From: Charles Hixson (charleshixsn@earthlink.net)
Date: Thu Mar 13 2003 - 11:40:06 MST
Adrian Tymes wrote:
>--- spike66 <spike66@attbi.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Please someone, what the heck is karma? I mean the
>>traditional meaning, is it something like good luck?
>>Or more like charisma? Or what?
>>
>>
>...
>
>In short, karma is you acting upon the world,
>including
>the effort itself and its consequences. Rather
>extropian (or, at least, anti-entropian), it seems.
>
The traditional Indian term meant the way in which your past lives had
lead you to your current life. It should give one a long term
perspective, but practically what it did was excuse any subjugation that
the dominant people applied to the submissive people. And especially it
stabilized the caste system. The folk on the bottom had no reason to
complain. They had been "evil" before, so this was their expiation.
And if you don't like it, apply to the gods.
Ideas don't just exist. They have implications for social structures
once they are accepted as facts. One of the implications of karma was
that you had no right to expect more success than your life had allotted
you.
-- -- Charles Hixson Gnu software that is free, The best is yet to be.
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