How does karma work? reprised

[Krsnanatha]

Odd coincidence that just after we as a collective socially bound karmic unit (aka: one nation under God) bomb the living hell out of another similarly collectivized social group, our collective socially bound karmic unit experiences the ravages of not ten or fifty or even one hundred tornados but 298 separate tornados in a single week. In seven days the impersonally labelled "Mother Nature" lobbed what would without doubt be labelled a massive offensive military campaign of destruction if it could be tided to a specific nation or group of terrorists. It would be interesting to see even a vague mathematical equation of how many so-called bombing sorties those tornados would equate to in terms of destructive energy release. I wonder if this represents a mere down payment on a very complicated bill?

[theist]

Well you can look to any event in the world, large or small, and see that it has some karmic basis. All that we experience is a reaction to a previous cause. What about all the torneados that come in years when they has been no war?

 

The earthquake in San Francisco in 1989 some say was caused by all the homosexuals (sodomites). God was mad. Others point to built up tension along the fault line.

 

I question if there is such a thing as collective karma really. When you break it down it all looks individual. Individuals are affected. One man's house gets blown apart while his neighbors is left standing. how would that relate to this war?

[Guest guest]

christians find it difficult to understand such suferings due to disasters. hindus haveno such difficulty.

 

as a scieitifically andvanced society with a lot of data about weather patern and climate history,

it is well known that the area is for tornados.

 

despite that cities are built there, real estate guys sell land ther, builders build houses there, and some choose to live there as if there is no better land in USA.

 

that is bad karma. they took the risk, knowingly or unknowingly. they got the fruits.

 

there may be other karmas also why they chose to live there.

 

our karma now is to make them god conscious if they are willing to.

 

jai sri prabhupada!

 

 

[gHari]

During the original (Take One) Gulf War, I awoke at last from a nightmare in which I was lying in my bed cringing at the sound of squadrons of bombers flying overhead. I knew I had been reprimanded for not having enough compassion for the innocents in Baghdad, as I watched the video-game-like war coverage on CNN.

 

I thought that perhaps the tornadoes were destroying the homes and lives of those who perhaps did not feel appropriate distress for the destruction and human suffering that had been happening in the desert.

 

This kind of karma Christians can understand since, 'As ye sow, so shall ye reap'; and they are quite familiar with the demigods pelting them with frogs and all sorts of punishments. What they cannot cope with is the karma that spans lifetimes - the child born blind, etc. Jesus even asked "Who was at fault, the parents or the blind child?" Jesus knew the answer and apparently according to some excluded passages (Gospel of Thomas, etc.) did really teach reincarnation. Certainly he is hinting to it by asking this karma question.

 

I have grappled with why the church removed the teachings of reincarnation from the scriptures. Perhaps it was because people in the modes of passion and ignorance would see another lifetime as a chance to put off the required austerities until the next life, endlessly. Like my neighbour says, "Yah, I studied all that stuff, but this lifetime I'm just going to have fun. Next lifetime I'll become holy."

[Krishna69]

In this Kali yuga, law of karma hit on eveyone irrespective of whether he/she is going to take next birth which we are not aware. I have personally seen the other individual paying for his hurtful actions against another individual especially if that affected person happens to be really innocent or kind and good. It just takes time for the reaction to take place and bounce back to the one who hurt other but it certainly takes place. We normally tend to look at broader level when it comes to questioning the sufferings of sholdiers in war, congenitally malformed children etc. I would like to put it this way the reason as to why they suffer for nothing. Well. we think they are innocent, but as an individual we are not aware what that individual sholdier or his family member did to anyone in their life out of which they suffer now. We never know what the individual father or mother of a congenitally malformed child did to anyone in their past for which they are paying through the sufferings by looking at their malformed child. Then why the child is suffering. Actually the malformed child with mental retardation or blindness is taken care off properly by the parents and by taking care of such a child the parent pay off for their mistakes. A retarded child does not recognise whether he/she is suffering from their mental point of view. All that they know is they have someone to take care of them. The suffering and agony are more for the parents byall means. Law of karma operates at every level. An innocent girl who does not commit any hurt to other, but sleeps with someone out of wedlock, then it is still her mistake out of which she pays for it through childhood pregnancy. An innocent guy who does not hurt others if takes drugs and goes to prostitues but never hurt others still has to face for it by contracting severe diseases. He or she need not wait until next birth for their actions. I have also personally seen the law of karma operating in one's life after decades, where a man whose daughter was ditched by her husband which was a big disaster to her father and that father fell sick bedridden for two years. That father did lot of atrocities and spoiled many girl's life during his youth for which he is paying now. The girl was accepted by her husband only after two years during which time that girl's father incurred heavy loss in several ways and underwent so much of emotional torture. He may have realised his mistake as he grew up, but still what he did in past, he paid for it. What is the fault of the girl and why she has to suffer. She in turn ridiculed many people during her teens and never had respect for anyone for which she paid for her actions after her marriage. So what we do by hurting someone irrespective of whether we realise at a later stage or not we still have to pay for it.

In most of the instances we always see good people suffer and people who does hurtful and atrocious deeds enjoy their life. Probably the one who is good and paying for it must have realised his faults at the time of death or in the old age after doing so many atrocious things in his previous births (I use prebirth since Shree Krishna has stated it in GITA). But since he realised at the last minute of his life, his soul would have got purified and realised GOD, and yet GOD would accept the soul to HIM only after getting the soul paid for it. Its being wrongly interpreted that anyone who says chants GOD's name at the last minute will also be taken. Then in that case after murdering so many people for one's convenience, raping many girls for one's wish and spoiling many people's life if an individual says krishna krishna at the time of death, then where is the question of paying for his karma. Such are the souls who realise finally take birth as good people and suffer inspite of the fact they remain good to everyone. This is how in my strong opinion after understanding GITA, i feel Law of Karma operates. Thats the reason its better to realise GOD in the early stage so that we minimise our bad karma and pay for the past actions in this birth itself rather than taking rebirth. Krishna will not accept some soul to HIM just by saying Krishna Krishna at the last minute of death after performing so many atrocities. One has to pay for their actions at anytime and the time depends on how early we realise our mistakes and rectify ourselves to clean ourself.

KRISHNA/GOD SEES THE TRUTH BUT WAITS. TRUTH ALWAYS WIN. SO ITS BETTER NOT TO HURT OTHERS BY ANY MEANS THINKING THAT I AM NOT GOING TO BE AWARE WHAT I AM GOING TO SUFFER IN NEXT BIRTH.

Regards

Shyam