no offense taken at all King...those are good questions..1st..no, I
don't believe the existence of one supernatural force necessarily
"guarantees" the existence of others, nor do I link the concept of karma
with God. I firmly believe God does NOT "interfere" in the lives of man
as He did in the Old Testament. He gave us the free will to make our own
decisions thusly God doesn't make or cause things to happen to us, he
just allows it to happen and what we do with that experience makes up
who we are as individuals. 2nd..I don't think "bad luck" and Karma are
related either...I'm not a bad person by any stretch of the imagination
but when it comes to "luck" I have very little, particularily when it
comes to gambling which is precisely why I don't gamble..then again
maybe it's karma "lookin after me" making sure I don't get hooked cuz I
have already have enough addiction problems lolol
And 3rd...sometimes shit just happens, there's no rhyme or reason for
it..it just happens...that's just called life.

" And 3rd...sometimes shit just happens, there's no rhyme or reason for
it..it just happens...that's just called life. "

Precisly what I mean. You can't have good without Evil and visa versa.
The yin and Yang.

If you don't have evil how are you going to understand good?

it's like you were reading my mind animal, especially on the part about
GOD letting us make our own decisions and not interfereing. i'm a good
person but i have alot of shitty things happen for seemingly no reason,
i would rather it be different but it really isn't something i worry
about.
i still don't know about karma though but i don't think people can
really identify karma except by definition. they know what karma is
defined as but no one knows for sure if a particular event is a result
of karma. it's definitely something to explore though.

well..when I say shit happens, I don't necessarily mean in the eternal
good vs evil sort of way..just in the, yer walkin home with a few
groceries and the bag breaks or yer cruisin' down the highway, blow a
tire and smack up yer car but no one is hurt kinda way..and I don't
really think Karma defines good and evil either..it just "is"...but yer
right ghost..the existence of one depends entirely on the existence of
the other and yet they can only define each other as far as our own
human morals go...for example..lets say there is intelligent life on
another planet out there somewhere..there might be an aspect of their
culture that we'd define as cruel or evil, but maybe on their world it's
essential to their survival as a species..good and evil have no true
definitions, because differing cultures may have differing views on what
is and isn't..and who's to say who is right? what I do find interesting
tho, is that almost all monotheistic religions follow the basic tenets
of the Ten Commandments and almost all cultures, regardless of their
religious beliefs also follow the basic tenets in their societal laws..
I think a perfect culture on Earth to help explain this a bit are the
cannibals...not the animals in the western world that are just sick and
demented, but the religions that believe that eating the deceased is
perfectly natural...is this evil? According to our intrepetation and
belief system, most of us think it is, and taken out of context as
mentioned above about sicko predators..it is...but to the TRUE cannibals
for whom it is a real belief system, it is perfectly natural and
acceptable...so who is right?

I believe everything happens for a reason. On the freeway a tire blows,
your delayed. Only to discover that a few miles ahead there is an awful
accident. If that tire hadnt blown you would have been the one in that
accident. Is that your good Karma or the other guys bad Karma at work??
I have been the one with the blown tire... I NEVER get angry or
aggitated at anything that delays me. I just figure It is my good Karma
keeping me safe. I dont believe Karma and luck are the same. Luck is
something that you have or dont have soley based on a 'gamble' so to
speak.

Luck is nothing more than a random series of events...Karma is generally
more specefic and sometimes quite poignant

King...

Thanks for the words of...uh, explination. You know, that really sucks
that people like that exist...and that those of us that aren't afraid to
show our vulnerable underbellies don't reap what we sow...oh well.

I'd also like that say that I am so appreciative of the discussion
that's gone on here. It's nice that everyone's viewpoint is being
voiced and there doesn't seem to be any hurt feelings or attacking going
on. Good job folks...I'm so proud...

