The Misconception of Karma

Have you ever wished that someone else suffer? That he or she never come back, cease to exist? That person deserves what's coming, right? Karma.

Hatred taints the heart; you aren't who you used to be. Jealousy and hurt run through your purple veins. You're as shattered as broken glass, and because your life is a collage of shattered images, you want your enemy to fall with you before all has dissolved. But karma is, in its most general sense:

The cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person's deeds in the previous incarnation.

And your wish to have someone else suffer is a deed. If one had attempted to control these thoughts so that it would not influence the way one acted, then it would not have counted. But when you put yourself in a position to be influenced by negativity, not only does that person get what's coming, so do you. In fact, you might be punished before your counterpart ever experiences another ounce of pain.

In no place does karma mention time. If I were to cheat in a card game to win, does that mean I'll suffer punishment immediately after? No. It could happen at any time in this life, or if you believe in reincarnation, the next. What does this mean then? That karma is an ideology that we want to happen, but doesn't work properly? No, not really. But one does have to let nature take its course is what it implicitly states. Things will balance out; karma doesn't operate upon request.

Remember, back in the day, when people had the patience to sit through hours of church service? When people were able to converse for hours on end without anxiously waiting to move on to another place, another chapter? When people slowly, but systematically thought about things thoroughly? What is this excuse that because technology is faster, we must be faster? No, we must be wiser.

Bad things happen to good people because we're too quick to react and judge. Bad things happen to good people because we're human - although there is a gentle and noble side about us, we are contrasted by a more ignominious and brutish aspect within our souls that everyday, we struggle to conquer.

Verisimilitude

If I were to tell you that today was July 11th, most people would probably agree. Is it likely? Of course.

But what if I asked you what people really thought of you? Something much more mysterious and ambiguous? You'd probably think, "what's the big deal?" Right? I know what my friends think, who they are. Do you? What if, behind the scenes, they held a vital secret that they never let you know? What if they really hated you? Is it likely? No, it can't be. That's impossible. Are you positive? Having doubts?

I would like to think that most people are not under pressure with these questions. But it just shows that sometimes we stick with people maybe we really don't want to be with at all, or shouldn't be. Then why do we stay together? Sympathy? Goodness? Heart? History? Family? Is our feigned gratitude any more accepted than our genuine animosity?

On the contrary, are there people you know that totally pass you by as if they were belittling you, as if they were simply ignorant of your existence? Not acknowledging. Is it possible that these people truly want to be with you, appreciate your friendship, even love you? Are they accustomed to this negative behavior because they're tied in another relationship? Because they're jealous? Is this likely? Are you serious? I don't even want to be with a person that acts as someone they are not. Not even the slightest feeling for him or her surfaces?

Let's be frank. Despite our natural instincts to be a good person, that does not mask our fears. That does not eliminate the sudden urge to deceive others and hide from reality. It's sad because they try so hard to be good people. You can tell they work for it. But will they ever tell the truth? Will they ever realize how much more they hurt others, and especially themselves when they run away from what is? Regardless, you can't be purely happy in these circumstances. Can you? Is it really likely? Doesn't this lack verisimilitude?

The Misconception of Rationality

To a large extent our society encourages rational as opposed to impulsive thinking. Rational thought is what makes one look smart; the logical person is believed more capable to make effective decisions. It is profitable to discover what this rationality is, if it exists at all.

It’s necessary for a person to be called rational to make decisions free from bias. Is this possible? Early psychologists told and their philosophical protégés tell us no – most of our decisions are not made by sequential, cold logic – they are manifestations of suppressed, irrational desires. Even the desire for rationality, so they like to say, may be nothing more than a morphed, childhood desire for the certainty of a father figure’s rigidity.

Of course, pure Freudianism is now thought to be at best fanciful - however popular it may be among literary theorists, unadulterated psychoanalysis has largely been discounted by the current psychological community. But one fact remains – what we do and think is largely unavailable to us. One isn’t aware of everything one does, and often one does act quite mindlessly. The situation is even more problematic with thought. This fact, however, was known long before Freud interviewed his first patient – just consult the ancient meditative traditions.

The question, therefore, isn’t whether people think before they do and know what they think; though classical economists loudly scream to the contrary from the very top of their ivory towers, most of the time people don’t act to their self-interest. What is the question is the following: do we have the capacity to be mindful? That question is not for continental philosophers, the various stripes of psychoanalysts, or those in the tradition of Adam Smith and Milton Friedman. That is a question for the individual, for by definition only he or she can perform their own introspection.

-Vishwanath

Free to Roam

Going out whenever you want, saying whatever you want, eating whatever you want, drinking whenever you feel a little down about yourself. Going to party when homework is not yet completed, procrastinating until a time bomb starts ticking in your mind, studying in the early hours of the morning until you can no longer keep your eyelids open. And after you’ve decided the struggle was over, you'd go home to a family that always welcomes you, always supports you, always loves you. That’s where the true fun begins. Then perhaps, later on, you decide that’s enough nurturing from the parents, so you go out and find someone for yourself, eventually get married because it’s just so surreal and so exciting. It’s a soulmate after all. And eventually a job is knocking on your doorstep, you accept it, and at last, financial security, job security, home security, love security, who needs this life insurance? Don’t take away my car insurance though. You’ll never know what new adventure I might encounter on the roads.

You start a family, make friends with another couple, and a few years later, your children are growing up, you even start sending out family Christmas cards of your own, or ones that express your respective holiday greeting. And you compile family photos and see your children grow into their own predilections: a certain TV show, sport, musical instrument, extracurricular activity, a certain school subject. Then you see them graduate and we all gather again for one last celebration before you let your children go. Boy, how time flies.

But now imagine all of that in complete darkness. You can’t go out whenever you want; it doesn’t matter if you’re depressed. Because there is a war going on out there, constant gunfire. It could be reality, but it doesn't have to be. You're helpless. Everyday you hide so you can avoid being shot, whether figuratively or not. Trusting anyone is out of the question, you can only trust yourself. Because at this time, everyone is fearful of the truth; now is not the time to be wrong. One blatant mistake and you're as good as dead. It's difficult to sleep at night. Food is sparse and water meager. But don't look now, any one can be an arm reach away from stealing everything you have. You're not in prison, but in this environment, it's just as confined. Nowhere to run. Imagine having to protect a family from the hatred of men and the chaos on the battlefield. Thousands are killed left and right, the fate of the natives bleak. You don't ever know if you'll see your neighbors again, let alone your friends. They don't have hope. They just have one wish: to live. Do you know what it's like to have no one believe in you? To have no one care? People that only know criticism and ignorance? Do you know what it's like to have everything crumble before your eyes? Look at you, you have a family and a home. I don't even know if I'll be here tomorrow. I just plead to my people to stop fighting. Between the mysteries of love and war, I'd rather miss someone than lose him or her, forever.

In both situations, we're free to roam. But one lives with lavish dreams, the other in relentless nightmare.