Is Karma really a b****?

[Reef]

93 everyone,

So last week a friend of mine was talking down on her boss, mentioning all the bad things he does as a person and blah blah blah. She ended her rant with "It's ok because Karma's a bitch and it's gonna back to him." And I felt like saying "Well I don't really think Karma's a bitch..." but I kept quiet. Between last week and today I must have heard that phrase at least 3 or 4 more times and I figured I'd ask everyone here what their opinion on Karma is.

[Alias55A]

Karma can be a bitch, especially when your going get get whats coming to you.
But its they way karma is percieved, it can be nice at times, and others not so nice. The nature of karma I don't think actually 'changes' from nice to bitch. Only the baggage you made swinging back around defines the family runion as crappy or nice.
Remember this is only 'my' two cents.

[Ash]

Since Karma is just Action, or cause and effect (according to Crowley at least), whether or not it is a bitch depends on whether or not you act like a bitch.

[Jim Eshelman]

Karma is a mirror... so, BIBO. (Bitch In, Bitch Out)

[tarot]

I've always thought, since I've always seen life as a kind of working vacation (or. better yet, an educational field trip) that Karma was a record of the things we have learned. It is transcript of our grades in all our previous courses (lives). This transcipt determines what life we will live next, since it's gaps determine what lessons we have yet to learn. To carry the analogy further, failed courses mean we must take some courses again.

Karma doesn`t reward or punish; Karma teaches.

Just my 2 cents

Dan

[Ash]

Karma is a mirror... so, BIBO. (Bitch In, Bitch Out)

I was literally going to use that exact metaphor but decided not to for whatever reason... I guess the allure of a 1-liner (or 2-liner) post was too strong

[Labyrinthus]

I figured I'd ask everyone here what their opinion on Karma is.

I think the Hindus really have made quite a study of this topic and I remember the following classifications were laid out by one guru;

* Karma that is relatively easy to change
* Karma that is difficult to change
* Karma that is nearly impossible to change.

The first would be attitude and outlook then moving on to what you choose to eat, where to live. Then things like position in a California traffic flow (bumper to bumper moving 70 miles per hour when the car in front of the car in front of you has a blowout) and finally things like birth conditions and body status....

[Reef]

These are all really good responses. I am still formulating my own opinion on the matter however I am erring on the side of "Bitch In, Bitch out" as Jim so elegantly put it I just find it interesting that people maliciously tossing the idea out there like "Shoot...that fool double crossed me...and I can't do anything about it....maybe I can't but Karma will mwahahahha!! "

It's like, really? Doesn't that just bring about more bad karma for the person wishing bad karma on someone else?

[Edward Mason]

93,

Reef wrote:

Doesn't that just bring about more bad karma for the person wishing bad karma on someone else?

Only in the sense that others will wish you harm. If we get paranoid about our unpopularity, the only recourse is to hole up behind closed doors, possibly with a couple of loaded guns, and a Grimoire or two.

Honest emotional reaction needn't be repressed. It only becomes a problem if we take it to the point of actively trying to cause harm, either through physical means or (assuming we have the skill and the negative passion) magical ones.

93 93/93,

Edward

[Alias55A]

Reef Wrote:

I just find it interesting that people maliciously tossing the idea out there like "Shoot...that fool double crossed me...and I can't do anything about it....maybe I can't but Karma will mwahahahha!!

That's not exactly true, if something "crossess" you, and you have the opportunity to do something about it, then so be it. That conecept is different, and justifiable compared to a snapping on the whim.
See also in Liber LXXVII, point 5.: "Man has the right to kill those who thwart these rights". Yep I have that Liber in a frame setting on my alter. Killing someone or something is an extreme. But an eye for an eye is suffice, but only if it is your will, if not, let it alone. And the "Karma" thing is geared towards a passive concept, for the most part, I beleive there is room for retaliation, under the right cercumstances, but for example in my case, I hardly ever had a need to retaliate, it's usualy a rarity.

[AvshalomBinyamin]

Retaliation doesn't necessarily fit very well with True Will. If you're following your True Will, you're not likely to let yourself get sidelined by the temptation to invest time and energy into revenge. Liber Oz recognizes that you have a right to do whatever it takes to live your will, but you're still limited, since 'thou hast no right but to do thy will'.

[Poet]

Hmm, the thought "Karma is a b****" seems to me symptomatic of a general failure to accept responsibility for ones actions.
Karma being nothing more than the effect of our actions. Karma just is.

Responsibility is the price freedom demands.

[Seraph]

I'm really not into the idea of karma that some cosmic force is addressing injustices done to other people. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.

The idea of karma I can completely get on board with is the idea that doing bad things makes the universe a little bit worse for everyone, including oneself.

If I were to burgle someone's house and steal the wedding ring a person's grandmother gave them, or if I were to deliberately step on a slug, I don't believe someone's going to come round and steal my sentimental things or some slug confederation is going to come get me for it.

It does make my world a bit worse - burglaries are up, people a little bit more wary, fearful, over-protective perhaps. My inclination to do wanton harm and cruelty to the living creatures has been increased, if only by a tiny amount. I lose just a tiny portion of my love for the universe, and Her for me.

Of course, the opposite is also true.

True story: in my local supermarket, one day I was standing at the checkout with a week's worth of shopping, and there was only one person manning the tills at the time. A guy came into the queue behind me holding a sandwich and a coke. I noticed his look at the amount of time I was about to take through, and told him he could go in front of me. His girlfriend (I presumed) was behind him with the same amount, and I let her past me too. They were ever so grateful and quite surprised. I do the same thing as a matter of course at that supermarket for a few weeks, and these days I see it happening all the time, but not at other supermarkets around the same area.

I'd like to think I just made things a tiny bit better round here, if only to have people being more aware of people around them.

[TheSilent1]

Karma is a mirror... so, BIBO. (Bitch In, Bitch Out)

So true, and the more magick we do the clearer that mirror becomes...