on karma

[arethinn]

comment I posted in wiccan:

Like silvertree, I'm a bit bugged by patching karma (a Hindu concept) into Wicca, especially what with the rather distorted conceptions Westerners tend to have of it. My opinion on karma is that it is basically cause and effect. An action's "effect" is not necessarily that it will return to you, like bouncing a ball off some cosmic wall. Taking a lot of negative actions does tend to encourage negative consequences, but then again, you might get away with it, too. I believe we should consult our ethics and then act as we feel is right; there is no way to know if one is an "agent of justice" or not, because such a thing is way beyond the nuance of our daily lives. By the same token, one should not not do things because "karma will take care of it".

Comments

[chemalfait.livejournal.com]

The word karma is usually translated as action or works. I look at it as strictly cause and effect. I don't look at it, as many do, as a sort of synonym for fate or destiny. Our actions and works do help shape our own fate or destiny, as do the actions and works of others,just as actions of others help shape the fate and destiny of ourselves. The most common illustration is the ripple effect, Drop a pebble in a pond and watch the ripples as they sweep out and touch everything, eventually reflecting off the banks and other objects, until the whole surface of the pond is covered in ripples. This is how I understand the idea of return,not so much tit for tat,but eventually the 'ripple' will return, though the ripple may be modified by what it has been reflected from.
Can one take command of karma? yes one can take command of their own actions. There is choice. We can determine our own actions. We are, however, sometimes at the mercy of the results of the actions of others. Then the choice is whether to act or react.This is also part of return.