Do you have bad karma? (David)
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19
God does not give anyone a problem free life. However He does make provision for the ability to live in victory!
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Amen, my friend! And the victory is over ourselves.
Do you have bad karma? (Pete – BiPolar Bear)
I hope when you mention "good kharma" you are open to God’s presence and the working of the Holy Spirit. When faced with these "challenges" I think knowing how little we can do on our own and how much we can do with God’s help is crucial.
I face the challenge of manic-depression. Through more than forty years of cycling up and down I’ve learned that I can’t pull myself up by my own bootstraps. One lesson that I’m still slowly learning is how weak I am by myself and how dependent I am on the Holy Spirit.
Viktor Frankel said that in the end we may have no control over our situation, but we do control how we respond to it. Even in the depths of a concentration camp as he found himself there were some who did not give in to despair and evil. I think that power comes not just from within, but also through reliance on God.
I have no control over my mood swings, but I DO have control over what I do about them. I think without belief in God and his working in my life I couldn’t make sense of why I have this condition. It makes me sensitive to others with mental disorders and others considered "weak" in our society. I want to use my gifts of writing and cartooning and singing about my condition to help others realize they’re not alone and promote a greater understanding by the public.
It’s not an "Us vs. Them" situation. We are your sons and daughters, your brothers and sisters and husbands and wives, your co-workers and friends. We have something to offer society, a different perspective from outside the culture of winners and losers. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Peace and Love, Pete Nelson (BipolarBear)
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Oh, how I love your response, Pete!
Your words remind me of the movie "A Beautiful Mind." Indeed, we only have control over our response – not the situation. And therein is where the Good or Bad Karma gets created.
Do you have bad karma? (Linda)
I’m impressed with the depth of thought and wisdom in some of the emails regarding Karma. I’m also saddened by the difficulties some of you have suffered.
I’ve given Karma a lot of thought over the years and I have to agree with Dragonfly who mentions the Talmud, the Torah and Buddhist and Christian writings. For every action there’s a re-action.
I’ve had many difficulties over the past 3 years and like many, I was asking myself why me? When I finally admitted to myself and to God that there’s someone I hurt deeply, my life started changing for the better again. I will be apologizing personally soon and put that past behind me.
Many blessings to all,
Linda
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Very good point, Linda – for every action there’s a re-action. And isn’t Good Karma created when our reaction is proactive as opposed to purely reactive? And isn’t our own re-action to the re-action the point of possible pro-action?
I believe Karma doesn’t necessarily take thousands of years to "come around." It can be as quick as a a small self-generated miracle away!
Do you have bad karma? (Bob)
Your article on "bad karma" was very timely Michael. I have been wrestling with several work related issues lately and the inner turmoil was beginning to take a toll on me mentally and emotionally. It concers an issue that I am very passionate about but am feeling that my suggestions to address an issue are falling on deaf ears. I decided to seclude myself to my closet so that I would have no interruptions while I sat quietly, rested my mind and waited for an answer. And then it came…surrender. In this situation the "bad Karma" was the result of me responding at all. Sometimes we need to recognize that the best thing we can do is not respond at all and as my favorite verse from the bible says…be anxious for nothing but in everything through prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding will guide your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
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So beautifully said, Bob. Indeed, it’s often our need to respond rather than be still and surrendered that creates the Bad Karma. If you can be surrendered, as you say, and respond only once you are a vessel of higher good and understanding, you are a rare breed (I think they call them "Wealthy Souls" . . .)
May your words inspire other Wealthy Souls.
