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It is said that an enlightened being can have karma by taking on the karma of others, only for an enlightened being the effects are far reduced, or they can simply just take it and move it through their body at an accelerated rate. I think of Jesus, "taking on the sins of the world". And another example is of Amma, the hugging saint. She experienced many hardships, she herself said that even though she was fully "aware" since birth, she had some remaining karma to complete in her youth and by doing so in the way she did experienced it and dealt with it, her story has become a great example to many... She has said that she also retains a tiny bit of the ego in order to "keep herself down" or here in a physical body...also from my understanding of karma, one may not necessarily experience all his of her accumulated karma (tendencies) in this lifetime. It may take more than one lifetime to work it out... A person may not be able to bring all his of her karma to the forefront of awareness. Im just sharing some stories and insights that have been told to me concerning this. I think you can stop karma if are fully aware of the intention. But what about buried intentions from past lives that we may know nothing about in this one?

Dee, I would love to respond to your question, but you have included 5 major topics there. I could write a paper on each... :) Ask me a question about one or two at time in the order of your preference and we can start there. Sounds okay to you?

love,

Mick.

Yes Mary, I agree, and good points.

We need to be careful to distinguish between 'necessary suffering' (for the sake of others and self) and 'karma', especially in the case of a teacher like Amma.

Do you know your source of this: " It may take more than one lifetime to work it out". I have never heard such a thing.

An intention by definition is the image you hold in mind of the outcome(s) of an action, hence, it is conscious. Therefore, it is not possible have a 'buried' intention. That being said, however, it is entirely possible to have (lots of) shadow, which by definition is unconscious, and emerges in our motives.

So, you would need to look closely at your conscious intentions versus your unconscious motive if you are interested in cleaning up all your karma in this life.

Great conversing with you on this point. Karma is one of my favorites!

love,

Mick

Okay Mick, I will begin to look for a source for this..... There are such sources! There are two types of karma to be named and I dont remember how to spell the names, but I did certainly learn about them from Amma and the traditional Hindu school of thought. Ill have to get back to you on this...

If we are attached to something say "an attitude of superiority or inferiority" does it not create situations and circumstances that keep us continuously in the cycle of Karma thus creating our destinies and forward looking... launch us into reincarnation....to begin the cycle again..... kind of funny :} don't know if this makes sense I was just pondering the idea of beatnik's question of Karma Reincarnation and Destiny..... and wondering.... on the other hand if we are not attached just accepting and letting go.... (very hard to do)....I wonder if we would break the cycle and venture onto/into other places, spaces? no worries you don't have to answer I was just wandering and wondering. One love Dee

Hi Dee, I do think it is our attitudes which keep us locked into the cycle of reincarnation and karma. Legend has it that we also have a subtle energy 'body' around us (like a field of energy) that our 'actions' imprint upon, thus causing 'karmas' which may not be fully activated until the right circumstance arises for it to play out. We may carry those karmic energies with us throughout several lifetimes...What do others who believe that reincarnation may exist think about this?

There are two distinct viewpoints on time. One view is that time is part of the fundamental structure of the universe, a dimension in which events occur in sequence. In this definition time persists like frames of a film strip, spread out across the time line. Sir Isaac Newton subscribed to this realist view, and hence it is sometimes referred to as Newtonian time.

The opposing view is that time does not refer to any kind of "container" that events and objects "move through", nor to any entity that "flows", but that it is instead part of a fundamental intellectual structure (together with space and number) within which humans sequence and compare events. This second view, in the tradition of Gottfried Leibniz and Immanuel Kant, holds that time is neither an event nor a thing, and thus is not itself measurable nor can it be traveled. That being said, Karma, destiny and reincarnation can also be viewed in this second view , that of non-linear terms as having neither "cause and effect" results. In non-linear thinking reincarnation would simply be a state of awareness or the totality of all that one is, whether it has been discovered or not. Perhaps Karma, destiny and reincarnation in non linear time manifests itself as the Dao.

A second point .....is Karma then the result of an action.....or is Karma the action prior to the result? What I am trying to say is ....In "linear time theory": can we receive our Karma prior to earning it?

Just some food for thought.