Lilith...I like you

Ohhhhhh then I really don't believe in it!

I used to have a perfume called Samsara once and it smelled divine! Hahaha

pun intended.... at least I crack myself up....

Karma, in my understanding, yes, holds us to the wheel of re-birth, and also keeps the wheel from becoming too burdened with either negative or positive energies which would upset the balance of the universe.

Awww... thanks, Brimstone.

ooo can I smell it?

I agree, except comparing it with Karma...to me the "reward" can be an understanding or a good feeling. doing wrong to others...the "punishment" could be the guilt knowing you hurt someone

You believe in Confucianism ? That everything can be reduced to ceremony (politeness) ? Thats essentially what your saying. Interesting

The "guilt" is a debt that must be re-paid in the future, the greater the g"guilt" the greater the pay-back. And should one be aware of the "guilt" then one should seek a way to "balance the books" so to speak.

Im referring to karma in its true definition

Do you believe that The Buddha showed the way to escape the suffering of karma ?

Well..... I do not subscribe to any particular methodology or school of thought. I'm cool with however you take what I say.... but I think the way I view life is so much more than just courtesy...

That was my interpretation of the Golden Rule.

I do believe that The Buddha did try to show us the True Way to escape the wheel of karma, yet it was through the practice of karma that we may end the cycle of re-birth. Our awareness of the world and our impact sets the wheel and karma in motion. Awareness of self is the greatest tool we have in this world to keep us closer to achieving release from the wheel.

This is what most people make the mistake of thinking. They think that karma is some kind of mystical magical thing. That’s not what karma is.



That’s what karma is!

It’s very REAL.

Karma is how you interact with your world. If you put out bad karma you’ll get bad karma back, and vice versa.

If you’re partner in a relationship is always in a bad mood and giving you a hard time. Guess what?

There’s a real good chance that you’re the cause of it even when you don’t think you are.

Of course, our actions aren’t always the cause of things. Other people can certainly be in a bad mood on their own without our help. However, how we react to their mood can have a huge affect on how moods flow into the future.

There is a very pragmatic value in the laws of karma. No need to believe in anything mystical or magical, just read them and think about the immediate consequences of your actions.

There are other thoughts of karm that are more mystical. Like “what goes around comes around”, thinking that people will get payback for things they’ve done much earlier in life. That kind of karma may or may not be real.

Also, there are ideas of karma that goes with you into reincarnation to determine what your next life will be like. Well, again, that’s getting really speculative and spiritual there.

But just from a practical point of view, immediate karma is very REAL. There’s nothing to believe in other than your mood and actions will affect those around you and therefore change or affect your immediate experiences. In that sense, Karma is very real. And I think the 12 laws of Karma that I posted a link to actually addresses this very real aspect of immediate karma.

No religious beliefs necessary. What we do affects our environment, and causes changes in that environment that affect us immediately. And this can even be true of inanimate objects. Not to mean that inanimate objects are alive but if you get peeved at an inanimate object and punch it you can hurt yourself.

Like becoming angry with a power tool and cutting your finger off because you were being reckless in mood. That’s karma biting you my friend.



Karma doesn’t need to be endless suffering. It can be endless bliss. It’s all in what you make it.

Put out anguished vibes and you suffer. Put out blissful vibes and you’ll find peace.

Well said.

You should take a look at the teachings of The Sages. Particularly Confucius. The Silver Rule of Confucius. A lot of what you say about your personal outlook is similair to Confucianism.

Life is suffering. If you live again and again then you suffer again and again. Dukkha (suffering) pervades all human existence. Dukkha is caused by Tanha (desire). The world is aflame with desire Do you believe The Buddha found an escape through the Noble Eightfold Path ?

I just might do that.... although I doubt my Catholic mother would approve!

Thanks, Mirror

What one dwells upon births more of the same...

This holds true because of...????

Who knows...

Mental outlook...

Vibes...

Unknowing thoughtful prayer...

The unconscious development of patterned thinking and/or actions...

One will reap that which one sews...

It is too bad that we all were not equally equipped...

My hoe is broken...

Me pitchfork is tine-less...

And me mind is blurry...

What was this thread about again?

I think you would find Confucianism escpecially interesting considering your occupation. Its perfectly natural for a person in your occupation to have a high regard for ceremony (politness).

This is a rather pessimistic view of life. I certainly don’t agree with this.

Life is not suffering. Life is a combination of joy and suffering.

Life is not something to avoid or try to escape from. To lose all suffering one must also lose all joy.

In other words, the only way to escape life is death. Total absence of sensory input and emotion.

That’s certainly one way to escape suffering, but you escape joy that way too.

I’ve never understood the philosophies where the goal is to get out of life. I could see that for someone who is in great physical or emotional pain with no way out. Even death would be better than constant pain.

But typically life isn’t so one-sided. The joys balance the suffering. And all emotional suffering is truly nothing more than choice. We can choose to be in mourning of a loss, or we can choose to celebrate that it existed while it did. Most emotional suffering is nothing more than our failure to accept what we don’t wish to accept. So we bring that on ourselves by non-acceptance.

The only real pain in life is physical pain. Emotional pain is nothing more than non-acceptance of what is.