According to some it is three times, others as much as seven. Why is that and where is the origin of there being a specified amount? As far as I'm concerned there isn't a specified amount, it is not for me to say. It is up to The Gods to decide the severity so it would not be possible for me to say.
Also, on a point about karma, although similar to karma I do not believe karma is accurate. From what I know of it, from Hinduism/Hare Krishnas, karma is similar in that all deeds good are bad have a reaction. However, karma is also linked to past lives and according to it a person born sick, poor, disadvantaged in some way etc. would mean that this was a direct result of their karma and deeds in their past life. So it would be with a person born rich, healthy etc.
2007-10-02 02:32:23 · 7 answers · asked by A-chan 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
However I would not see them as punishments or rewards. I believe that when I die I will go to the Afterlife and depending on how I have lived my life will determine I will be rewarded/punished accordingly. When I am reborn I will have a clean slate, so my past deeds in other lives will not be held against me.
2007-10-02 02:35:09 · update #1
Premaholic please clarify as I do not understand, karma was my latter point, what of the former?
2007-10-02 02:42:03 · update #2
Raven Winterstide I understand your point, although I do not worship the Divine or any impersonal or pantheistic Deities. Not all pagans share the same religious views, taking responsibilty for your actions to me means acknowledging that you will be held accountable for your actions and punishments are part of that if you have done wrong. The Gods set the standards for us to follow, in my view.
2007-10-02 02:58:45 · update #3
To me the world we live in is dependent on individual actions.
2007-10-02 02:59:47 · update #4
Nightwind, I explained above what karma is and I said that I do not see karma as accurate due to deeds from past lives affecting your current one as karma states. I myself am aware of many people today using the term karma yet not fully knowing what it means or entails. What I described, regarding what you give out you get back, you reap what you sow etc. is a tennent of my religion and is not any way a spin off, for want of a better term, of karma, I can assure you.
It is not a matter of "good" people being rewarded and "bad" people being punished. We all have aspects of both. It is our actions that we are held accountable for. What you give out you get back, regardless of whether it be good or bad. This not only applies to this current life but also in the Afterlife.
2007-10-04 00:05:45 · update #5
I agree with you that Karma might not be the best word for what you are describing. I think of it more as, "you reap what you sow". Likewise, if you plant one grain of corn, you will get a corn stalk with multiple ears of corn; each with multiple grains of corn on them. All from one seed. You reap WHAT you sow and you reap MORE than you sow.
This reaping is not just in the afterlife, but in the current life as well. Like a pebble in a pond. Drop a small pebble and it causes a ripple effect that reaches to all the backs of the pond. One pebble creates multiple ripples.
In this life, we will not see all of the ripples we create with our choices and our actions. That is why we must tread lightly in this life and seek to do good whenever and wherever we can. That one person you do good for; that one person you encourage or say something nice to--that one person may make a difference in the lives of millions because you gave just the right bit of help to them at just the right time.
2007-10-02 04:05:38 · answer #1 · answered by tempest_twilight2003 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I suspect the x3, x7, etc numbers come from different cultures, but that's a guess. Renaissance occultism accepted that there were three worlds working in tandem, each reflecting what was happening in the other two, and I've always wondered if that led to the idea of a threefold law. I don't believe you specifically get back what you put out. I believe in karma: that there are consequences for your actions. In general, you get good things for good deeds and bad things for bad deeds (people like helping the helpful neighbor and people don't like helping obnoxious people), but there's no rule promising such clear-cut consequences. People in Western society like the idea that good people get rewards and bad people get punished. We have no heaven or hell, so people start trying to twist ideas of karma into a reward and punishment system.
2007-10-02 11:06:21 · answer #2 · answered by Nightwind 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure of the actual origin of this common belief, but I know it comes to today's Craft Workers through Gerald Gardner's poem "The Wiccan Rede" ("Three times bad and three times good").
I do know that this is not actually the case (comes back three times or seven times or whatever). Karmic Law, in truth, reminds us that we have to live with what we create. Karma, literally, means "Deed", or to do something. Anything. Bad or good is of little consequence as far as the Doing of something. The catch is this: what kind of world do we want to live in? If we run around doing "Bad" things (creating a bad place to live), we get exactly that. Thus "bad" deeds give us "bad" consequences. If we create "Goodness" (or harmony) in our world, we get that instead.
As Pagans, we don't have to expect the Divine to punish us for our actions. Our lives are without rules of how to behave. This is what we mean by "We take responsibility for our actions". We just have to determine what kind of world we want to be surrounded by, and make it into what we want.
Hope that helps!
Be well in all things.
2007-10-02 09:54:06 · answer #3 · answered by Raven Winterstide 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We don't have karma persay. You layer it on. Orlog type thing...it's sort of hard to explain. Once it's in there you can't take it back, you can only put as much good on top of it as you can. What you do effects everything around you, a ripple effect with in turn can change YOUR life. It's not the same concept of karma, but sort of. If that makes sense. LOL
2007-10-02 09:54:33 · answer #4 · answered by ~Heathen Princess~ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This body and experience are "past" karma. What we "think" NOW is only adding to or taking away from that. Cause is not applicable on this level. This is effect. To "think" that things are caused here is to look away from the true results that are occurring in perfect sequence.
2007-10-02 09:40:02 · answer #5 · answered by Premaholic 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, I believe in perfect balance. You get precisely what you give, unless you're working in a group and then there's room for synergy.
As far as I'm concerned, the people with the multiples are just feeling some perspective bias. It's worse when it happens to them...
2007-10-02 09:37:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know. As a Wiccan, I get out what I put in, but I don't have karma.
Sorry, can't help you.
2007-10-03 08:50:29 · answer #7 · answered by LabGrrl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