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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

not to believe in karma?

30 replies

secunda · 12/06/2010 21:12

People on here are always saying things like 'karma will get him' re cheating spouse, bitch colleague, bloke who nicked your car.

Really?

I can sort of understand it as a way to comfort someone, but as a concept it doesn't really hold water, does it?

OP posts:
DetectivePotato · 12/06/2010 21:16

I'm not so sure either. I think I'm a pretty decent person and in some ways I've had a really shit time. In others ways there are others who are far worse off. On the other hand I know some truely vile people who glide throught life, doing exactly as they please and pissing over everyone else and never get what they deserve. I can only hope tbh.

cory · 12/06/2010 21:17

Well, it can (seemingly) work in one of two ways:

somebody who is really bitchy is bound to attract a lot of enmity so chances are sooner or later someone will take the opportunity to be bitchy to her
(karma as a direct result of previous action)

some situations are just statistically likely to happen, like smug mother of perfect child suddenly finding that her own child enters difficult phase- because most children do sooner or later go through a difficult phase
(karma as coincidence)

Original poster
secunda · 12/06/2010 21:21

those things are true cory, but I don't think they count as karma as usually defined i.e. you do something bad/good so the cosmos ordains it that you get something bad/good to pay you back

OP posts:
MrsC2010 · 12/06/2010 21:33

I don't on the whole. I remember hearing someone say that a serious illness was karma on person in question as they were quite nasty. I burst into tears (was only late teens) as my mother was seriously ill with cancer at the time...and she certainly hadn't earned it. I find it hard to believe it because of that apart from any logic!

DetectivePotato · 12/06/2010 22:13

Saying that my grandad was a nasty piece of work. Vile man. He ended up paralysed from the waste down. Couldn't have happened to a nicer man.

BarbieLovesKen · 12/06/2010 22:27

I dont believe in it anymore. Ive seen to many nasty bastards glide through life and some truely lovely people been constantly pissed on..

scottishmummy · 12/06/2010 22:37

its an oft said platitude.nothing else.life isnt fair people dont always get what they deserve (good or bad)

ByTheSea · 12/06/2010 22:44

Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know what the fuck I've done so wrong ever in my life to be in the middle of such shit these last few years. So no, I don't believe in karma.

xstitch · 12/06/2010 22:46

I don't believe in karma. If it does exist I want to know what I did that was so bad and why certain other people's lives are apparently so bloody perfect.

DuelingFanjo · 12/06/2010 22:52

YANBU. If it really exists then surely anyone who is wishing bad Karma on another person is only bringing bad Karma on themselves.

KillerCleavage · 12/06/2010 22:53

I don't think karma necessarily means that bad things will happen to people, I think it can be more subtle than that. It can be that they won't achieve their potential, ambitions or dreams maybe.

I've worked in the same place for 22 years and am now quite senior. I had several line managers when I was quite junior who I can only describe as bullies but were super ambitious and had inflated ideas of their own effectiveness. I am now several grades more senior than all of them. They are still doing the same jobs as when I worked for them. That to me is karma - and it gives me great pleasure!

rockinhippy · 12/06/2010 23:00

I too don't believe its so cut & dried......personally, I think Karma means that people who go out of their way to do bad things to others, won't ever be truly happy, not until they acknowledge how bad they've been & try in some way to put things right, even if that is only a truly heartfelt apology.

& when I look around people I know or have had problems with myself.....its very true....doesn't matter what they have....deep down they are unhappy, insecure people, hence why they feel the need to hurt others

gerontius · 12/06/2010 23:13

Some good people have horrible lives.
Some awful people have fantastic lives.
Some good people have middling lives.
Some bad people have middling lives.

How does karma explain that?

HecateQueenOfWitches · 12/06/2010 23:17

I think it makes it easier to deal with horrible people if you tell yourself that they'll get what's coming to them. Eventually.

It's not true of course. But it can help make things seem less unfair.

Because that's what it's about. Fairness. It's not FAIR that good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. And we seem to need fairness. So we come up with karma.

Saggyoldclothcatpuss · 12/06/2010 23:19

How can you not believe in karma. It's my favourite flavour of curry!

coffeefestival · 12/06/2010 23:38

What gerontius said.

NiandraLaDes · 13/06/2010 01:38

I don't believe in Karma in an airy - fairy spiritual sense. But I do believe that what you put out there, you get back. If for no other reason than that being a grumpy, mean person affects how people react to you... And if you aren't nice to people, they will react similarly. And if you treat folks well, they will be nice back..

LilQueenie · 13/06/2010 01:54

My understanding is One God, creator whatevre name same thing. All religion have positive and negative aspects. We can choose to be born to experience certain things (even things we believe we wouldnt want to experience) to learn from. Such as learning compassion from caring from someone with a disability or similar and so on. Not all illness is destined but sometimes is. How you react to things depends on 1 your understanding of things and 2 beliefs.

If you think back to things in your life that were bad but that you learned something from. Now realise that without that incident you would not have learned from it.

Karma works in many ways from instant to living certain life times to balance out previous karma.

scrab806ble · 13/06/2010 03:47

Trouble with Karma is, it just doesn't work to our timetable!

MrsC2010 · 13/06/2010 10:08

Hmmm, by some people's reasoning my family has a whole lot of good karma coming to it!

lazarusb · 13/06/2010 14:04

Haven't you watched 'My name is Earl'? That'll tell you about karma!

expatinscotland · 13/06/2010 14:08

It's a crock of shit.

Cheating spouse, bitch colleague, they'll just go on being an arse and enjoying their lives.

thumbwitch · 13/06/2010 14:12

I thought karma tied in with the reincarnation belief - so that even if you don't get yours in this life, you cop it in a future one. (or reap the rewards, on the other side of the coin).

Off to check that now...

prettybird · 13/06/2010 14:29

I do beleive in karma.

I suffered for years working for a real bully .

We were both made redundant last year.

A few months ago, a former colleague of dh's asked if I was interested in a particular role. When dh said I wasn't (becasue I'd just started work on something else), the guy then asked if dh knew [name of bully] and if he would suitable for the role.........

Dh didn't miss and hit the wall (and he didn't just use me as an example - he was able to say that he could get others who would confirm this)

Whether it is karma or just simple "what goes around, comes around"..... it works for me

Sammyuni · 13/06/2010 14:32

Karma does not exist there are people who are complete arseholes who still have things work out very well in life and die happy.

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