pythorlh's Journal: Karma (and not the /. kind)

This is likely to ramble, but so be it.

I don't believe in God, and I don't particularly believe in an afterlife. Yet I find myself with a curious desire to believe in Karma. I think this is mostly just wishful thinking, since I consider myself a good person, and hope that I will be someday rewarded for that. Of course, if I did believe in Karma, I'd have to assume that I was a serious ass to a lot of people some time in the past, because my luck sucks.

Last night, I broke my parents' snowblower. Also, their $40 extension cord, which I ran over with the snowblower. Now, I freely admit that this was not mere luck. The cord was in an area that I would normally have shovelled by hand, so I should have found it. Of course, I tried to take a shortcut last night, and found it in a spectacularly damaging fashion instead. So, I can accept full blame for this.

But...(you knew there was a but coming, didn't you?) I specifically stated to my mother that the driveway did not need to be blown, since we got less than 4 inches, and aren't expecting any more. In addition, when the cord was originally placed where it is, I expressed the desire that it be placed somewhere else, for personal reasons, but not invalid ones. So, I think it safe to say that at least part of the responsibility for this rests on others, as well. Or I'm just real good at justifying my (non-existant) innocence.

The point is, I feel the need to explain this kind of thing, not just to shift blame from myself, though that may be part of it. I feel a desire to understand why so many things in my life end up this way. Decisions that I make, which would be perfectly reasonable in some situations, often turn out poorly. Sometimes, like yesterday, I should have been able to know better before hand, but other times, even, most of the time, the causes are unknown to me until after the fact. It seems, however, if there is any chance involved, that circumstances will always favor the worst outcome for me.

That sounds pessimistic, and I'm not. I look forward to every day (most of the time). I have a generally postive outlook, even on some of the things in my life that most people would react negatively too (and rightly so). But as an observer, and attempting to be objective, I still think that the majority of time, my optimism is unfounded. Given the chance, my luck will be bad. I just wish I knew why.

Which, of course, is its own falacy. The whole point of luck is that there is no why. And so I return to Karma. But if I don't believe in Karma, that doesn't help, and if I do, I think that I deserve better Karma than I get. Am I just a horrible person, and don't know it?

karma

[queenofthe1ring]

I think that I deserve better Karma than I get. Am I just a horrible person, and don't know it?

Uh, when you find out, you tell me, because I think we're riding the same train here.

Re:karma

[pythorlh]

Uh, when you find out, you tell me, because I think we're riding the same train here.

Well, sometimes I do feel like I being railroaded... But I don't think this is the train I meant to get on. Can I get a refund?

Re:karma

[Philip K Dickhead]

You want to believe in metaphysical Justice. Karma is something different than this!

The "Karma" of classical Hinduism referrs to those actions and qualities from past lives - not prior occurrences in this life.

Mastery of the Karmic cycle is not trivial in Hinduism. It involves the acceptance of the Karmic burden on this life, without those actions that perpetrate encumber new Karmic burdens - the turning of the wheel. For this, essentially, you have to stop being yourself - and then to stop being.

This is

Re:karma

[pythorlh]

Well, yeah. If I don't believe in reincarnation, I can't believe in the full Hindu Karmic burden. I was more refering to the popular perception of Karma, such as illustrated by Pay It Forward.

But not even quite that. I'm really trying to reject the notion of Karma, and get down to a deeper understanding of why these things happen to me. To facilitate a change. I can accept that there are clusters in all statistical phenomoenon, including luck. My personal experience may simply be a cluster of bad luc

more than likely

[sparky4]

that the old bumper sticker " shit happens " applies here. Just one of those times when it is best to laugh about it and move on.

Re:more than likely

[pythorlh]

Well, yes. I know that. And it happens to everyone at one time or another. There are however, some people that are at the ends of the bell curve, in both directions. I seem to be at the piled-higher-and-deeper end. I know some people who seem to be in the I-can-wear-flipflops-and-my-feet-stay-clean end.

My wife gets quite angry and upset when comparing herself to those people. I don't, but I do occasionally get depressed about it. I keep hoping for the best, but it never seems to happen. And still

Re:more than likely

[sparky4]

no need to shut up about it, none at all. I worked with a lady at the low end of the bell curve for about five years and admired her tenacity to just keep going on some of the really bad days. She could vent as much as she needed or wanted, venting is important. She somehow managed to keep up her humour as well, maybe in spite of, and said that if she didn't laugh she would cry.

Hope is a necessity, IMO. So please don't lose that.

I am one of those people who bought the really thick soled flipflops in h

Flying

[Shadow Wrought]

In getting my Private Pilot's Certificate, there were a couple things which really stuck with me and which I felt applied to life as well. The first is an old pilot saying, "Experience is that which you receive immediately after needing it."

The other is a bit more involved but it is referred to as the "accident chain." Every plane crash ever can be reduced down to a series of decisions- a chain as it were. If any single link fo the chain is removed, then the accident doesn't happen. Life works the sam

Re:Flying

[pythorlh]

Quite true, and I suppose this was a bad example of what I'm thinking about. But the end result seems to be that even when my decisions have no affect on that chain, the chain breaks at the right time to cause me problems. Not that I never have good things in my life, but that I get more bad than I would expect, statistically speaking.

I try to keep ahead of such things, I really do. I'm not terribly good at it, probably because I have a short attention span in general. But that's not quite my point. Th

Measure twice

[Red Warrior]

Think about if this cut is really necessary. Check to see that the saw has been sharpened recently. Check that the floor is clear of grease and obstructions. Measure again. THEN cut.

Tagging onto the comment about flying, because I think that flight schools do a good job at teaching the value of thinking THEN acting, even when in a time-constrained environment. As does the Army Safety Program (The military's safety community, not coincidentally has its roots in the miltary's flying community.) - said the for