if there is Karma then there must be past lives we have to atone for.

because as good as i've been in this life, all i get is cr*p happening

to me over and over. i keep waiting for my good karma, but it doesn't

seem to be happening. so i've concluded either there is no such thing

as karma OR i was a real b*stard in a previous life.

This is as good of an argument against karma as any. I see really good people who have really $hitty things happen to them. I see really awful people who everything they touches turns to gold. Maybe karma is nothing more than the fact that you can live with yourself for because you have lived your life ethically and decently in spite of the circumstances, while the ****-bag with the Midas touch can barely meet his own eyes in the mirror most days.

my only problem with this theory is that those ****-bags are usually

pretty happy with themselves. they bring misery on others and take

a lot of happiness from it. trust me on that one, i know /sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Yeah – maybe I have a pretty naive view of the world. I don't understand how people like that can be authentically happy making others miserable. I guess in the end it is up to me just to make sure that I don't do that to people, because I am relatively certain I couldn't live with myself if I did. Oh God – I just had a thought – what if I am a ****-bag and don't even know it?

Sorry that you have run across some royal jerks. Hopefully you won't continue to do so and you will get the life that you deserve to have.

i dont know how people can live like that either. i like to think that deep down they must hate themselves, but i dont know if i believe that.

i'm a good person because i know it's the right way to be. i could never purposely hurt someone, it's just not in my nature.

and not because i hoped to get some "good karma" back or even because i believe it will get me into heaven.

in the end, whether life is kind or cruel to me wont change the way i act or treat people.

but then again, maybe there is reincarnation and maybe i really do deserve what i'm getting /wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> haha

Yep – and you can live with yourself. I can't imagine that you ever have a moment where you hate yourself because you do live within your code of ethics.

I co-wrote a book on reincarnation, as you know (or maybe you don't /laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />) My friend, Lisa, who is the author is a past life regression hypnotherapist – as a matter of fact, we're doing a podcast with her later this week. Her take on things with all of her experiences is that we choose each life ourselves in order to learn certain lessons that we set out for ourselves. If you follow her logic, then karma is something that is self-created – we choose our lives, the circumstances, the people we interact with. There are days I believe that to be true. On other days, I am certain that it is all just random.

I'd like to believe it is true, though. When I encounter a jerk, it is far easier to roll through it if I believe that they are here to help me. Some days I even manage to do it.

i have plenty of moments when i hate myself, because i don't want to hurt other people,

so when i do hurt someone accidently it eats at me. i dont ever want to be the cause of

anyones pain, whether i did it on purpose or not.

i really cant wrap my mind around people "choosing" their lives. there are

some lives that i cant imagine ANYONE wanting to chose. like why would

anyone chose the life of Jeffrey Dahmer or any other serial killer. what

lesson would that be teaching them?

Kharma falls pretty close to you reap what you sow, I believe! I can see the correlation

between people that are nice tend to attract nice people and negative people

tend to attract negativity. I really can't speak as to whether Kharma doctrine

has a stricter meaning to it than that. The reassurance should be in the fact that

when someone acts in a negative fashion that it will attract negative people that will

in turn perpetrate a negative act on the originator. The same being said for nice or

positive people. Kharma or is it just a common rule of thumb?

i do like your theory Jon. the negative people i know are surrounded by

other negative people. in the end maybe they will all turn on each other

and get a taste of their own medicine.

last year my home burned. we lost almost everything. within 3 days we

were in a new place, fully furnished, new wardrobes for all, food, supplies,

$10,000 in the bank and all donated (except the apartment of course) by

people we knew – mostly my co-workers. had i not been a good person,

that kind of compassion never would have come my way.

so in the end maybe that was my good karma coming back on me,

it just waited until i really, really needed it.