Monday, June 23, 2014
A Short Rant About Karma
As a magical practitioner, I hate when people "warn" me about karma. What I hate even more is when a friend feels the need to turn to the magical arts to help herself out, and these bozos can only see fit to give her such a "warning". As if doing nothing with such a tool is the better way to go. I have a hard time taking individuals like that seriously in regard to the magical arts.
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteI have also been a student of Jason Miller.
Let's get in touch and share our knowledge.
Kind regards,
Rudy.
How is trying to help herself out?
ReplyDeleteI mean if she is under pressure, magic may not be the best route. No I am not saying this out of concerns for "karma" but if she is under pressure to deal with a mundane issue, impatience may end up making her want to rush the learning process or skip the basics entirely in order to reach her goal.
I understand your point. In this case, it was a friend who was being stalked. I advised her to contact the authorities and also sent her information on certain aspects of the situation that involved this person online. On a magical level, I advised her to work some aggressive protection, and even possibly obscuring workings to help throw this stalker off. So it was really agitating to see someone talk about karma as if to say, "Well, how about just NOT doing anything about this using a tool this stalker creep probably wouldn't be able to resist." In the past, when I was a Wiccan, this one dude told me I shouldn't even work magic to help me with financial troubles, because of karma. It just doesn't make sense to me. If the friend I mentioned really is too busy to work some magic, that's understandable. But to freak out about a concept that has been watered-down and twisted by Westernized attitudes...I just can't get behind that.
DeleteA state of fear is not the best state to be working from...........
DeleteNotice I didn't say it is wrong to use magic in her case, but the situation may very well end up creating a state which may compound the problem.
" So it was really agitating to see someone talk about karma as if to say,"
Are these the same people who are Wiccan (or Polytheistic) and talk about going to "church" and being smacked around by "negative energy"?
"I shouldn't even work magic to help me with financial troubles, because of karma."
That dude may be just unconscionably concerned of being seen as selfish. Being concerned how others see you is selfish in it self. So he is contradicting himself and lacking huge amounts of self awareness. No self awareness = bad results in magic. Other words "bad karma" So he should just shut up.
"because of karma. "
Karma is not sin. Karma is not a nanny in the sky who determines right or wrong. Karma is just the practical outcome of one's actions. To counter this argument, the best way to learn Karma is work magic. The best way I found out to illustrate Karma is through the poem "For want of a nail"
"Westernized attitudes...I just can't get behind that."
After the decline of Roman empire, what ended up happening was the same thing. The molding of various non Christian ideas under the Christian theology. Its a western habit that is occurring again. Only its not heading towards a monotheism.
I agree with your points about karma and ideas being subsumed. The guy you described as lacking self-awareness is someone whom I have not heard from in a very long time. I never understood his point, and still don't, unless he was coming from the angle of finances being unspiritual, which is not something I agree with. Either, I guess I won't be getting an answer from him anytime soon. :)
DeleteWhere you asked, "Are these the same people who are Wiccan (or Polytheistic) and talk about going to "church" and being smacked around by "negative energy"?" Often I do find that folks who talk about negative energy often also subscribe to the notion of karma as sin. In the case of my friend, I don't know the people who made the karma statements and cannot say for sure what they believe otherwise.
"It just doesn't make sense to me."
ReplyDeletePeople don't make sense. At first. I rarely see you make rants about being frustrated with magic and how it works because you understand it well. People however seem to be frustrating you. This frustration and anger may lead to situations of regret. This is due to not understanding them. When was the last time you spent a lot of effort into understanding and knowing your fellow human beings as much you have spent and put forth into your spiritual practices, gaining insight about subtle forces and without the aid of magic?
In some ways, it's not that I don't understand the viewpoint. I used to believe in the Neo-Wiccan "Law of Three", so I get the concern about backlash. But at one point, my eyes were opened to how false it is, and to see a friend who has a lot of potential have it repeated to them, knowing how disabling it is, and also knowing this person will likely listen to THAT instead of truly empowering themselves...it's hard. Granted, that's my problem and not theirs, and the situation that I ranted about in my original post only bothered me for a short time.
DeleteBut regarding my understand of people, you're correct that there are times I understand people less than I'd like. Then again, people are not known for being rational and sensible...at least how any one person might define that. Each person is the hero in their own story, and most people make sense to themselves. In the past I've had an interest in learning more about human psychology and behavior, but at the time finding good sources on that was a daunting task. So to answer your question, it has been some time. Your comment has me tempted to dip into that again.
Ive found out putting yourself where one has to deal with people as much as possible (from as many walks of life as possible) ends up being more educational then any book, but social psychology has its merits.
ReplyDelete