(This post is part of the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge. You can find links to other writers' answers over at Long and Short Reviews.)
Prompt: Do you believe in Karma? Why or why not?
Easy answer: I don't believe in Karma. Not in the colloquial sense of, "If you do bad things then bad things will happen to you," and not in the more esoteric sense of "The weight of the good and bad things that you do in this life will determine what sort of life you will be born into next time around." Though if the latter version is true, then I can only hope that I have worked hard and advanced my soul enough to be reincarnated as one of my family's housecats.
As for the Why or Why Not? Well... look around. The super-rich are some of the most horrible, exploitive, damaging people on the planet, and they sure don't seem to be suffering much in the way of consequences for it. Whereas some of the best people I know seem beset on all sides with problems that aren't their fault and are frankly beyond their control.
That said... I do think that actions have consequences. I think that, in general, if you show yourself as untrustworthy, over the long term people aren't going to trust you. If you're a hateful, abusive person then over the long term people aren't going to want to be around you. But that's not Karma; that's just... people.
I agree with you!
ReplyDeleteLydia
Yes, Michael! I think this is what I was trying to say. You said it much more succinctly than I did.
ReplyDeleteThe consequence for them is that they can't take it with them after death, not matter how hard they try.
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely some truth to that.
DeleteI agree with you ... and I also think that good and bad can sometimes be a matter of opinion or attitude. Some of the happiest people I've ever known come from massively disadvantaged families or places. My daughter had an exchange student from Haiti, right after that earthquake, and that boy came from nothing and always had a smile on his face and kind words for everyone.
ReplyDeleteWhy I think in terms of the individual conscience...Nice, kind people have consciences that set us up for pneumonia if we "think we might have colds" as an excuse not to do something. Then again some political leaders seem to have no consciences at all.
ReplyDelete