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There may be no other largely misunderstood concept than karma, save maybe love. But that is a topic for another day.
Karma has been used to explain away the misfortunes of the uncaring, egotistical villain while suggesting it is a form of reward for the selfless acts of a caring, sincere person.
Yet, what if a selfish, uncaring person does a good deed for selfish purposes? What if someone donates a large sum of money to make themselves feel better, even if they do not announce it to others? Yet, they do not make any real changes to their behavior that may seem less than good natured. We all know more than a few people who donate to churches, charities and other causes only to look down upon the same people they are donating monies to. Buddhism says motives do matter, for the record.
In Hindu-speak, karma is visited o others in future lives. It deals with reward or punishment being meted out in the next life. In actuality, there are many different forms of karma and, just like any other religion or religious tenet you can find a different meaning in different faiths. For instance, in the Western interpretation commonly held by Americans, our actions are rewarded or punished swiftly (at least much more swiftly than in Hinduism). But, getting back to the karma point, if you have a lackluster job, a lazy, ignorant boyfriend or hair that you just can’t do anything with then maybe you weren’t so kind in your previous life.
Karma is really just an easy answer like “stuff happens” or “everything happens for a reason”. It’s an easy one word bumper sticker. It’s lazy intellectualism. I am sorry. That isn’t fair. There’s really nothing intellectual about it at all.
If one were to truly believe in karma then we are to believe someone who enjoys a life of pleasure and leisure is being rewarded for good acts or a good life they previously lived. The true philosophy of karma is that we are rewarded, or “punished” if you like, in our reincarnation not in our present lives.
So, let’s say you are a millionaire tycoon with a wonderful spouse, you have a job you love and you always get the window seat when you fly then you were probably a peach of a person in a previous life. You are being rewarded for some previous life you lived. Maybe you were a community activist or the person who invented fabric softener. Pity, many of the people being rewarded in this life will not be so fortunate in their next life. Consider yourself warned, Lindsay.
Of course according to this philosophy, if you hate your job, hate your spouse/significant other (at least some of the time, c‘mon be honest here), wish you had a few more bucks hidden under your mattress or have a less than glamorous life and you always seem to get stuck being seated between two hairy malodorous people when you fly, like 90% of the people I know, you were probably a jerk in your previous life. Based on my life, I suspect I was either an IRS agent or the Grassy Knoll shooter in a previous life.
Now, that seems hardly fair (as Americans we always vie for fairness). Anyways, we should be rewarded or punished for our present behaviors most would suggest. Enter “instant karma.”
Instant karma is a great John Lennon song but it has little relevance in the true description of karma Of course, as Americans we have to bastardize, twist and re-interpret philosophy, belief systems and, well pretty much anything, into our shallow, empty mindsets.
Not that it matters, but based on this belief that we have that we should do good to get good or have “good energy” come our way is just a little self-obsessed. We donate money not to do good, or at least not primarily for this reason, but, rather for “good karma.” Oh, how white of you. That’s very considerate. I’ll just try to need help when you’re having bad day.
Even if the Westernized version of “instant karma” is true, the examples of it being evident in our lives is paltry at best. Heroes answer cries for help and never return. Missionaries go to help in far off lands and risk their safety. To quote Billy Joel, “Only the good die young”. The bad ones seem to live forever in comfort and happiness.
Consider your everyday life. Anecdotally, we can all think of fine, upstanding, even heroic people who meet untimely and unkind fates. Some of the kindest people I have ever met have not had pleasant, pain free lives. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Most of the unkind, selfish, uncaring people I know lead the most successful, seemingly satisfied lives. Bearing in mind, none of our lives are perfect and we all fall on hard times at some points in our lives, it does not mean I and of itself that we’re all victims of karma.
Presumably, the true philosophy of karma might suggest the kind person who is besieged by tragedy and misfortune was really a bad person in a previous life. The are merely receiving their “karma”
In reality, if one were to truly follow the philosophy of karma then he or she should indulge. Why bother doing the right thing? It’s like when you’re a kid and you are out past your curfew by 10 minutes. You might as well stay out all night and deal wit the consequences later. Do as you wish with little to no regard for those around you . Live a little so long as you don’t mind paying later, much later.
We often cherry pick from theories, concepts and beliefs. So, this is really nothing new or different for us. We suit ourselves with half truths and misconceptions and we’re none the wiser, quite literally. We make things easy to understand so we can digest what happens around us.
Rather than stating the obvious that everyone has good days and bad days and these good days often times coincidence with a good deed that we may have done. Some days you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield. Let us not forget that no good deed goes unpunished, the path to hell is paved with good intentions and all of the rest of the trite phrases that are also common in the karma vernacular.
It’s really nothing short of a lazy, simple way of assigning “bad luck” or misfortune to others, as though such things exist. If someone cuts you off in traffic, then they get into an accident or some other sort of accident befalls them, then it surely must have been “karma.” and not the fact they lack adequate driving skills.
We all have good days, bad days and middle of the road days and moments. Very good, selfless people lead painful, arduous lives. That is the point. Being good and doing the right thing is hardly always easy even if we try to make it seem easy.
