What is Karma?

[Jordan A]

I'll be honest, I am trying to find a good question that would be valuable for the community here, which may not be as good of a strategy as having a good question come up organically, But I just thought I would post something!

I don't think I fully understand what Karma is. I think I understand the relative nature of selfishness and morality. However, is Karma an effect of the Universe punishing a person because they were selfish, or is the person punishing themselves through the boundaries and limits that their own selfishness creates? Or is there more to Karma than that?

By the way, I really enjoy the long videos. I've watched almost all of the youtube videos in their full length except for some really early ones, so I just want to say I'm a big fan, and I can feel big positive changes happening due to the impact of this channel. 

[vladorion]

It's guilt and self-punishment, basically. But not as a person. A person is already the result of it.

Edited May 21, 2021 by vladorion

[Carl-Richard]

Karma is like Newton's second law of motion: every action has an opposite and equal reaction. It has nothing to do with punishment and it's not just that actions have consequences. You can look at it from a cognitive perspective: if you consistently act in disharmonious ways, you'll build internal structures (schemas and heuristics; automatic ways which you interpret the world) that will further facilitate such behavior in the future, and those actions will have consequences. If you act like an asshole in some aspect in your life, that will sooner or later affect you in some other aspect of your life. Shedding karma is about acting harmoniously with the evershifting nature of reality. It's in a way the opposite of egoic survival.

Edited May 21, 2021 by Carl-Richard

[Jordan A]

@vladorion @Carl-Richard
that makes sense 

[mivafofa]

You can also read the comments in there some give different insights

[AcaciaConfusa]

I really enjoyed reading sadhgurus book on karma

[impulse9]

I like to call it the guiding principle.