(This originally started out as a rant about karma, but now it's changed. I've gone ahead and labeled the sections so read what you want I guess)
Karma
I've told myself for years now that I didn't believe in karma. In fact, I asked my friend Shane last night if he believed in it - He replied with "As a christian, yes. As an observer to nature, no, I don't." He went on to explain to me that it didn't make sense for one to commit an action then believe you deserve something bad that had nothing to do with the original action.
However, what puzzles me is when I go to talk about certain subjects, I find that after speaking about them to people openly, any events regarding those subjects seem to turn sour. I wonder sometimes if this is simply a coincidence or maybe karma does exist and throws things in my face when I start to get over confident about them.
So i ask myself again - Does karma exist? Or do I simply equate the fact that bad things happen after I speak about them openly because I'm afraid to admit that I made my own mistakes? I'm going to stick with the latter for now...
Coincidence
Another thing I've been thinking a lot about lately is coincidences. What is it to label something as a coincidence? My friend Daniel told me once that if I called something a coincidence, I'm essentially saying that no other possibility is plausible. I know Spock isn't real, but I think he would say that would be illogical to even assume anything is a coincidence without having an overwhelming amount of proof.
I find that I usually don't have that proof when I call something a coincidence. More recently, I've seen and felt things happen that seem to go beyond coincidence but are unexplainable still. I try to explain it to people but only one person understands because only that person has seen and felt what I've seen and felt.
I feel like the lack of belief in coincidences has helped me become a better learner. I no longer have any reason to lean on for my lack of intelligence. Claiming something as a coincidence instead of trying to measure the differences between what it was and how it came is not an excuse anymore for me.
Honesty
Honesty is a bitch, but until you can be honest, you can't be a friend. And until you can be a friend, you'll never experience true romance. I've lied myself through multiple relationships - both friends and girls I lusted after. It's never ended well for me, and it probably never will. The only reason i know honesty works is not because I have seen it not work so many times, but because there's one time where I've been completely honest with someone, and it feels great. It really does. I can't tell you how easy it is to talk to this person because I don't need to explain myself about anything because I have nothing to hide.
Love
The last thing I want to talk about is love. People have this idea that love and romance are the same thing, but I don't think they are. Recently, I had a conversation with a girl I had a little thing with back in high school. She told me that she thought love was different based on the relationship with that person. That didn't make a lot of sense to me because if that was true, then the idea that you should ever be a girl's (or guy's) friend before being their lover would be crazy.
I'm sure every dude that reads this has either heard of or has been in the friend zone. Most guys say that's dangerous territory because you're essentially sealing your fate. I'm not sure if it's just from being older and wiser now, or I like girls that don't do that stupid shit, but the friend zone is where you should put yourself. The moment you do that and show a girl that you're truly her friend - you MAY have won her heart, but don't count on that.
The reason you should be putting yourself in the friend zone is to BE THEIR FRIEND. If she realizes that she doesn't have feelings for you, that doesn't mean you should end it because all you have shown her is that she was right for not falling for you. It's a complicated game, but trust me - when you just accept being a girls friend a few things will happen:
A. You'll be a lot happier. Sounds weird, but it's true. You're not worried whether or not she's sending you signals or if she is getting your signals or if signals are there in the first place (Being honest someone actually takes away from the whole reading signals thing because they become a lot easier to read)
B. If she doesn't choose you, you've pretty much guaranteed a foot in the door with any of her friends. Girls talk, and they talk a fucking ton - especially to other girls. If you impress one girl with just being her friend, think about what she's going to say to her friend who just broke up with her dumb ex-boyfriend/ Your name is at the top of the list of guys to recommend to her friends.
I just want to say that if I read this 6 months ago, and saw that my future self typed this, I would probably be thinking "What the fuck is going to happen between now and then..." because this is all news to me. I'm also saying all of this based on the fact that I may not even end up with the girl that I'm smitten with. But it won't matter in the end, because being her friend really does mean everything to me.
I'm going to end this blog with a clip that applies to my life right now in a way, and applies to this blog probably in every way:
I've told myself for years now that I didn't believe in karma. In fact, I asked my friend Shane last night if he believed in it - He replied with "As a christian, yes. As an observer to nature, no, I don't." He went on to explain to me that it didn't make sense for one to commit an action then believe you deserve something bad that had nothing to do with the original action.
I found your friend's quote to be delightfully idiotic. Karma is one of the most basic laws of the universe and to deny its existence is to deny the existence of all rational thought.
I've told myself for years now that I didn't believe in karma. In fact, I asked my friend Shane last night if he believed in it - He replied with "As a christian, yes. As an observer to nature, no, I don't." He went on to explain to me that it didn't make sense for one to commit an action then believe you deserve something bad that had nothing to do with the original action.
I found your friend's quote to be delightfully idiotic. Karma is one of the most basic laws of the universe and to deny its existence is to deny the existence of all rational thought.
Wow, that's opinionated. I don't believe in karma. Karma has absolutely nothing to do with rational thought even if it exists. And finally, there is no evidence of karma existing.
