…I’m not really following, but I’m also exhausted and shouldn’t be anywhere near the internet right now.
I think we each might be understanding the word “karma” to mean something different. My understanding boils down to: do good to others, good things will happen to you; do bad to others, bad things will happen to you.
My observation is that the version I just described is fantasy. It’s not that it’s not instant, it’s that it’s completely absent. For every oppressor that meets a nasty end (feeding a confirmation bias to the existence of karma) there are dozens live their life of bliss only to die peacefully in their sleep of old age.
And I don’t believe in any afterlife, so I’m not going to count on some kind of ‘hell’ deliver the thusfar missing justice: they reached the finish line and that’s it. If karma - again as I understand it - was real, those fuckers would be much more motivated not to be evil, but here we are, completely surrounded by evil.
So I hear you about afterlife. Buddha didn’t address it and basically said it’s irrelevant. And since it’s not instant, and often returns to people from other sources in many ways, we often don’t associate correlation.
Bear with me a moment. If the kingdom of heaven is within, eg a state of being, look at perhaps the diary of Anne Frank. That is heaven. She lived in inner harmony, with a clear conscience. Dark triads understand emotions, they have them. They just can’t imagine anyone else feeling sorrow, pain, etc. I dare say most of the populace don’t seem to grasp realistic ideas of love. If they’re told they are loved with intermittent rewards and constant neglect, trauma bonds form. But how many who don’t get constant “I love you” in words and cuddles can draw the line from working overtime to provide extras, pay for extracurricular activities, making sure the vehicle is safe and maintained as love? Mowing and raking, cleaning, cooking? We’re so wrapped up in our own traumas, we tend to not consider what led our loved ones to have avoidant or inexpressive attachment style. And it takes work on both parts to resolve serious issue or part with love and forgiveness.
Now imagine the emptiness and inner turmoil inside the dark triad types. Every abusive word and deed is generated by that. Even if they don’t believe they need therapeutic intervention, they live with that.
PTSD, C-ptsd, CTE, were all poorly understood and treatment (societal) was retribution and isolation. We still do that with people we know had suffered abuse, from public leaders to school shooters. What lasting benefit does that bring society? Real solutions are expensive in time, money, consistency, but without them, dark triads keep being in business and social leadership positions, school shootings still happen. That is collective karma for collectively and continuously failing to address issues.
Life isn’t fair. It rains on the day of someone’s long awaited celebration, but also on the garden that yield sustinance. A life ends, another begins. The universe seems equilibrium, not equality and will balance itself. Dharma is the ability to accept that, in peace. The changes we seek in society means facing and fixing the worst of ourselves and strengthening the best. If we want leaders who aren’t twisted and corrupt, we have to take the time to fix ourselves, our own twistedness and corruption, and modeling that best behavior clearly and consistently to the generations behind us. It’s a slow process, not McDonald’s drive-through or you get McDonald’s drive-through solutions with McDonald’s drive - through results, like Bernie Madoff, hrc/djt, retributive segregation like CECOT, Rikers and Guantanamo and death penalities.
We all want better working conditions, better social conditions, better pay, how many are willing to suffer, die, to make it happen, or even get off Lemmy to attend public meetings, talk to neighbors with differing beliefs IRL? So we keep doing what we’ve been doing and keep getting the same results. That’s karma, failure to learn the lesson and correct ourselves. Dharma begins with understanding I can’t fix anything until I fix me, or have at least made consistent demonstrable progress. Then I have to put the same effort in my community where I can realistically contribute, take risks and be willing to suffer personal consequences for rewards I personally may not reap.
Apologies if I have to come back and clean this up. My device is doing a things where my field of vision is the beginning of this post, not where I’m typing.
Like I said, I think we’re talking about two different things. I didn’t intend to stir up any religious lore - my understanding and use of “karma” is the secular context of basically “what goes around comes comes around”. …and in the context of anything measurable within the scope of the lifespan of the person in question, karma doesn’t exist.
Maybe Buddha will pick out all the bad apples after they die and personally stomp on their testicles over the next million or so years as punishment for their evil: idk. But in the tiny 4 dimensional sliver of existence that we happen to live in, we’re on our own. And a recurring theme within that sliver is that being evil, especially on a large scale, will be rewarded constantly.
It’s the same thing. We think when we do a thing to others, in thought, word, act or omission, it’s justified, but when someone else does it to us, it’s different. That someone need not be the same individual or group, can be of a slightly different but related form, and it can be decades later, so we fail to relate. Karma is an invitation to confront our shadow selves, work with the shadow, recognize why it’s there, how it no longer serves us, love it, forgive it and heal. We fail to recognize the invitation, accept it, do the work, we keep getting opportunities for that, sometimes in incrementally harsher forms. That doesn’t mean boundaries and enforcement/correction are inappropriate, but that those things are a fool’s errand, and will repeat the cycle eventually, without having done our shadow work. There are a bunch of YT Videos if you care to know more. If not, that’s ok too. Be happy and well (btw I mentioned in the prior post that Buddha said he didn’t know if there is an afterlife and it’s moot).
