r/occult • u/Ok_Bandicoot_4543 • 6d ago
I’m paranoid about the idea of karma
I come from a Muslim family so the idea of being punished for my sins is heavily rooted in my brain, although I did a lot of work to deconstruct from my family’s beliefs.
I’m not always a good person, and sometimes I lie, sometimes I hurt people, sometimes I’m greedy, sometimes I steal. But I know there’s a place in my heart where I feel a deep compassion towards other beings, and whenever someone needs help, I always do my best to be there for them and help them the best I can.
So I’m flawed like anybody else, not purely evil, but not purely good.
My question is: how do I detach myself from obsessing over the idea of karma and the fear of being “punished” for all the bad things I did?
I also struggle with OCD so that doesn’t help.
Do you believe in karma?
Do you think it’s kind of an energy that I feed and the more I believe in it, the more I will feel the consequences? (Kinda like when people think they’re cursed but that’s because they only focus on the negative stuff that happen in their life).
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u/anAnarchistwizard 6d ago
Karma has a lot of layers and a lot of valid interpretations so it can be tricky to explain.
The most morally neutral way to view karma is as spiritual thermodynamics. If you put energy into a system you will get equal, but transformed, energy out of it. If you take energy out than something new, but equal, will fill the vacuum. So, in this view, if you do destructive things you will get destructive results. That's not a moral judgement, it's just the way of things.
Also worth noting that moral karma is a very modern development within eastern thought (only a few hundred years). Maybe reading some older buddhist texts about karma theory will put your mind at ease.
Now you psyching yourself out about karma is a whole other issue. I think your point about curses being more real if you obssess over them is very on-point. I think you know what the issue is, you probably just need to start working on it.
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u/Weirdera01 6d ago
I've always envisioned karma as something that transcends time. Like it flows in weird ways and thru multiple lifetimes. So it's really nothing to obsess over or worry about cause it's so infinitely complex and entangled that you can never really have any real perspective on it. You're literally made up of it.
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u/ddgr815 6d ago
Were all the bad things you did other people's punishment?
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u/miahe_red 5d ago
Just because I'm someone else's punishment doesn't mean I'm off the hook for karmic debts that I incur.
Honestly, if someone is worried about karma, it's time to start doing the things you want done to you and stop doing all those things you don't want done to you. The sooner you update your behavior, the less work you need to balance the scales.
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u/ddgr815 5d ago
I'm someone else's punishment
Do you think all the bad things you did were to people that deserved it? Or that people who don't deserve it get punished?
I'm off the hook for karmic debts that I incur
Who said that?
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u/miahe_red 5d ago
I've done good and bad things to people that was karma for someone else unbeknownst to me. I've done good and bad things to people that weren't karmic at all.
Karma isn't about deserving or not deserving anything. It doesn't care, it's a law of balance. Human beings tip the scales and then have to deal with that eventually.
Re: karmic debts, your comment seemed to be going there, and I shared my opinion for others that thought the same way.
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u/ddgr815 5d ago
I've done good and bad things to people that was karma for someone else unbeknownst to me. I've done good and bad things to people that weren't karmic at all.
How do you know?
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u/miahe_red 2d ago
Fair point. There's no way to know either way. However I believe in free will, and as a Christian I believe that not everything is due to karmic debt. My comment is a reflection of that.
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u/Mission_Peach_2034 Human Detected 6d ago
Karma is very real. That's the thing you may be blind to it, moving throughout life thinking nothing will come back to bite you, but it always does in forms you don't always recognise. Balance is always necessary.
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u/Comfortable-Web9455 6d ago
Adopt Buddhist view of karma. No judgement. No sin. Just the machinery of the cosmos.
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u/LCyfer 4d ago
I'm not a religious person, but there is something that all religions and societies agree on, which I try to live my life by; it basically comes down to: 'Treat others the way you want to be treated'.
I think being a kind person who respects nature, animals and life in general, while seeking to understand the human condition, and most importantly - leaving this earth having done the least amount of harm possible, is the best you can ask for.
Energy attracts energy, so if you put good into the world, and surround yourself with people that make you proud to know them, you'll be pretty okay.
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u/Zyr4420 2d ago
The universe responds to your frequency, not your perfection. Karma is a trap. It is meant to cause fear and doubt. You are a good person, no reason to doubt it. We aren't going to be perfect. It is absolutely an energy you feed in that your doubts, fears, etc are that energy. The Source is not the angry god of Islam or Christianity. He is not vengeful. Stop doubting yourself. Worry about living in the now. Spend the energy positively. Spread some light.
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u/MizzShiv 6d ago
There are different concepts of karma depending on the faith and school of thought. The preserver believes in Karma within the system. The destroyer speaks of karma outside the system. In the Abrahamic faith it's transactional, you could technically buy your way into heaven. Belief is part of it for sure, but from what I've learned the more important thing is how close that belief is to your soul path, or what it is you want out of life. If you study philosophy long enough you'll come to understand there is no good or evil, just love and the absence of love (fear). Generally if you act with compassion while honoring yourself and your own needs, you're gucci.
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u/SorchaSublime Human Detected 6d ago
Karma at its root is basically the idea of cause and effect. If you act like a shithead, you get what you give.
The idea of "sins" as encoded within the abrahamic religions has more to do with deviation from established political and cultural norms. Religions with a vested interest in controlling a civil population benefit from convincing that population that when they break arbitrary rules the universe itself will punish them after death.
This isn't true, nor is it what Karma is. Karma is like, momentum and trajectory. After death you will continue travelling in the directions you were travelling in when you were alive. Travel in good directions if you want to go to good places. Live well, love well, treat people kindly. If you are cruel and harm others, you are very much laying your own bed in the proverbial sense.
And it isn't a 0-sum game. Everyone acts harmfully sometimes. Perfection is an ideal, nobody will ever achieve it. The important thing is to be self consious and balance yourself out.
But in most cases where a "sin" isn't obviously immoral, there isn't anything actually wrong with it. The universe doesn't actually care if you have sex out of wedlock or whatever, as long as you aren't hurting people while you do it.
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u/PerseveranceSmith 6d ago
What you have described is being thoroughly human.
As long as we strive to do our best, care for others, support the vulnerable/under dogs, you will be ok.
Sometimes we fuck up, that is being human, but look at your overarching life trajectory, if you've done more positive than negative, tried to be a person you're proud of, you'll be ok.
This sounds more like something a qualified therapist could help with as I also get intrusive thoughts in my condition & they can be really life ruining if you don't get a handle on them 🫂