Reaping and Sowing

[SmileySpirit14]

isnt that basically the same thing as karma?

[Phong]

Karma is focused on actions, especially committing sins and having to pay for them. The same principle has been spoken of by many a motivational speaker, though, with regards to thoughts and attitudes. Disciplined creative visualization has given some the power to manifest whatever they want in this world, but also the unfortunate things they don't want which they dwell on and give too much energy. The universe is magnetic, like attracts like... all that jazz.

I'll use karma to illustrate my question:

Say that I am a new soul with no karmic history - and some part of the universe (another soul maybe) inflicts pain on me. Would I not naturally follow karmic prinicple and make the universe reap the pain it has sown onto me? We say that we "reap" suffering in our ordinary life sometimes because it's what we've previously sown, but there's another side. Does the universe not sow upon us?

If so, then why does it appear to sow life upon us, and reap death from us (grimly)?

Much of karma is spoken of universely, but seems only narrowly applied to individual persons.

-

Wait. Nevermind. I figured it out once I stopped trying to put it into words. So much of a forum's purpose is to become obsolete. Thanks.

[Nick]

Along the lines of cause and effect, there is a nice discourse in a book called The Kybalion. There is a website too. Scroll down to the topic on cause and effect. []

http://kybalion.home.att.net/kybalion.html

[Jon_88]

As a pure spiritual consept reaping what you sow checks out nicely.
You get returns of what you put in (time and belief) .

But not in the real world , it doesnt make sence. You can just as well reap what others have sowed ,simply by being at the right place at the right time.

[Adrian]

Greetings Phong,

quote:Originally posted by Phong

One of the spiritual principles we seem to have stumbled upon is reaping what we sow. Some may not believe this, of course, but it is reverberated across religions and in cultural proverbs. Our attitude towards the universe is what the univere's attitude is about us - what we give to the universe is what the universe gives back - and so forth.

But would it not work in reverse? Are we not just as much part of the universe as the rest of it and, therefore, what the universe reaps onto us it must sow from us?

I am not trying to find holes in new age logic nor trick and confuse people of faith - but there's something unsaid in that popular proverb, is there not?

It is an interesting paradoxical question you raise.

First of all, the Universe does not have an "attitude". The Universe in all spheres of life and reality operates by immutable laws which apply to everyone and everything in the Universe without exception. Every effect has a preceding cause in accordance with principle of causation, or cause and effect, of which karma is an aspect.

Yes, we are all equal aspects of God, the Universe, Spirit and all other names for God. However, before we were born for the first time we were still Spirit, an integral aspect of the Great Spirit, God, and of course God is perfection, and it is the destiny of every single one of us to evolve back to God by attaining the appropriate level of perfection through the process of progression through all the spheres of life commencing with the physical world.

When we are born for the first time we become individuals for the first time with freewill and powers of physical expression, and are presented with the trials and tribulations of the physical world in order to commence the process of evolution to perfection. One of our greatest teachers is the law of cause and effect or karma. Cause and effect operates in all directions; "as you sow, so shall you reap". If you are responsible for "bad" causes you will be subject to equally "bad" effects either in this lifetime or a future one, maybe even in a higher/inner sphere of life. Therefore, if you are responsible for "good" causes, you will be subject to equally "good" effects.

I have placed the words "bad" and "good" in quotes for a very good reason; in the Universe there really is no such concept as "bad" or "good", they are all degrees of the same thing in accordance with the perceptions of the observer; what is perceived as "bad" for one might be percieved as "good" for another; so all such causes and effects are only relative to each other in accordance with the Universal law of polarity. The same applies to cause and effect generally, all effects are relative degrees of the corresponding causes.

With best regards,

Adrian.

[Blissful]

I belong to another message board  www.dreamviews.com
and my name is Blissful there as well and my quote is:  You Reap What You Sow.

This is my favorite quote.  It basically states.. you get what you give....  you do and you see consequence (do good, get good consequences, do bad... get bad consequences).

Love and you will feel love and receive love
Work hard and you will see the results of hard work
Treat people poorly and you will get back what you deserve for that.

YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.  Such an easy concept but so hard for people to understand it's truth and to live by this.

Blissful

[Phong]

One of the spiritual principles we seem to have stumbled upon is reaping what we sow. Some may not believe this, of course, but it is reverberated across religions and in cultural proverbs. Our attitude towards the universe is what the univere's attitude is about us - what we give to the universe is what the universe gives back - and so forth.

But would it not work in reverse? Are we not just as much part of the universe as the rest of it and, therefore, what the universe reaps onto us it must sow from us?

I am not trying to find holes in new age logic nor trick and confuse people of faith - but there's something unsaid in that popular proverb, is there not?