Well, yes Publicanimal That is very true when put in that context. One
mans evil is another mans good. The guys who flow the planes into the
two towers didn't do it because they were unsure about what they were
doing. They were perfectly accepting of this act, for what ever reason.
The same can be true of any act we in the West had committed to their
culture or any other. Dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan can be
construed as an evil act or as justification in order to avoid a much
deadlier out come. It all depends on your perception. Now as far as
Karma is concerned in all this, the guys who did the act on 9/11
probably or probably not anticipated as to our response for their
actions. I think most terrorist don't really think at what they do is
going to result in more destruction to their society by way of us
retaliating any more then we accepting them to give up their continued
acts of terrorism. As was said violence only begets violence. My only
problem is that karma doesn't explain the fact that some people can get
away with murder. Not all the time but there are rear occasions were
people ( maybe not murder ) do get away with certain deeds without
getting any retaliation at all. And there are some who do a small crime(
maybe a little white lie ) and have their life practically taken away
from them.I can't imagine a justification for that, but there it is. It
does happen that way. I know that sometimes the punishment doesn't
always fit the crime. But that's my rational that all this karma, like
any mystical punishment like hell in the case of Christians, is merely a
way of trying to explain the unexplainable. I'm not saying it's wrong,
but I'm not saying it's correct either. It's all in your perception.

Now when are we going to talk about Karma sutra? LOL

That's another issue.

Ghoestrecon

you raise a good point about crime and punishment and where Karma fits
in to it all there Ghost.. in the case of the muderer who "gets away
with it", they may have "gotten away with it" from the point of view of
our legal system, but that is only one form of justice in this
cosmos..the same could be said about good, kind ppl that get stricken
with a terminal illness and die young or are killed in an accident, but
the reality is...it happens to just as many assholes too..there's just
not the same impact...as I said before..sometimes shit just
happens..there are a lot of variables throughout life that determine our
life span and as society becomes more complex and more disposable, those
variables become more numerous and complex, environmental variables
being the most numerous and noticable. How does a person who never
smoked or drank a day in their life die of cancer?...there's several
reasons for it; too much sun, contaminated water supply, poor air
quality in their city or workplace.. I certainly don't believe that
everything that happens to us can be simply explained away as good or
bad Karma, again, there's just way too many variables in life, but I do
believe it does exist.

Yes, Public, it's one of those paradoxical mysteries. Was it karma or
wasn't it. As far as having a car problem and missing out on an
incredible accident well again I'ld have to say just dumb luck. It could
have happened right were he was broken down so he could have still been
involved. Again it's the perception as to how you think about what just
happened. On one level he could have felt shitty for his car needing an
unbelievable amount of repair, but on the other hand feeling very lucky
he wasn't involved in the accident. I think what ever happens to you,
it's up to you to decide how you are going to react to it and learn from
it.

Ghoestrecon

I believe in karma, and think that if you do things to others that it
will come back on you like the wiccans say " ever mind the rule of three
what you do will come back to thee but times three"

I won't USE the word 'karma' (except HERE). What "I" BELIEVE IN 'IS THE
GOLDEN RULE'. "Do unto others as you would have them DO UNTO YOU". THAT
means (to me) 'That if you treat others with Disrespect (examples:
"Being RUDE and 'honking at others' WITH YOUR CAR HORN"; "Riding
Bicycles,Skateboards or Rollerskates ON THE SIDEWALK "where pedestrians
ARE TRYING TO WALK")', THEN YOU SHOULD EXPECT "SOMEONE" TO CURSE YOU
'FOR YOUR DISRESPECT'. On the 'Plus' side, IF YOU 'HELP' SOMEONE "who is
homeless OR disabled", THEN YOU SHOULD 'EXPECT' SOMEONE "to return the
good deed YOU did" WHEN 'YOU' NEED ASSISTANCE. Does "this" make ANY
SENSE 'TO ANYONE'???

i dunno bout anyone else but im cursing murphies law all the time you
know if anything can go wrong it will