…I’m not really following, but I’m also exhausted and shouldn’t be anywhere near the internet right now.
I think we each might be understanding the word “karma” to mean something different. My understanding boils down to: do good to others, good things will happen to you; do bad to others, bad things will happen to you.
My observation is that the version I just described is fantasy. It’s not that it’s not instant, it’s that it’s completely absent. For every oppressor that meets a nasty end (feeding a confirmation bias to the existence of karma) there are dozens live their life of bliss only to die peacefully in their sleep of old age.
And I don’t believe in any afterlife, so I’m not going to count on some kind of ‘hell’ deliver the thusfar missing justice: they reached the finish line and that’s it. If karma - again as I understand it - was real, those fuckers would be much more motivated not to be evil, but here we are, completely surrounded by evil.
So I hear you about afterlife. Buddha didn’t address it and basically said it’s irrelevant. And since it’s not instant, and often returns to people from other sources in many ways, we often don’t associate correlation.
Bear with me a moment. If the kingdom of heaven is within, eg a state of being, look at perhaps the diary of Anne Frank. That is heaven. She lived in inner harmony, with a clear conscience. Dark triads understand emotions, they have them. They just can’t imagine anyone else feeling sorrow, pain, etc. I dare say most of the populace don’t seem to grasp realistic ideas of love. If they’re told they are loved with intermittent rewards and constant neglect, trauma bonds form. But how many who don’t get constant “I love you” in words and cuddles can draw the line from working overtime to provide extras, pay for extracurricular activities, making sure the vehicle is safe and maintained as love? Mowing and raking, cleaning, cooking? We’re so wrapped up in our own traumas, we tend to not consider what led our loved ones to have avoidant or inexpressive attachment style. And it takes work on both parts to resolve serious issue or part with love and forgiveness.
Now imagine the emptiness and inner turmoil inside the dark triad types. Every abusive word and deed is generated by that. Even if they don’t believe they need therapeutic intervention, they live with that.
PTSD, C-ptsd, CTE, were all poorly understood and treatment (societal) was retribution and isolation. We still do that with people we know had suffered abuse, from public leaders to school shooters. What lasting benefit does that bring society? Real solutions are expensive in time, money, consistency, but without them, dark triads keep being in business and social leadership positions, school shootings still happen. That is collective karma for collectively and continuously failing to address issues.
Life isn’t fair. It rains on the day of someone’s long awaited celebration, but also on the garden that yield sustinance. A life ends, another begins. The universe seems equilibrium, not equality and will balance itself. Dharma is the ability to accept that, in peace. The changes we seek in society means facing and fixing the worst of ourselves and strengthening the best. If we want leaders who aren’t twisted and corrupt, we have to take the time to fix ourselves, our own twistedness and corruption, and modeling that best behavior clearly and consistently to the generations behind us. It’s a slow process, not McDonald’s drive-through or you get McDonald’s drive-through solutions with McDonald’s drive - through results, like Bernie Madoff, hrc/djt, retributive segregation like CECOT, Rikers and Guantanamo and death penalities.
We all want better working conditions, better social conditions, better pay, how many are willing to suffer, die, to make it happen, or even get off Lemmy to attend public meetings, talk to neighbors with differing beliefs IRL? So we keep doing what we’ve been doing and keep getting the same results. That’s karma, failure to learn the lesson and correct ourselves. Dharma begins with understanding I can’t fix anything until I fix me, or have at least made consistent demonstrable progress. Then I have to put the same effort in my community where I can realistically contribute, take risks and be willing to suffer personal consequences for rewards I personally may not reap.
Apologies if I have to come back and clean this up. My device is doing a things where my field of vision is the beginning of this post, not where I’m typing.
Edited typos
Like I said, I think we’re talking about two different things. I didn’t intend to stir up any religious lore - my understanding and use of “karma” is the secular context of basically “what goes around comes comes around”. …and in the context of anything measurable within the scope of the lifespan of the person in question, karma doesn’t exist.
Maybe Buddha will pick out all the bad apples after they die and personally stomp on their testicles over the next million or so years as punishment for their evil: idk. But in the tiny 4 dimensional sliver of existence that we happen to live in, we’re on our own. And a recurring theme within that sliver is that being evil, especially on a large scale, will be rewarded constantly.
It’s the same thing. We think when we do a thing to others, in thought, word, act or omission, it’s justified, but when someone else does it to us, it’s different. That someone need not be the same individual or group, can be of a slightly different but related form, and it can be decades later, so we fail to relate. Karma is an invitation to confront our shadow selves, work with the shadow, recognize why it’s there, how it no longer serves us, love it, forgive it and heal. We fail to recognize the invitation, accept it, do the work, we keep getting opportunities for that, sometimes in incrementally harsher forms. That doesn’t mean boundaries and enforcement/correction are inappropriate, but that those things are a fool’s errand, and will repeat the cycle eventually, without having done our shadow work. There are a bunch of YT Videos if you care to know more. If not, that’s ok too. Be happy and well (btw I mentioned in the prior post that Buddha said he didn’t know if there is an afterlife and it’s moot).