right road even in difficult times ?

Please dont "stick" to the example scenario - its just an example - request everyone to think about the actual message in the example instead.

[Stookie]

Most philosophies that believe in Karma don't believe in "good" and "bad" karma. Losing your possessions isn't necessarily bad Karma, but an experience dealt by Karma as a way to grow. While the fruits of the experience might not be experienced in this lifetime, it extends into a person's total being that exists outside of the physical. There aren't any particular rules that Karma follows - there isn't a certain consequence to a certain action. It's more about creating a balance. Karma and morals don't necessarily go hand in hand.

It's not really like "My Name is Earl" (but that show is still hilarious)

[lily moonsong]

I have grown to believe that karma is just something that buddhists made up so they can feel better about how much life on earth sucks, and so that they could have faith for something better in the afterlife or reincarnation...

[Stookie]

It helps when you're going through a bad situation, and gives a different perspective of it. That's why the buddha was always smiling - they believe nothing is really "bad", only perceived as such. Whether karma is real or not, the concept of it can help a person learn from life experiences.

[The Present Moment]

In my opinion, it's a matter of how you feel and what you think. The parable of Mara attacking the Buddha as he attempted to attain enlightenment illustrates this pretty well. Life will not be perfect, but your reactions to life can be.

[Tayesin]

Well said Stookie 

I think Karma is only a mechanical system, where a cause can only follow it's natural path to a conclusion. And, it has no value of good and bad, it just is what it is. Also, we souls use this system to effect our 'co-creation agreements', so we balance things out through our lives without judgments.

[Fresco]

According to Adrian Cooper's book karma can manifest itself from a previous lifetime into the next life through reincarnation.
So perhaps the person in question ripped off another person of his home and possessions in his previous lifetime.

He was probably a lawyer      
(just kidding)

I can only speak for my life but I can tell you karma is a very real thing.  I learned that the hard way  

[Mattoid]

From a psychological viewpoint: We may bring karma upon ourselves MOSTLY due to our mentalities and decisions in life, it's as if our positive and negative personality traits set us up to either be rewarded or scolded, especially in relationships and society. Imagine if you will a married man or woman cheating on their spouse, even if this person doesn't get found out he'll/she'll forever judge others by his or her low standards in terms of morality, which will ultimately cause problems in his or her love life until the flaw is addressed.

or perhaps Karma is a little more personal in a sense voluntary. (in reference to our lives between lives prior to reincarnation)

Before we incarnate, I think we can plan ''negative karma'' or as i like to say "Life Lessons" to ensure we address particular flaws. Imagine thoughtlessly killing someone in a past life and devastating this persons remaining family. Outside of the human-body free of ego and earthly conditioning, you'd perceive your actions a little differently and in all likeliness would want to ensure this didn't happen again. Perhaps going through this yourself, having had someone you love taken away by the hands of another, i think you'd truly understand the pain you put the original family through and would at least be less compelled to kill, as you've felt what it's like to be the aggressor and finally the victim.

[ether]

nice avatar...whats the oid stand for as we have a thing being a younoid/unoid (universe/oid)...

from another psychological viewpoint
i must confess one must consider the cycle of life (death) one also must consider what one calls energy this energy is produced from what we calll emotions and the emotions one does not like (devasted=emotions=energy) this energy is/was used to run the world/s system/s all/most of we need to sustain life true story
as ya probaly aware we live in cycles (universe) some say it is around 13~26000 years (I 99.9% agree) cycles this cycle is at a end hence 2012 they say the end of the world as we know it... (I 100% agree) i know alot of work has been done in the minipulation of the samsara wheel the cause and effect of all/most things...many areas death/disease/weather and others have been touched on to see if it was achievable and it is proven fact
however this system/s energy usage that run our world/s has of recently changed it will be for the better of all so as we don't need all those devasted mentall illness and the like emotions to run this world/s system/s...these people in mentall illness war torn and the like are more powerful than most in areas fact...they have been SUBconsciously helping run the world/s system/s...some are consciouse of their contribution
we human/s are to take controll of this world/s system/s we have started...for various reasons i cannot/will not go into at the moment because certain peole are trying to take controlll of something they have no idea about...lets just say it's like them trying to walk to the SUN in their physical body from planet earth ...wont/cannot happen...clowns
so i think most people do the right thing but as ya know their is the world/s system/s to run (energy) hence what we are percieved as karma which i believe this law we be affective shortly

something to consider

good luck

love all

[Psan]

This is a very old thread, but I guess there is no harm in answering this for other member's. So here you go..

I have a question about the law of karma.

Since others can affect an individual's karma, how much is the individual responsible for the "reaction" karmas ?

Short ans: 100% responsible.

I think there is a problem with the sentence "others can affect an individual's karma". I'm new to this concept so probably I did not understand it, but IMO others cannot directly alter one's karmic structures, one is totally responsible for their own karma. Others can push you towards a good or bad karma, but you always have a choice.

Secondly, I agree with above poster, there is no good or bad karmas. Karma means action (in Sanskrit) and actions are always neutral. Please remember that we are talking in spiritual domain, trying to understand it in ethical perspective is meaningless here. The meaning of 'good karma' as commonly understood in east is any action that takes you towards liberation (and vice versa). So e.g. getting rid of a friend who is a constant source of negativity and trouble for your meditative practices is *good karma* actually

You can say that if I dump my friend, other will dump me, as per the karmic law. Yes they will, and you should feel happy about that because the reason for that will be that you no longer align with them, and its better to make friends that are in tune with you. You will have to be a little more conscious about why things happen to you (good or bad).

Taking the original example of the man who got robbed, a Buddhist will smile at his situation and say that nothing bad has happened and he should not react at all. Sounds confusing but its true.

It is really his 'bad' karma that lead him to this condition. The bad thing (or the wrong thing or the action in a direction opposite to one's liberation) he did was to hoard stuff. If he hadn't done that, no one could have robbed him obviously. So he should get the lesson here - detachment from anything that can be taken away. Note that the keyword is 'detachment', not the word 'hoarding'. (But once you are utterly detached from worldly things, you stop hoarding anyway).

His relatives left him. Well that's the best thing happened to him. What good are such relatives who stick to you only for your wealth ? They are no more than parasites. You got rid of them, celebrate.... and find some genuine people to be with. This is the lesson here.

World abandons him, this seems pitiable, but he will learn a valuable lesson about how the world is and how not to expect anything from it. It is surely not a source of happiness, happiness comes within. This will also teach him not to abandon his friends if they get robbed.

Sorry to stick with this example, but when you see it from a spiritual point of view, this tragedy has opened a door of spiritual progress for him. He has a choice here to evolve, to be liberated. He can drop his load of 'bad' karma here and choose the right path.

If he instead chooses to steal for food, he has made a choice. Which simply means that he is not ready yet. He has added to his load of karmas. Note that stealing itself is not a bad karma, but his belief that he must get food only by stealing is. (May be augmented or triggered by an emotion of revenge, which shows his low spiritual scores).

He could have begged or labored for it. Which is a good karma, not because its ethical, but because this would have punctured his ego balloon too. This is a bonus karmic reduction.

Once we start making the *right* choices, we see that we get more and more aligned towards the natural laws and there are no more sufferings, only events, providing you even more opportunities to choose.

As soon as your karma is gone, there is no need to choose, you have attained liberation. In this state now you choose everything and nothing at the same time.