Webster's Unabridged Dictionary has the following definition listed for karma, which I find rather appropriate: "The doctrine of fate as the inflexible result of cause and effect; the theory of inevitable consequence." I like this definition, because it kinda gets at the root of what I believe karma to be and how it manifests itself in my everyday life. I live my life more by the "My Name is Earl" definition of karma: "do good things, and good things happen to you;" which is essentially the same thing, although a much more simplistic view of it.
The idea of karma derives from the Buddhist and Hindu beliefs in reincarnation. If you are a good person in this life, you will be reincarnated as something awesome, like a house cat, or a bikini model. However, if you are not a good person in this life, you will come back as something worse in your next life...say, a snail, or a blade of grass in a dog park. Your fate is determined by cause and effect. Good leads to good, and bad leads to bad. Simple enough. Take the religious aspect out of it (the reincarnation thing) and karma because something a little more immediate.
Without reincarnation, karma becomes more like the My Name is Earl definition. If you are a good person in your day to day life, good things will tend to happen to you. And conversely, if you are a bad person in your day to day life, bad things will tend to happen to you. This is a much more new-age theosophical view on karma that has become rather popular in the last 30 years or so. The idea that "what goes around comes around" is a very nice sentiment. If someone does something to you that you deem to be rather heinous, one can comfort themselves with the thought that they'll get what's coming to them.
I kinda like the idea that my actions have an actual consequence in how my life plays out. It gives me a sense of control. If everyone believed in the power of karma, I'd suspect we'd have a lot less mean and self-centered people. Now, I'm not saying I'm not self centered...but I don't think I'm self-centered to a fault. And I definately try to be a good person to those around me. I try to be helpful, and I try to be a good friend and to do good things. And, you know what, I think my life has been pretty good lately. So, apparently, its working!
I also like to take the idea of karma one step further. I think of karma like a bank. As you do good things, you get karma points saved up in your bank. Then, when amazing things happen to you, karma points get taken out of your bank. Similarly, when you do bad things, karma points get deducted, and when bad things happen to you, karma points get added in. Bad things you cause to happen to yourself don't give you karma points. And it's, of course, an inexact science. But it helps my logical brain quantify something that is, obviously, unquantifyable.
So, where am I going with all this? I guess the point is to be a good person to those around you, and good things will happen to you as well. It seems to be working for me. Also, these good things may not always manifest themselves in the ways we expect. Good things can come out of the blue! Finally, karma has no effect, whatsoever, on sports...because if it did, the Sharks would still be playing right now!
No comments:
Post a Comment