What is "Karma"?
When a person begins exploring the weird world of things, and of things going on in the weird world, I imagine everything is very confusing (I don't remember - I was a baby when it happened to me
).
In order to make sense of it all, people begin looking for patterns. As soon as (true) patterns are noted, the individual can begin using them very effectively, even if the thing causing the pattern is not yet known.
For example, many thousands of years before anybody understood why earth went through a predictable series of seasons, people were able to use that pattern to decide when to plant, when and what to hunt, where to pasture the flock.
Statements like: "do unto others as you would have others do unto you", "what goes around comes around", and " you are really asking for trouble" all note a specific pattern.
Very simply the pattern is this: people who create problems will have problems. (I know. It is so incredibly obvious one wonders why people have a constant need to be reminded)
Karma, though, is the explanation as to why the pattern occurs. In other words, Karma is the science behind the truth of "what goes around comes around."
Karma is not a thing. "Karma" is a category name for a specific type of cause/effect relationship.
Imagine all the cause and effects events that go on constantly - everything, from tiny particles to massive stuff in space, are part of a single ongoing cause/effect relationship.
Most of it humans can't do much about. If a volcano is about to blow, I can't stop it. If a random cosmic ray corrupts a computer file, I can't stop it. None of this stuff is Karma. It's just stuff that happens.
However, people do have some control over one specific thing - the choices they make. "Karma" is the term used for the cause/effect relations that people create when they make a choice.
The word, Karma, means "action." Sentient beings (like us!) get to choose which of many possible actions we will take in many situations every day.
Karma suggests that we choose wisely because what goes around comes around.
When a person begins exploring the weird world of things, and of things going on in the weird world, I imagine everything is very confusing (I don't remember - I was a baby when it happened to me
).In order to make sense of it all, people begin looking for patterns. As soon as (true) patterns are noted, the individual can begin using them very effectively, even if the thing causing the pattern is not yet known.
For example, many thousands of years before anybody understood why earth went through a predictable series of seasons, people were able to use that pattern to decide when to plant, when and what to hunt, where to pasture the flock.
Statements like: "do unto others as you would have others do unto you", "what goes around comes around", and " you are really asking for trouble" all note a specific pattern.
Very simply the pattern is this: people who create problems will have problems. (I know. It is so incredibly obvious one wonders why people have a constant need to be reminded)
Karma, though, is the explanation as to why the pattern occurs. In other words, Karma is the science behind the truth of "what goes around comes around."
Karma is not a thing. "Karma" is a category name for a specific type of cause/effect relationship.
Imagine all the cause and effects events that go on constantly - everything, from tiny particles to massive stuff in space, are part of a single ongoing cause/effect relationship.
Most of it humans can't do much about. If a volcano is about to blow, I can't stop it. If a random cosmic ray corrupts a computer file, I can't stop it. None of this stuff is Karma. It's just stuff that happens.
However, people do have some control over one specific thing - the choices they make. "Karma" is the term used for the cause/effect relations that people create when they make a choice.
The word, Karma, means "action." Sentient beings (like us!) get to choose which of many possible actions we will take in many situations every day.
Karma suggests that we choose wisely because what goes around comes around.
