Poll: Do you believe in karma?

[Fightbulb]

Simple question really, do you believe in the existence of karma? To quote Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma], "Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others. The results or 'fruits' of actions are called karma-phala. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well."

Or, simply put, when you do good things, good things happen to you, and vice versa.

Me, I don't believe in it. A few years ago I did buy it, and I really went out of my way to be as good a person as I could possibly be, until I realised that what I did had no significant, positive change on my life. Well, it did change one thing actually, people just started to take advantage of my desire to help people. It took me a while to realise that, and this is just my opinion, it doesn't matter how you live your life, I can't force myself to believe in some higher power deciding whether I deserved a good day or not. Now I just find it a ridiculous premise.

"According to karma, performing positive actions results in a good condition in one's experience, whereas a negative action results in a bad effect. The effects may be seen immediately or delayed. Delay can be until later in the present life or in the next."

That's the kind of stuff that makes me doubt the entire concept. Couldn't it be that good and bad things just happen randomly for no reason?

So anyway, discuss, vote, etc. Thanks.

 

[NeedAUserName]

I believe in the very simplistic "My Name Is Earl" version.

I'm just trying to be a better person
My name is Earl

 

[curlycrouton]

I want it to exist, just so Earl Hickey hasn't been wasting his time.

EDIT:

I believe in the very simplistic "My Name Is Earl" version.

I'm just trying to be a better person
My name is Earl

Dammit, ninja'd.

 

[D_987]

I think Karma is a load of nonsense. Of course we are going to have ups and downs in our lives, so if we do something wrong - when something bad happens, we blame Karma instead of ourselves.

 

[Ranooth]

I used to strongly believe in it a couple of years ago, but many things that go against it seem to keep happening to me so i have gradually lost faith in it. Now i just see it as another scapegoat created for people's problems.

 

[Avida]

I dont believe karma exists, but i was a utter douchebag a few years ago and now i try to be nice and life got better, so why the hell not, ill live by it anyway.

 

[zen5887]

I'm a strong believer in Karma.

 

[fletch_talon]

Karma to a degree is just logic.

If you treat people nicely, then they are more likely todo the same, if you cheat on your wife, you are likely to get caught.

I know karma suggests theres a mystical force behind it, but ultimately I disagree, there are too many nice people who are treated like crap and way too many anal sphincters out there who live perfectly happy lives with people who love and adore them.

 

[J-Man]

While life tends to be easier if you're nice, that isn't karma, that's others perceiving you in a good light and treating you knowing they like you. If karma did exist, then why would George Bush still be alive?

 

[aussiesniper]

I think that karma does not exist in the spiritual sense, but that the social nature of humans creates a karma-like effect (albeit an inefficient and unfair version). An example of this is reputation. If you get a bad reputation (either through doing socially unacceptable deeds or through being a victim of the stranger social norms) you are generally treated poorly relative to someone who has a very good reputation. Unfortunately, it's very ineffective and often ends up punishing people seemingly at random (such as the OP's kindness being abused).

 

[Kevvers]

I don't believe that suffering in this life is a cosmic punishment for bad deeds done in a previous life. But then I guess Karma is one of those things where you don't need to believe it. Either it is true or it isn't.

 

[October Country]

Like some of the above posters I do not believe in the religious/spiritual aspect of Karma, but that is no reason to believe that your actions won't have consequences. You are still interacting with other people who will see you in a different light based on your actions whether they are good or bad

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

I think if you do good things you feel better so that when you look at your situation you feel better, seeing that good things were always happening, you just notice them more etc.

 

[The Blind Prophet]

I believe in Karma, it gives me some sort of aim in life.

 

[iseko]

If you do nice things. Nice things will come your way. If you treat people like shit they will treat you like shit too.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

I have met way too many happy dickheads to believe in karma.

 

[Fightbulb]

If you do nice things. Nice things will come your way. If you treat people like shit they will treat you like shit too.

I'm going to have to disagree with this. I've met horrible, selfish, arrogant people who still managed to get everything out of life, including friends. On the other hand, some of the nicest people I know constantly get ripped off and treated like shit by people callous enough to take advantage of their kindness.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

I think that karma does not exist in the spiritual sense, but that the social nature of humans creates a karma-like effect (albeit an inefficient and unfair version). An example of this is reputation. If you get a bad reputation (either through doing socially unacceptable deeds or through being a victim of the stranger social norms) you are generally treated poorly relative to someone who has a very good reputation. Unfortunately, it's very ineffective and often ends up punishing people seemingly at random (such as the OP's kindness being abused).

I agree with the above post. I think Karma does exist in our world today in some form or another, but unfortunately some people (Bush and Cheney, I'm looking at you) lead charmed lives despite being horrible, horrible people. *shrugs* C'est la vie....

 

[iseko]

If you do nice things. Nice things will come your way. If you treat people like shit they will treat you like shit too.

I'm going to have to disagree with this. I've met horrible, selfish, arrogant people who still managed to get everything out of life, including friends. On the other hand, some of the nicest people I know constantly get ripped off and treated like shit by people callous enough to take advantage of their kindness.

Maybe, i've seen bad things happen to good people. But when those bad things happen their friends are there to help them.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

I think Karma is a load of nonsense. Of course we are going to have ups and downs in our lives, so if we do something wrong - when something bad happens, we blame Karma instead of ourselves.

Actually, that's not always the case-

All living creatures are responsible for their karma ? their actions and the effects of their actions ? and for their release from samsara.

So Karma is really the law of cause and effect- what you send out comes back to you.