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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: George S. Montgomery who wrote (25927)	11/13/1998 11:49:00 PM
From: Grainne	Respond to of 108807

Ah, gee, George, let me get a nice glass of sherry going and make a stab at answering this. I really have no idea what you are asking, or why. It is late and I am tired and a little silly after a long week. My nice flannel sheets, with a warm and furry purring kitty or two folded in there somewhere, will be a really nice end to the evening. We are all full of salmon, and quite content. <What I read you as saying is that karma is a sort of personally-selected gismo that we can take and weave in and out, one way or the other. And it is fluid in our relation to economic or social development.> Okay, yes, in one way I am saying that. Let's use Sam as an example. I am saying that Sam can accept some responsibility for creating the health problems that led to the abdominal aortic aneurysm and all the ensuing complications, because he believes that he is a creative force in what happens to him. But this all starts with CHOICES. Sam chose to smoke cigarettes, drink too much coffee, and lead a very stressful life. Choices are possible in affluence. In the third world that E talks about, there are very few real choices. So while Sam can logically believe that he played a role in his illness, it would be insane to argue that people who have no choices are playing much of a role at all. Karma IS a sort of personally selected gismo that we can take and weave in and out, one way or the other, because it is a world view, a belief system. I'm not sure that is a bad thing. Everyone has a world view of some sort. What is negative is when it is used--like other belief systems have been used--to placate people and keep them submissive, instead of for general enlightenment. If you are superstitious because there is no education available to you about rational thinking and science, and you have been deprived of these educational opportunities by a sadistic and opportunistic ruling class, well, it's all very complicated, but you are being manipulated and controlled. I do hope the concept of karma is operative in the universe to some degree, because those people who take advantage of the poor are evil and deserve nothing good happening to them. I include all the anti-birth control people among the religious right who cause endless disease and death because their beliefs stop the United States from effective assistance with family planning in the third world. Women who have reproductive choices use them. All over the world, women who can use birth control decide to have fewer children. The education of girls is also vital in this process. Certainly it is wonderful when a child is born to parents who can love it and care for it with reasonable expectations of success. But denial of birth control causes babies and children to die horrible deaths. This is Christian? Of course, I believe that the primary benefit of doing good works and kind deeds is that I feel good and happy and calm as the result of them. If karma works only internally, does it exist? Yes, if I believe in it. This is probably a Buddhist perspective. I hope these bad people who cause terror and suffering in the third world feel tortured and live in their own imaginary prisons, and cannot sleep at night. Well, I'm getting carried away from charity and enlightenment pretty fast here, so I'll stop. Did you know that there is a book about Jesus' travels in India? And that Jesus' sayings in Thomas' Gospel are all about God being within the self, not external at all? I do believe in that, that everything is inside ourselves. Maybe I should have some more sherry . . .