Is Evil Necessary In Order To Know Good?

[quote=Space_Man]I had (perhaps erroneously) always thought that there was a certain purposefulness behind karmic consequences

Originally Posted by howiemac

The other way to go is random chance, one birth, no purpose...

Can I talk you into meeting me here for a bit?

Spaceman: "Why can

Is it okay if I go back a few posts? I just scrolled up the page and saw this post from howiemac - he posted it the day our computer broke and was out of action for nearly a week (sorry howiemac - I didn't notice your post before!)......

Originally Posted by howiemac

Poppies - i really like the quote you gave from Bill Huebsch. I believe that we are all indestructible eternal souls, beings of light, who simply inhabit bodies like costumes for the experience of it - from this perspective, there is never anything to be afraid of, and the natural state to be in is loving and forgiving.

well.. this whole question has been exercising my mind considerably since i made that last post - i really like what DASA has just posted

and that has made things clearer - so yes i agree with you that there are circumstances where action is required, but the actions should be good actions and not driven by fear, anger or other negative emotion....

actually i would probably move house - i have had neighbours from hell before, and i moved house then - did the trick for me - when you are too close to such a situation you are liable to react badly and just dig yourself in deeper - the situation takes over control of you

having had time to consider this further, what would you do?

Well... moving house is certainly an option that I would consider for the safety of my child(ren)....

I am not a vindictive person, and would not seek to be malicious towards this person - however much my protective anger at the time could well prompt me to respond in a revengeful manner - I know that this is not the way to go, and my main aim would be the safety of my child(ren)........ if I continued to live next door to this man, I would supervise my child(ren) and would seek to ensure their safety........

I agree that "when you are too close to such a situation you are liable to react badly and just dig yourself in deeper - the situation takes over control of you"..... My aim would be to not allow the man to have any sort of close-contact with my child(ren) - that would be my priority.

To go back to Space_Man

[quote=Poppies]

[quote=Space_Man]You

Originally Posted by Poppies

I was trying very hard to be polite there!!!

[size=2]Well, you know me

Originally Posted by Poppies

but it must be hard not to feel a certain 'smugness'.................. :?

[quote=Space_Man]I

Originally Posted by Poppies

Jumping on again to what DASA and howiemac said in their most recent posts.... Does Karma 'work' geographically then? So if you are "paying off bad karma" (to quote howiemac) you are born where natural disasters like earthquakes (and the tsunami) are likely to happen.... but if you have good karma, you are born somewhere that natural disasters don't tend to happen?

Hi Poppies.... from what I understand of Karma, it's very complicated. It's not just good and bad, there's generally a mix. Pious activities lead to increased material enjoyment and impious activities lead to increased material suffering, but they don't cancel each other out -you'll get both at the same time, plus the whole range inbetween.

For example, death is certain, so to die is not a 'bad karma', if you die quickly in a tsnami then it's not some kind of punishment, you had to die one day anyway. You'll be born into another body somewhere else. But it is described that every pain or hurt you deliberately cause to another living entity (ant, human or tree etc...) you will have to experience yourself. Karma is Krishna's way of trying to teach us to treat each other better. If you boil a lobster to death to satisfy your tongue then expect to get burnt.

But ultimately from a spiritual perspective we don't want either good or bad karma, we want no karma. Then the soul is free to leave the wheel of re-birth and death, or stay here as a liberated soul, if Krishna desires.

[quote="DASA"]

Originally Posted by Poppies

For example, death is certain, so to die is not a 'bad karma', if you die quickly in a tsnami then it's not some kind of punishment, you had to die one day anyway. You'll be born into another body somewhere else. But it is described that every pain or hurt you deliberately cause to another living entity (ant, human or tree etc...) you will have to experience yourself. Karma is Krishna's way of trying to teach us to treat each other better. If you boil a lobster to death to satisfy your tongue then expect to get burnt.

But ultimately from a spiritual perspective we don't want either good or bad karma, we want no karma. Then the soul is free to leave the wheel of re-birth and death, or stay here as a liberated soul, if Krishna desires.

Thanks for that DASA... I think I'm being obtuse here....

Doesn't the 'geographical' thing still apply though....

You say that

If you boil a lobster to death to satisfy your tongue then expect to get burnt.

Does this mean that if you:

• live in a war-ridden country....
  live somewhere where there is severe drought....
  live in extreme poverty.....
  live somewhere where there is a severe famine....
  live somewhere prone to natural disasters.....

you were born in this area because of bad karma? (taking your lobster example).

I take what you say about not wanting good or bad karma, but if you have to 'pay' for bad karma (please excuse the clumsy wording! )... does this have a geographical influence?

Sorry... I can't quite let go of this one....