Karma, on wiki page, is explained like this :
Karma is a concept in Hinduism which explains causality through a system where beneficial effects are derived from past beneficial actions and harmful effects from past harmful actions, creating a system of actions and reactions throughout a soul's reincarnated lives forming a cycle of rebirth.
From my perspective, karma is NOT a universal reward-punishment system maintained by some clairvoyant and omnipotent high power, nor is it a personal balance sheet where one's debit and credit is tracked.
Karma, in Hinduism, literally means "action" or "deed". When we take actions (including intangible actions such as thinking/emotions etc), we are, in the mean time, not only creating effects, but also creating an environment and, in turn, future. The outcome of it, might seem random at times, but statistically, it's probably significantly predictable.
A digression. The positive take from it, I think, is as what Gandhi said to "be the change you want to see in the world". A fairy tale goes like this : one person feels very frustrated that wherever he goes it rains, and later on it turns out that he is the rain God. In real life, we see people complaining that wherever he goes he has a bad boss and unfriendly peers. We see people always dating somebody who are abusive. I think when we feel the whole world is wrong, or same thing goes wrong all the time, chances are that we are the very cause that's sabotaging our own world.
OK, back to Karma. Quote Joe, my favorite teacher in Shambhala meditation center : "karma does not mean to punish you, but to give you a chance to understand others and empathize".
Many of us tend to be judgmental, including myself. When we perceive differences (between oneself and the target, or between one's ideal standards and the target's behavior), the easiest thing to do is to pass judgments and appear to be technically or morally superior. I personally did not stop committing that sin until karma put me under circumstances where I used to judge others. At this moment, I am reminded of what Yan once told me "he/she is no more, nor less" (than yourself).
Karma is a concept in Hinduism which explains causality through a system where beneficial effects are derived from past beneficial actions and harmful effects from past harmful actions, creating a system of actions and reactions throughout a soul's reincarnated lives forming a cycle of rebirth.
From my perspective, karma is NOT a universal reward-punishment system maintained by some clairvoyant and omnipotent high power, nor is it a personal balance sheet where one's debit and credit is tracked.
Karma, in Hinduism, literally means "action" or "deed". When we take actions (including intangible actions such as thinking/emotions etc), we are, in the mean time, not only creating effects, but also creating an environment and, in turn, future. The outcome of it, might seem random at times, but statistically, it's probably significantly predictable.
A digression. The positive take from it, I think, is as what Gandhi said to "be the change you want to see in the world". A fairy tale goes like this : one person feels very frustrated that wherever he goes it rains, and later on it turns out that he is the rain God. In real life, we see people complaining that wherever he goes he has a bad boss and unfriendly peers. We see people always dating somebody who are abusive. I think when we feel the whole world is wrong, or same thing goes wrong all the time, chances are that we are the very cause that's sabotaging our own world.
OK, back to Karma. Quote Joe, my favorite teacher in Shambhala meditation center : "karma does not mean to punish you, but to give you a chance to understand others and empathize".
Many of us tend to be judgmental, including myself. When we perceive differences (between oneself and the target, or between one's ideal standards and the target's behavior), the easiest thing to do is to pass judgments and appear to be technically or morally superior. I personally did not stop committing that sin until karma put me under circumstances where I used to judge others. At this moment, I am reminded of what Yan once told me "he/she is no more, nor less" (than yourself).
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