My Problem With Karma

I have a problem with the concept of karma. Now understand, before you read any further, that the concept of karma I disagree with largely stems from the loosely used version—the type you hear everywhere, like in a coffee shop, when that man smiles at you, after picking up the quarter you dropped on the floor…“Just trying to get some karma,” he says, the what goes around comes around kind.

You see there is a paradoxical dilemma when it comes to the way karma is generally used, especially within Western society. Typically karma is viewed as a meter, in that if the individual does so and so action, which they themselves consider to be a “good” action, the karma meter increases, and with the increase, because of their self deemed “good” action, some type of mystical blessing will be poured upon them in the future. Subsequently, if a bad deed is carried out, the karma meter decreases, lessening the individual’s chances of receiving the blessing, merit, what have you.

As an aside, this loosely used definition of karma is a horrible interpretation of what karma actually is within the framework of various Buddhist traditions, especially in regards to Shin Buddhism. However, this is another conversation for another day.

The problem with karma being viewed as a meter fails to take into the root or essence of what karma is, that is if the “good” action is done by the individual for the sole sake of their future benefit. Let me explain. If a person is doing something good so something good happens to them in the future, the good action is carried out for self benefit, and therefore becomes selfish in nature. I’ve often used the analogy of helping an old person walk across the street. Why are you actually helping them? How many of us do something good, simply because it makes us feel better about ourselves, simply because it helps us sleep better at night? Karma, in this fashion, becomes a means for self glamorization, a stroking of the ego so to speak.

This may seem cynical, as the question arises, asking whether or not any action can be unselfish. But the question of selfishness is something one should search out for themselves that is if they care enough to.