7 comments:
I've heard the word 'karma' thrown around so often, I had no idea people were misusing it. I do know many of the people who claim to believe in it DON'T believe in reincarnation. I always took issue with people telling me to abide by the "rules of karma" because I didn't believe as a Christian that this new age stuff particularly applied to me...but I do know my religion is very anti-reincarnation (although the idea has always fascinated me).
The word is presently misused quite a bit in regard to a kind of thinking that "The Secret" popularized, which is that our thoughts create our reality. If you get a chance, watch the movie What the Bleep Do We Know? It attempts a semi-scientific view of the whole "secret" thing, breaking it down to how our brain synapses fire based on our thoughts and how that can affect everything from our weight to our socioeconomic status to our love lives. I don't know if I believe any of that, but I do think that miserable, hateful people generally have miserable, hateful lives mostly because their moods affect how others relate back to them.
I like to think that karma is a big pot in which simmers everyone's deeds and thoughts. The more good in it, the more palatable the servings. In a more local context, for every action there is an equal reaction; perhaps that is "instant karma."
If you don't like the menu, you can either help cook something better or find a different "kitchen." But the Universe is finite in the sense that there are only so many kitchens; be mindful of what you add and how/when you stir because eventually, you will have to partake of its offerings.
Karma is one of the most misunderstood concepts ( you've pointed out one of the popular misconceptions that people have about Karma) that exists in the American popular consciousness. But there is another. Like so many other Eastern ideas, it's been co-opted by society at large. The superficial understanding can lead to blame and denial of responsibility and what I refer to as new age fatalism: instead of a God meting out fate it's some inscrutable universal justice that is inescapable and undeniable. But this is mistaken. Properly interpreted karma does not allow one to shirk but forces he/she to take responsibility for his/her actions because every action will result in consequences. Act negatively and bad things are sure to follow. This idea is not so different than the basic understanding of cognitive behavioral therapy that maintains that certain beliefs and resulting behavior about ourselves cause us to act in habitually self-defeating ways,except that CBT doesn't factor in past lives. But one is not solely at the mercy of karmic consequences; we are free to fall victim or change our karma.
I don't believe that thoughts create our reality but there is no doubt that thoughts create our perception of reality. This is why CBT believes that one must get to the root of the problem, a negative belief about our self before any resulting behavioral change is ever possible. To believe that people can think their way to a new car, or career is just magical thinking. Neither karma nor CBT would posit such a notion.
wow, a lot of great comments here..
Stephanie, I think "we Westerners" have a way of misconstruing just about everything from religious beliefs to dieting systems (just one bag of fritos is OK) to fit into our own agendas.
Of course, I never bought into the Secret. Things don't happen for us because we wish for them. They happen through hard work and a little bit of luck and being at the right place at the right time (and even then it doesn't always work).
While I do think mean, hateful people may not be pillars of their community and may push people away even unintentioanlly, I see lots of proof that it may not hinder their success or happiness (i.e. Donald Trump, Dick Cheney, Tony Heyward, etc). In fact it may help them in their endeavors.
Shane - I think your philosophy mimcs an "energy" philosophy (if you give off good energy and do good deeds you will receive good energy and receive good deeds in return).
I still don't see how we can see all of the good doers in our lives only to be injured or worse in doing so. That hardly seems like their "just desserts". It's like anything else - sometimes do gooders are rewarded sometimes they aren't. The results are about as tried and true as flipping a coin.
The funny thing is just like many other superstitions and belief systems, people will always adhere to these beliefs no matter how they may not seem to hold water. Bad habits die hard and so do bad ideas it seems.
Jeff, thank you for the insight on this topic and I know you have more than a fashionable or passing interest in this area. You are by my estimate the person with the most knowledge in this area than anyone else in my life.
It was from you, in fact, that I learned about the misconception of "instant karma" initially. Since then, I have done quite a bit of research and looked into it. It is amazing how ill-informed some of the biggest believers in karma are on the topic.
Your explanation makes much more sense. It seems more like a cause and effect. That is a belief system I could see as being more logical. If one looks at people who do get into a lot of self-destructive ways (such as abusing drugs or others) it usually does not make for a stable or helathy lifestyle.
For the Hindus karma is the law of the universe that can be modified, but can't be overcome until one has progressed through ever higher stages of being until one attains moksha,escape from the cycle of rebirth). In Hinduism this rebirth process is under God's control, a person's karmic action can influence how far up the totem pole he/she gets but escaping the cycle is dependent entirely upon God's grace. In the Buddhist variant the Buddha insists that one doesn't need to go through the entire progression, that through self-effort and wholesome actions individuals can escape the cycle of samsara and attain Nirvana.
In Buddhism there is no higher divinity to grant any grace. The Buddha, would say that karma is the result of believing in a separate self that stands apart from the rest of experience. It is this self's tendency for attachment and aversion (Buddha's 2nd Noble Truth) that creates negative karma and leads to continued rebirth. One escapes rebirth by realizing there is no such self, that the world is unified or non-dual(no subject/object dichotomy.) Complete realization of no-self is enlightenment or Buddhahood.
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