Guest guest Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 This is my question about karma. If you do a good thing such as paying a old man that asks u for 1 dollar at 2pm and you would get something special on 6 pm that has nothing to do with the old man at 2pm, should one belive that the something special happen because of the good thing you did at 2pm? What if u would do a bad thing such as not pay the poor man, would you still get the special gift that has nothing to do with the old man or the money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 it is possible that if you do a good thing you receive immediately the results... but not granted, maybe we are paying or receiving now for things done millions of yugas ago... the karma law is very difficult to understand .....also if an action is good or bad is very difficult to understand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kulapavana Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 do not think that just giving some old man money is always good karma. if he spends it on meat or intoxication it is BAD karma for you! learn about different types of charity from Bhagavad Gita. as to your original question: there may or may not be quick effects of your karma, depending on arrangements constantly being made by the demigods. it is a very complex world you know... /images/graemlins/smile.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 So, how is it that you can be held responsible for what the man did with the money you gave him? How could you know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 yes you are responsible.. acting directly or through your money is the same thing if we do not know what the people is going to do with the things we give them better not to give.. if we give a big knife to a child we are responsible ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gHari Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 It is all simply behaviour modification, designed to perfect our hearts for life in the Kingdom of God. A small boy finds his mother's lipstick and scribbles on the bedroom wall. She then buys some crayons and colouring books for him. He no longer writes on the walls with lipstick. No punishment was required to change the behaviour; just a higher taste. I drive past a man on a freezing highway carrying a gas can near an abandoned car. Two years later I run out of gas in the winter cold. No one stops to help me either as I walk ninety minutes in the snow. I will learn to have compassion, to have empathy. If I kill you, then you kill me, I will learn that being killed isn't cool; ergo killing is not cool. Eventually I become a vegetarian. So it's really not punishment, it's just whatever it will take to correct that flaw in our character that led to the unfortunate action or behaviour. Therefore the wise man sees it all as God's mercy, helping him clean up to be qualified for the eternal life in the land of no anxiety, in the land where everyone has learned one way or another not to kill, mame, or draw horses with lipstick on bedroom walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShegavichaRana Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 What you are referring to is classified as Kriyamana Karma, which can fructify in fairly short duration, but not necessarily the way you are explaining. Though it could happen that way. It is also possible that you would have done some other good deed earlier (without your knowledge, but with His knowledge), that would make you receive that dollar. It would also mean that, the man paid or became your benefactor, as he 'owed' something to you, in the previous birth. Sin of terrible magnitude and good Merits of extreme magnitude result in the instantaneous fructification of the Karma. Hiranyakashyapu kicking the pillar is an example of this, Shishupala getting beheaded is another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kulapavana Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 "So, how is it that you can be held responsible for what the man did with the money you gave him? How could you know?" ignorance is no excuse, only a mitigating factor. if somebody looks like a drunk, he probably is. if you want to help the poor, donate to a church that runs a soup kitchen or a shelter. I know sometimes it is hard to figure out how your money will be used, but that point is essential. good intention is not everything. it must be combined with knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 17, 2004 Report Share Posted January 17, 2004 But I gave him the one dollar, so now he has a choice to buy anything he wants, if he buys something bad with it, woulden't that be his bad karma? and am i not his good karma since giving him the dollar out of nowhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gHari Posted January 17, 2004 Report Share Posted January 17, 2004 Good karma is doing what God wants; bad karma is not doing what God wants or doing what God doesn't want. If Krsna wants the bum to have the dollar then all is good. If you don't give him the dollar though, then material nature will devise a method to help cure you of the fault that led to not helping the bum, to rejecting Krsna's desire. Perhaps things will happen to help you lose some of your attachment to your money or to generate more compassion. Perhaps you will become a penniless beggar too. The workings of karma are complex. No one can understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kulapavana Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 good point regarding choice. if he misuses your donation it is certainly mostly his fault. yet there may be some responsibility on your part as well, especially if this guy looks like a drunk. you might be his good karma which he turns into further misery for himself. just as you expect giving in charity to be a positive thing, you should also consider that it may bring you misery. on the material platform there is no escape from duality. anyway, it is better to be somewhat naive in your charitable giving than to be a careful miser /images/graemlins/wink.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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