I don't believe in karma, or anything that says we are born bad or have to atone in this life for something done in another or that God judges us. I was pleased to see that Abraham-Hicks says as much too. God doesn't care what we do - it's our thinking and beliefs that affect our lives, and make Heaven or Hell here and now for us. Better thinking is a higher vibrational point and attracts better things than bad thinking (or 'sin') - it really is that simple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEXJb4-iBm0

Some schools of thought hold that, if we do something bad to someone in this life, we have to be repaid (karmic debt) but it doesn't have to be an equally bad repayment. For example, if Joe kills Sally in this life, Sally must be repaid. In a later life, Sally may be a doctor (she'll have a different body and name then, of course) and Joe may have need for surgery. Sally can choose to have the debt repaid and operate. It could be that the swipe of the scalpel will be enough to repay the debt since that act will aid her in that life's quest to be a good doctor. Karma isn't pleasant, but it doesn't have to have a destructive end either.

Philantropic karma, considered very very rare, is good karma, but it required complete acceptance of another. For example, giving shelter, money, food, etc. to an artist with no conditions whatsoever attached. The purpose is to allow the artist to be an artist on the artist's terms. That kind of karma is also repaid in kind.

Such is some of the theories anyway. No one has ever really come back to tell us, with empirical proof, that reincarnation is the way of things.

I do not think Karma and Heaven and Hell equal the same thing.

My guess it is more like this analogy.

If you plant an apple seed, you get an apple tree, if you plant a cactus you will get a cactus. So I think Karma is more that you get what you plant. Now is that true? I am not really stating that either way, I just think the analogy even tho maybe not perfect does better show what Karma is meant to mean.

Corporations and companies use the law of reciprocity kind of like Karma, they give things away, sponsor athletes and on and on anticipating that they will receive because they gave. Or they gave away to others freely so others should give back to them freely. I think that is more what Karma is trying to convey.

Maybe you say, well isn't that then Heaven and Hell. I think that you encounter a variety of teachings about Heaven and Hell, depending on who is discussing it. I do not think the teaching is universal through out all religions. But I think Karma has a universal meaning to all that use the word.

Karma can be likened as a returning boomerang. Wether you care to believe it or not, whatever you do in this life, good or bad, will come back to you in folds.

Isn't this just heaven and hell again? i.e If you do good things, you live a heavenly life and if you do bad things, you live a hell-ish life.

Form a Buddhist perspective that's about right, although a bit oversimplified. Very evil and ignorant actions can indeed lead to a rebirth in a hellish realm. A lot of good karma can eventually lead you to a god-realm. But there are many more possibilities - being reborn as human, animal, spirit/ghost etc. It depends on a number of factors that are quite complicated and I don't fully understand yet.

Unlike Christianity, in Buddhism (and Hinduism I believe) heaven and hell are not eternal. They are just temporary states that mind can go through. Once the karma that caused them has been exhausted the mind will again change form. The circle goes forever unless one reaches enlightenment.

It's important to understand that you are not being judged.Karma is NOT a system of punishment and rewards. It's not performed by some deity. Instead, our own actions leave "impressions" in our minds, and these later manifest in our lives as events in harmony with the actions.

Since you are the one that knows what you need to learn, then you are the one that has created all this learning for yourself on this plane of existence. It is neither good or bad, it just is, we apply tags'of good or bad by our own judgement and limited conscious awareness.

"To observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence." — Jiddu Krishnamurti

According to the laws of karma, we all have lessons to learn, and in each life, we are re-born to learn the further lessons we need.

Hullo Friends, I practice Buddhism. One of our great teachers Nichiren Daishon wrote "Hell and heaven exist within our 5 foot bodies". When we are relaxed, at peace, confident, kind, compassionate, etc we feel good and make positive causes. When we are angry, frustrated, unhappy etc we tend to make negative causes. if we look at our lives, every positive cause uplifts us and a negative cause makes us feel worse. Our inherent 'life tendencies" of greed, anger and foolishness, cause us to make unhappy causes. As we become aware of cause and effect working in our life, we become aware of the causes we are making, we exercise self control, become better human beings and create a better and harmonious life for ourselves. the power of self improvement is enormous. My mentor Dr.Daisaku Ikeda, a great scholar and philosopher writes " The human revolution in a single individual can change the destiny of mankind".

I'm amazed at how many misconceptions there are about the Christian concept of hell and heaven. Even among life-long, practicing Christians, many subscribe to the belief that if you are good, you'll go to heaven and if you're bad, you'll go to hell. This is also the popularly held belief of most other people who believe in a heaven and a hell.

However, nothing could be further from what traditional Christianity teaches. Heaven is not gained by merit. We do not earn our way there. (I could cite relevant biblical references, but that's really not my purpose here.) So if heaven is not the reward for good works (keeping the train of thought in the context of "cause and effect") then karma is nothing like heaven and hell. Instead of "what goes around, comes around", in traditional Christian teaching it goes something like this: what goes around is forgiven (if we accept by act of faith the forgiveness that's offered). However, Christianity does not teach that we will escape the consequences of the evil deeds we do in this physical life. A forgiven person may suffer emotionally and physically due to the consequences of what he or she has done. So there's plenty of room in Christian thought for the idea of a "hell on earth" which would relate to karmic concepts.

Ultimately, the full teaching of karma has nothing to do with Christianity's heaven and hell. Karma describes how our deeds (the cause) are involved in actively shaping our life (the effect), past, present, and future. In Christianity, it's all about God's plan and our need to get into alignment with God's purposes.

Heaven and Hell are places that you go to after judgment day and God unfolds the Book of Life and those who are not written in the book of life will not go to Heaven but will go to Hell. That is according to the Christain belief.

Now after saying all of that God made an way for mankind to be saved by coming here to earth as Jesus Christ God spoke the word and manifest him into flesh. Now through the power of Jesus if we ask him into our heart and lives and ask for forgivness than we shall be forgiven all we have to do is ask for it. Jesus has forgiven you but sometimes mankind don't forgive themselves as well.

Our good works don't save us but we are suppose to do good works. God wants us to love him and believe in him and treat others with respect and kindness as we would like to be treated. The bread you cast upon the water of life will return to you. Some in large portions and some in small portions. All answers to life questions are not known to us.

Christanity is based on your faith in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Everyone has their faith of who they do or do not believe in or whether they believe in any kind of an higher being at all that is each person own choice and is according to our free will of choosing which God gave us.

Karma is according to what you have done in past lives and this life according to the good or bad and it will affect you in this life and your futures lives until it is balanced out. Karma is not about heaven and hell.

Yes, I think you are right. that's one of the reasons why I don't believe it. instead, I only believe the laws of action and reaction, cause and effect. in both scientific and spiritual sense.