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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Does Karma really exist?

64 replies

FrankWelker · 08/11/2021 16:52

Does it? Someone has really shafted me badly at work, to the point where I cannot believe that she has done this and not offered me any support at all when she saw how broken I was.
Other people keep telling me she will get her comeuppance, but is this really true? Has anyone actually had that happen?

OP posts:
Rosemaryandlemon · 08/11/2021 16:56

I don't believe in Karma. Bad things happen to good people sometimes - it's the randomness of life. You may think she gets "comeuppance", but it will be the same randomness - she may also win the lottery. It sucks.

KrisAkabusi · 08/11/2021 17:04

Karma doesn't exist. Things just happen. There's no balancing force in the universe to make bad things happen to bad people. Unfortunately.

mrsm43s · 08/11/2021 17:08

I don't think Karma exists, unfortunately.

In fact, I think its the opposite. I think the nasty selfish people tend to have good things happen for them, because they are happy to shaft other people to get what they want. People who stop and think about others tend to be the ones getting shafted.

However, I know I'd still rather do the right thing than be an asshole, even if my paycheck is slightly less or my bank balance isn't as big.

Summerdayshaze · 08/11/2021 17:10

Of course not.

TurnUpTurnip · 08/11/2021 17:12

No I don’t think so, all the nasty people I know are doing very well
In life

Verfremdungseffekt · 08/11/2021 17:12

No, Karma is just another a wish fulfillment idea, like heaven and hell.

I mean, your traitorous colleague may develop shingles, be trampled by a runaway carthorse or get lost while spelunking, but if it does happen, it won't have any causal relationship to her behaviour to you. On the upside, you get to enjoy it anyway.

Spidersinmyhair · 08/11/2021 17:13

Some people believe it exists and some don't. There is no scientific evidence that it exists, if that's what you're asking.

CampagVelocet · 08/11/2021 17:13

No. Bad shit happens to good people all the time (and vice versa). It would be nice if it did, but sadly it doesn't.

Feilin · 08/11/2021 17:15

I had two people do pretty awful things to me (spreading lies and bullying) afterwards they had some awful stuff happen to them . Was it karma? No it wasn't what happened to them was way worse on a grander scale than what they did to me and frankly I wouldn't have wished it on either of them.

roadwarrior · 08/11/2021 17:16

Life is not perfect. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Whendidthishappen · 08/11/2021 17:17

I don't believe in karma as such. But I do think when people are bad people, it impacts them in the long run

Its like cheaters become paranoid partners are cheating. They judge people by their own standards and become miserable for it.

Obviously not in all cases. But I have seen it happen alot. Someone betrays a friend, then ends up losing trust in the people they still have left.

jetadore · 08/11/2021 17:17

Karma, in the original, Buddhist, philosophical, sense does exist, it is fundamentally the simple idea that your actions have consequences.
Karma in the ‘modern’, ‘My Name is Earl’ sense that there is some supernatural force that delivers rewards/comeuppance for good/evil acts, is actually closer to the Christian idea of judgement, and, on the basis of evidence, does not exist.

Sorry to hear what has happened to you, your two best options are to let it go or get even yourself, don’t leave it to ‘the universe’.

Theunamedcat · 08/11/2021 17:18

No karma doesn't exist if it did my ex would have died or be seriously ill or have something happen to him by now instead he is working and they are going to promote him too

I cant keep a job because between him and our disabled child I have no spoons left

ftw163532 · 08/11/2021 17:18

Nope.

If you believe that then you also have to believe all the people currently suffering in the world deserve it or brought it on themselves. Which I categorically do not believe.

VickyEadieofThigh · 08/11/2021 17:20

@ftw163532

Nope.

If you believe that then you also have to believe all the people currently suffering in the world deserve it or brought it on themselves. Which I categorically do not believe.

Quite. Conversely, the people doing really well who just aren't nice!
Seafog · 08/11/2021 17:21

Absolutely not.
Otherwise pedophiles would be getting hit by trains, and babies wouldn't get cancer.
It's wishful thinking, a sense of frustration at not being able to punish, or reward those we feel should be.
It's that kind of ache for someone bigger to come along and fix things, and it's why so many people turn to religion.

cantgetmyheadroundit · 08/11/2021 17:23

@mrsm43s

I don't think Karma exists, unfortunately.

In fact, I think its the opposite. I think the nasty selfish people tend to have good things happen for them, because they are happy to shaft other people to get what they want. People who stop and think about others tend to be the ones getting shafted.

However, I know I'd still rather do the right thing than be an asshole, even if my paycheck is slightly less or my bank balance isn't as big.

Absolutely this.

I used to believe in it, but it's a crock of shit unfortunately. If you're the better person though, that'll do.

SalsaLove · 08/11/2021 17:24

You might want to find a reputable Buddhist website to explain it. Not as simple as getting punished for being an asshole. If it makes you feel any better, for someone to be so horrid they must be in their own version of hell!

DedalusBloom · 08/11/2021 17:27

I don't believe in Karma per se.

However, my boss is an absolute arsehole. A mean spirited, vindictive, paranoid, controlling, coke addled Grade A cunt. He treats his staff (who are a very close knitted team who have supported him through thick and thin over the years) like shit. He's done very well for himself thank you off the back of that - he's got tons of money, several businesses and is on paper very successful.

His 'Karma' as I like to look at it, is the fact that no one likes him, he has not a single close friendship, no partner for over a decade, no parents alive and no siblings. He lives a miserable lonely existence watching endless porn and hiring rent boys. He palpably exudes angry desperation.

I could not be happier for him.

Saoirse82 · 08/11/2021 17:32

I don't really believe it exists because some really wonderful people are dealt a terrible hand at life. Although I have had bad things happen to bad people, someone just very recently and I did think that's karma but i don't really believe it was, just coincidence.

cantgetmyheadroundit · 08/11/2021 17:36

Having said that, I try not to wish bad things on bad people because of karma 🙈 So what I do now is, I hope that they 'get what they deserve' Grin

Watchingyou2sleezes · 08/11/2021 18:01

It exists for anyone that tries to fuck me over 👊👊🪒💥🚑

Hortonhearsadoctorwho · 08/11/2021 18:03

The Buddhist theory of karma is that it is over your lifetimes. So they might not get bad karma this life time but might be reborn into a terrible life. If you have a hard life now it could be bad karma from your previous life or lessons you need to learn in order to progress to ultimate enlightenment.

Ihopeyourcakeisshit · 08/11/2021 18:09

@Watchingyou2sleezes

It exists for anyone that tries to fuck me over 👊👊🪒💥🚑
I do rather like this poster's take on it. Generally speaking though No.
Evelyn52 · 08/11/2021 18:11

I'm not sure I believe in karma but having worked in HR for I've 20 years I can promise you that people who work in the way you describe always get found out in the end. It may not happen in the short term but it will eventually xx