A lot of people like to talk about how there is no such thing as karma. I like to talk about how there’s no such thing as karma. The concept of karma is complex, and it’s very easy to oversimplify it. Most people seem to think that everyone who does something wrong will be punished. At least that’s what they seem to want to think. I think this is silly. The universe isn’t reciprocal when you pray. Why would it be when you’re being harmful? The truth of karma doubtlessly lies somewhere in between these contradictory visions
Consequences aren’t immediate
Actions that we view as impacting only one area of our lives, have multi-pronged effects. Something that we do, impacts a friend. That friend in turn has a reaction to their experience. If that reaction affects us, we’ve experienced a set of consequences. If not, we haven’t. Whether or not we experience consequeneces is pretty much all luck. Some situations have a blowback, others don’t.
Good behavior makes you stronger and more competent
If you can win by doing the right thing, you should. Winning by doing the right thing allows you to hone skills and work ethic. If you have a strong work ethic and are able to be disapassionantely make more “difficult” choices, I think you’ll have an advantage over someone who’s constantly underhanded. Consequences shouldn’t be the sole factor in your decision making. Think about willpower and self deception.
Self deception is dangerous
If you’re lying too much, your life is going to be difficult. You can lie to other people, but you might find yourself lying to yourself. This will only make your life more difficult. Be honest with yourself. Be honest about your flaws, and be honest about where you’re at. If you’re not winning, there’s always an opportunity to make a change.
Some bad behavior can save your ass
Or make you leapfrog others. The truth is that you’ll have to be selective about which bad behaviors you engage in. Some of them can trigger different responses from others. Generally speaking, you don’t want to risk your freedom. You also don’t want to risk someone going out of their way to hurt you. But when your back is against the wall, it’s sometimes easier to cheat than it is to do things the honest way. That’s ok, we’ve all been there. Just be selective about which bad behavior you engage in. Engaging with the wrong people can also bring you down.
The universe might not fight you on some bad behavior
And this might be because some bad behavior isn’t so destructive. You might be able to get away with a lot of bad behavior. It doesn’t mean that that behavior doesn’t have consequeneces. Playing loud music might not cause your neighbor to freal out, but you’re still reducing your own sleep time, for example. All actions have consequences, you just don’t feel them.
There is no pleasure without discipline
In order to create pleasure for someone, whether it be yourself or others, you have to live a life of intense focus and discipline. This is an example of karma. The positive actions and habits you cultivate will have positive consequences. To succeed in life, you not only want to avoid doing bad things. You want to maximize how much good you’re creating for yourself and other people. Just know that if you want to cultivate happiness, you have to be disiciplined.
Too much bad behavior leads to a negative response
If you impact too many people negatively, the Universe is going to smack you down. This is always super likely if you mess around with people’s feelings or livelihood and it seems to happen without fail. When you do too much to trigger other people, you have no control over their response. Be careful who you provoke.
Technology makes bad behavior more difficult to hide
Generally speaking. You might be able to pull off something really destructive or subversive. But most acts of dishonesty are harder to get away with nowadays. This means that if you want to be doing bad things, you either need to be selective or plan on being caught.
You impact the next generation
This is true across the board. There absolutely is such a thing as karma if you care about your kids. Everything you do is reflected in them. This is especially true if the decisions you make relate to finances or the government. Everything you do has an impact. The way you present has an effect on culture, and your physical footprint on the face of the earth lingers for a while depending on what you did. Don’t be the kind of person who leaves a bunch of plastic in the Sea. Think of the next generation.
It’s easier to succeed when you are cooperative
A lot of people really struggle with this idea. As far as I can tell, many people think that succeess is all about clawing your way to the top by any means necessary, and hurting those who are closest to you and around you. But if you hurt those around you, who will you be left to work with? The greatest successes are created by teams of really smart, talented people who work hard.
If you only break the rules when things are dire, you give yourself leeway
Deciding which moments are dire is probably going to be the hardest part. But if you stick to only breaking the rules when you need to, you make yourself stronger, and make it easier for yourself to survive. It’s about balancing survival instincts and consequences.
Karma != fake morality
If someone can convince you of an arbitrary moral construct, you’re probably going to be pretty easy to take avantage of. The concept of karma is based on the fact that actions have consequeneces. If you allow fake ideals and morals to cause you to invent consequences for other people’s behavior, or to absolve them, you’re crazy. Don’t let random idealistic views cause you to believe in karma. That’s for people who don’t have control over their lives.
Generally speaking, karma is a reality of the universe. It exists, just not the way most people think it does. If you learn about karma and how to use it your advantage, you can cultivate good karma and create positive momentum. Get enough positive momentum going, and you should be able to change your life. Getting too wrapped up in or to dismissive of karma can create problems in your life, and lead you to faulty, emotional thinking. The answer lies in the middle.