Karma is the law of cause and effect. I think Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and every person who considers themselves a scientist would disagree with you.
On October 11 2012 02:49 il0seonpurpose wrote: Can you elaborate on how your friend is a Christian yet he believes in karma?
I was actually going to, but I don't even know. He's conflicted I think between what he believes to be true and what he knows to be a true. I thought the same thing though when he said that to me.
On October 11 2012 02:49 Ghin wrote: Karma is the law of cause and effect. I think Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and every person who considers themselves a scientist would disagree with you.
I don't think so. All of the people you have listed would admit that for every cause, there is an effect. But Karma is not necessarily the direct correlation between cause and effect - And in fact, I think that Karma calls for two events that are not actually directly linked through cause and effect. Instead, it's the acceptance that you deserve B, for doing A, when in fact neither A or B have anything to do with each other aside from being similar actions.
I've told myself for years now that I didn't believe in karma. In fact, I asked my friend Shane last night if he believed in it - He replied with "As a christian, yes. As an observer to nature, no, I don't." He went on to explain to me that it didn't make sense for one to commit an action then believe you deserve something bad that had nothing to do with the original action.
I found your friend's quote to be delightfully idiotic. Karma is one of the most basic laws of the universe and to deny its existence is to deny the existence of all rational thought.
Karma is not a basic law of the universe. It's not even a law. Karma is how you perceive it. There are those who won't even accept the consequences of actions that ARE related - What makes you think that Karma which calls for 2 events that have nothing to do with each other, is universal when the idea in itself is absurd?
On October 11 2012 02:49 Ghin wrote: Karma is the law of cause and effect. I think Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and every person who considers themselves a scientist would disagree with you.
That concept works in science, I agree with that.
However, it doesn´t work regarding human actions. First of all, to prevent misunderstanding, I define Karma as:
If you do something good, something good will happen to you sooner or later. If you do something bad, something bad will happen to you sooner or later.
But that´s not the case, life doesn´t work that way. It happens quite often that people suffer but it´s not their fault.(Genetic diseases, Car accidents they didn´t cause, ...) Now, if we assume that these people did good things in their life Karma doesn´t work.
Sometimes, people don´t get what they deserve based on their actions in life.
Rules of Science!=Rules of Human Society. You need to differ between these two.
Science is rational while our society and human behaviour is certainly not. That´s why Karma doesn´t really work for humans.
On October 11 2012 02:49 Ghin wrote: Karma is the law of cause and effect. I think Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and every person who considers themselves a scientist would disagree with you.
That concept works in science, I agree with that.
However, it doesn´t work regarding human actions. First of all, to prevent misunderstanding, I define Karma as:
If you do something good, something good will happen to you sooner or later. If you do something bad, something bad will happen to you sooner or later.
But that´s not the case, life doesn´t work that way. It happens quite often that people suffer but it´s not their fault.(Genetic diseases, Car accidents they didn´t cause, ...) Now, if we assume that these people did good things in their life Karma doesn´t work.
Sometimes, people don´t get what they deserve based on their actions in life.
Of course it doesn't work like that. Why would it?
All your actions have consequences. If you do good things, people will notice and treat you nicely. You will gain friends and be closer to your fellow human beings. If you act like an asshole, people will hate you and treat you poorly. It's very simple.
Being nice doesn't protect you from diseases and car crashes. Where is the logic in that? What relation does you helping someone have to do with getting sick?
Wayne: Precisely. Whenever someone tells me they believe in karma, my response is to ask them what all the starving children in Africa did to deserve it? What did the citizens who get gunned down in massacres do to deserve it? What did the 9/11 victims do to deserve it? What about disaster victims? And, because such unexpected death affects all their family and friends, clearly they all deserved such a horrible thing to happen to them too...
On October 11 2012 02:49 Ghin wrote: Karma is the law of cause and effect. I think Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and every person who considers themselves a scientist would disagree with you.
You might want to look up what Karma is or ask a Buddhist.
On October 11 2012 02:49 Ghin wrote: Karma is the law of cause and effect. I think Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and every person who considers themselves a scientist would disagree with you.
That concept works in science, I agree with that.
However, it doesn´t work regarding human actions. First of all, to prevent misunderstanding, I define Karma as:
If you do something good, something good will happen to you sooner or later. If you do something bad, something bad will happen to you sooner or later.
But that´s not the case, life doesn´t work that way. It happens quite often that people suffer but it´s not their fault.(Genetic diseases, Car accidents they didn´t cause, ...) Now, if we assume that these people did good things in their life Karma doesn´t work.
Sometimes, people don´t get what they deserve based on their actions in life.
Of course it doesn't work like that. Why would it?
All your actions have consequences. If you do good things, people will notice and treat you nicely. You will gain friends and be closer to your fellow human beings. If you act like an asshole, people will hate you and treat you poorly. It's very simple.
Being nice doesn't protect you from diseases and car crashes. Where is the logic in that? What relation does you helping someone have to do with getting sick?