Do you have bad karma? (Arti)
Hi!
thank you for changing my perspective towards life…your note has actually changed the way i think…
i really do not think that you or for that anyone has a bad karma.
it is all in your mind if yuou keep thinking of all the bad that happens to you to be the result of your karma you will keep believing in bad karma…and all that happens will be due to your karma…then what have we done in life? nothing? if we can take credit for all our achievements then why cant we take the blame for anything wrong or bad that happens to us???
i am really bad at expressing things that i feel in words might not have the right words…but hope you understand what i am trying to convey here….
according to me we are responsible for the decisions that we make…and we should be ready to face the consequences of them…
like i could blame the accident that i met with to my bad karma…but if i had not made the decision of going out for a late night movie i would not have met with that accident…and similarly i could give the credit of my good performance in my exams to my good karma…but it was my hard work and hours of struggle that actually paid off…\
so i dont think that there is any such thing as good or BAD KARMA..
thanks for the greate thought…
i would like to read more of your articles…
is there any place where i could get soem of your books in india???
would be very greatful if i cud read some of your good work…
thank you…
bye…
arti
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Dear Arti,
You indeed know what it’s all about. And it’s all about, as you allude to, taking responsibility. Owning up. Taking your own life into your own hands. That’s the Good Karma. Knowing it, and doing it.
My books are available at http://wealthysoul.com . And in the coming year I will be getting all of my past newsletters up on this blog or on http://wealthysoul.com for you and others to read. If you’d like to receive a new 30 – part series I’ve developed, email me and I’ll get you set up on it.
No worries about the language – your spirit shines through to all who will read and be inspired by what you wrote.
Do you have bad karma? (Julie)
Do you have bad karma? (Camille)
Please check out my weblog, www.thinkingwillcostya.blogspot.com"I think, therefore I make myself crazy." It might encourage you to think differently about some things, or it might just make you laugh. At best it will do both. Give it a go. You have nothing to lose but your despair.
Do you have bad karma? (Jamario)
To spend your time planning for life means you are using up your time for living. Lord, I choose to make the best of right now, to be joyful right now, and to live with no regrets.
Monday, August 30, 2004 Lessons of life
Every situation is a lesson to be learned. From the most mundane chores to the most complex projects, life is always ready to teach you something.
Life is ready to teach when you are willing to learn. And the more you learn from what life offers, the better life becomes.
The lessons are usually not all that obvious. Yet they are there if you will think to take a look. The lessons are there in every moment, in every dilemma, in every frustration and every joy. They are there in every sadness, every victory, every discomfort and every pleasure.
Each lesson you learn paves the way for a new and even more valuable one. Each lesson you ignore keeps coming back, again and again.
One way or another, life will teach you its lessons. When you’re a willing student, those lessons are pure gold.
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I love what you say, Jamario! Indeed, "the lessons are not all that obvious." And indeed, though they can be like panning for "gold," with an open mind and a willing heart, they become easier and easier to find.
Do you have bad karma? (Vince)
Hey Michael!
I was just thinking about you this week – wonderin where the heck you are and how you are – ?
The answer to your (rhetorical?) question – Do I have bad Karma?, Do you have bad Karma? Answer = YES
Bad can’t exist without good – Bad defines Good as Good defines Bad.
Everything that ever is was or will be must have the exact opposite of itself in order for itself to exist – it is all part of IS – this (in part) helps us to deine the indefineable, because everything that ever is was or will be is infinite in its scope – ever collapsing ever expanding with no end in sight always getting better yet can always be worse.
This is defining God in simplest terms – GOD = IS
The Beauty and Love of God rests in the truest freedom of choice (in particular choice as it relates how we view things), just as you suggest – it’s not what happens to us, moreover, it’s how we respond (our view – our choice) to those happenings that allow us to really determine our own Karma.
When things appear to going wrong, or life is imposing a series of difficult issues upon us – the answer to that is – Thank You – Thank You GOD for the opportunities and challenges you have provided me this day for without this difficulty I might not be so aware of how good things can be. One can’t exist without the other!
Love,
Brother Vince
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Brother Vince, you beautifully point out the paradox of the universe: Good doesn’t exist without bad, just as light can’t exist without dark. Indeed, I believe Good Karma is a product of what we positively do with Bad Karma.
I might add, you are one of the very few who has ever said to me "Be thankful for your challenges," who I didn’t want to throttle! On a deep level, I believe you sensed I would eventually do something with those challenges precisely like I’m doing in this newsletter and all the Wealthy Soul productions under way. And it is indeed now a blessing.
Love ya back!
Michael