Theos-Talk Archives (February 2002 Message tt00194)

Hey, Paul:

How about a simpler model? To the extent you create
your own reality your deeds are responsible for what
happens to you. End of story, There is no Nemesis or
God following you around with a score card adding up
blessings and curses. Karma is of our own making, and
what is not of our own making is not karma, but
happenstance.

Now can somebody please give me the winning lotto
numbers for this weekend?

Steve

--- kpauljohnson <kpauljohnson@yahoo.com> wrote:
> --- In theos-talk@y..., "Gerald Schueler"
> <gschueler@e...> wrote:
> findings of modern science, accept that our human
> collective karma is 
> probablistic, and move on.
> > 
> This reminds me of Adelasie's remark that she
> assumes that any 
> suffering is deserved, as this applies to being
> misunderstood or 
> falsely accused or whatever. That seems to be a
> lineal kind of 
> causality, whereas I'd look at it more
> probabilistically.
> 
> Not that this is something I've ever complained
> about, but when I 
> look at the reception of my books I see a whole lot
> of *personally* 
> unearned *positive* karma as well as unearned
> negative. In other 
> words, an equal number of sources have made rather
> blanket 
> endorsements, taken my hypotheses as proven facts,
> accepted my 
> theories more uncritically than I do-- as have made
> blanket 
> condemnations, claimed that all my hypotheses rest
> on no evidence 
> whatsoever, descended into ugly personal criticism. 
> Given more 
> credit than due on one hand, given an equal amount
> less than due on 
> the other. It all balances out.
> 
> Similarly, in this life there are far more people
> who have been kind, 
> generous, helpful, educational, etc. for no reason,
> not because I've 
> earned it but out of their own goodness, than have
> been unkind, 
> unhelpful, etc. with no justification but just out
> of their own 
> meanness. Maybe individuals have been one way or
> the other because 
> of past life mutual histories but since that's
> unknowable I don't 
> think it worth dwelling on.
> 
> So rather than assume that every cruelty suffered is
> punishment, and 
> ever kindness experienced is a reward for something,
> I assume that 
> it's the big picture that counts. The overall
> balance of good and 
> bad, pleasure and pain, joy and suffering (which are
> not the same as 
> pleasure and pain) is karmically determined by our
> behavior. But 
> looking for one-to-one tit-for-tat explanations of
> why specific, 
> individual things happen to us is IMO trying to find
> a pattern at the 
> wrong level. The pattern is in the overall life,
> you get what you 
> deserve. But the life you deserve is made up of
> thousands of 
> individual moments of undeserved joy and pain.
> 
> Which seems to parallel a more quantum approach.
> 
> From one who is scientifically semi-literate and
> would like to know 
> if this makes any sense to those who aren't (Jerry?)
> 
> PJ
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
> 
> 


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