You need to look at the big picture. You say, all your actions have consequences. That´s true. However, as far I know it also means that good actions cause good reactions and bad actions cause bad reactions. Let´s assume that if you do good things, people will treat you nicely. Even that isn´t true. Some people just use you to gain adavantage. So your nice actions caused you harm and pain. Basically, that´s all I need to say to prove that Karma doesn´t exist. In order to prove that something isn´t true, all you need to do is to find a counterexample. Here you got one.
Now, let´s assume that your good actions cause good reaction. But does that really matter when you die in a car crash or from a terrible disease? No, it doesn´t because you are dead. All your good actions were meaningless in the big picture and it´s also possible that you, a good person died, while an asshole has a good and happy life. Where´s your Karma now? It doesn´t exist for human actions.
I would 100% agree if Karma in society would be defined as: "Every action you take causes a reaction from your enviroment."
However, it is defined as: "Do something good and something good happens to you. Do something bad and something bad happens to you." And that´s simply false. I should also mention that Karma isn´t a concept of science, it´s based on religion and it´s spiritual. It doesn´t try to explain the laws of the nature. That´s not what Karma is.
I would also claim: If Karma would exist, life would be fair and everyone would get what he/she deserves. But to be honest, I do not believe that the world works like that.
Karma is not fate, nor predestination, nor reincarnation or any other nonsense. It is the simple law of cause and effect as I have stated. Being good doesn't prevent bad things from happening to you. Just because someone in the past told you what they defined karma as doesn't make it true. I have been telling you what karma is. This also doesn't make it true, but I feel that's an irrelevant tangent.
Now, let´s assume that your good actions cause good reaction. But does that really matter when you die in a car crash or from a terrible disease? No, it doesn´t because you are dead. All your good actions were meaningless in the big picture and it´s also possible that you, a good person died, while an asshole has a good and happy life. Where´s your Karma now? It doesn´t exist for human actions.
I would argue that everything matters because all existence is non-permanent. Everything is constantly changing. You are not the same person you were half an hour ago. Everyone here will be dead in a hundred years or a thousand. The pieces of your body will decompose and make up new things, and so on. Because everything dies and ends, you must learn to enjoy your life now. Buddhism teaches us how to accept the impermanent state of existence. It teaches us how to enjoy our lives while we still have them.
On October 11 2012 03:43 Ghin wrote: Karma is not fate, nor predestination, nor reincarnation or any other nonsense. It is the simple law of cause and effect as I have stated. Being good doesn't prevent bad things from happening to you. Just because someone in the past told you what they defined karma as doesn't make it true. I have been telling you what karma is. This also doesn't make it true, but I feel that's an irrelevant tangent.
Now, let´s assume that your good actions cause good reaction. But does that really matter when you die in a car crash or from a terrible disease? No, it doesn´t because you are dead. All your good actions were meaningless in the big picture and it´s also possible that you, a good person died, while an asshole has a good and happy life. Where´s your Karma now? It doesn´t exist for human actions.
I would argue that everything matters because all existence is non-permanent. Everything is constantly changing. You are not the same person you were half an hour ago. Everyone here will be dead in a hundred years or a thousand. The pieces of your body will decompose and make up new things, and so on. Because everything dies and ends, you must learn to enjoy your life now. Buddhism teaches us how to accept the impermanent state of existence. It teaches us how to enjoy our lives while we still have them.
You are simply stating that all causes have effects, which is true by definition. Such statement does not qualify as a "law" in scientific meaning, unless you provide specific causes and specific effects which they cause.
By the way, here's a definition of scientific law: A scientific law is a statement based on repeated experimental observation that describes some aspect of the world. As you can see, you also need empirical evidence to make something a law.
I would like to think you understood what I meant enough to not correct the details of my writing. You assumed I meant the word law in a scientific sense when it has other meanings as well, although it does hold up in the sense you wrote about. Communication is about understanding someone else and it is easier to do when you have a goal of understanding their thoughts and not correcting their words or arguing your own selfish points.
I simply thought the first quote was a great irony and I pointed it out. I then made what I feel was a mistake in trying to explain myself. I realize there isn't much point in clarifying what I mean if you have no intention of understanding me. You can probably find some sources of information to learn more about what existence and Buddhism really are and practice them yourself. I can try to give you some good sources of information if you like. I wouldn't trust wikipedia for learning about Buddhism unless you want to know about the rituals, religions, and superstitious parts.
On October 11 2012 02:49 Ghin wrote: Karma is the law of cause and effect. I think Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and every person who considers themselves a scientist would disagree with you.
Karma has moral implications though. From the best we can conclude from the world around us there is no form of objective morality (or really anything). The only "constant" or "balance" is the universe is that everything must keep the speed of light constant. So I'd have to disagree all "Karma" would be cause and effect but cause and effect does not mean Karma. I think if Einstein used the word it would be in a similar fashion to how he used the word "god".
The karma i'm talking about is the fact that an effect happens, but is not necessarily related to the cause. I'm not talking about simple cause and effect. Karma isn't cause and effect simply because the Cause and the Effect in karma situations have no relation to each other and one did not cause the other.
EPT
