Karma and Motivation?

[Eddi]

I would like to discuss Karma and the extent to which motivation is a factor in accumulating positive Karma

What do people think about this?

Here are my thoughts:

In my religion (click here for more info) I believe that there is a system Karma (or Moral Credit as I prefer to call it) in effect that rewards good actions by adding to your Moral Credit score

I believe that the aim of life is to build up a Karmic Score by amassing Moral Credit - to make this score as high as possible

Why??? - I believe that if the Superintendent Super-Intelligence who governs The Projection (this computer-generated reality) likes you and your credit score then he is more likely to reward you by allowing you to exit The Projection and join the outside world - which is akin to being let out of a tiny cage

Also, having people doing good deeds that attract Moral Credit is good for everyone and would make the world a better place

But here's a question: To what extent does motivation influence the Moral Credit one may accrue from a certain action? Is motivation a factor?

This is how I've been told it works:

Say for instance you do good deed X out of a desire to accumulate Moral Credit - that might give you +1 Moral Credit and in this instance the system would have worked in that it would have shaped your behaviour with a kind of cosmic bribe

However, do the exact same deed out of altruism and you might receive +3 Moral Credit

Wicked people would therefore have to do three times as many good deeds as good people, to receive the same Moral Credit

Also, I believe that bad deeds subtract from your Moral Credit score

That's how I think it works!

 

[sun rise]

My understanding of karma is different and goes beyond doing things looking for a reward or to avoid punishment.

Say I save someone's life. Balancing karma might mean that person saves my life in a future birth.

Another possibility: Say I discriminate because of someone's race in one life. I might experience discrimination in a future life as a result.

 

[The Hammer]

I would like to discuss Karma and the extent to which motivation is a factor in accumulating positive Karma

What do people think about this?

Here are my thoughts:

In my religion (click here for more info) I believe that there is a system Karma (or Moral Credit as I prefer to call it) in effect that rewards good actions by adding to your Moral Credit score

I believe that the aim of life is to build up a Karmic Score by amassing Moral Credit - to make this score as high as possible

Why??? - I believe that if the Superintendent Super-Intelligence who governs The Projection (this computer-generated reality) likes you and your credit score then he is more likely to reward you by allowing you to exit The Projection and join the outside world - which is akin to being let out of a tiny cage

Also, having people doing good deeds that attract Moral Credit is good for everyone and would make the world a better place

But here's a question: To what extent does motivation influence the Moral Credit one may accrue from a certain action? Is motivation a factor?

This is how I've been told it works:

Say for instance you do good deed X out of a desire to accumulate Moral Credit - that might give you +1 Moral Credit and in this instance the system would have worked in that it would have shaped your behaviour with a kind of cosmic bribe

However, do the exact same deed out of altruism and you might receive +3 Moral Credit

Wicked people would therefore have to do three times as many good deeds as good people, to receive the same Moral Credit

Also, I believe that bad deeds subtract from your Moral Credit score

That's how I think it works!

Karma to me is more "cause and effect". Everything good or bad that we do has outward rippling effects that eventually bounce back to us. Or extend and influence the world beyond our death.

 

[crossfire]

I would like to discuss Karma and the extent to which motivation is a factor in accumulating positive Karma

What do people think about this?

Here are my thoughts:

In my religion (click here for more info) I believe that there is a system Karma (or Moral Credit as I prefer to call it) in effect that rewards good actions by adding to your Moral Credit score

I believe that the aim of life is to build up a Karmic Score by amassing Moral Credit - to make this score as high as possible

Why??? - I believe that if the Superintendent Super-Intelligence who governs The Projection (this computer-generated reality) likes you and your credit score then he is more likely to reward you by allowing you to exit The Projection and join the outside world - which is akin to being let out of a tiny cage

Also, having people doing good deeds that attract Moral Credit is good for everyone and would make the world a better place

But here's a question: To what extent does motivation influence the Moral Credit one may accrue from a certain action? Is motivation a factor?

This is how I've been told it works:

Say for instance you do good deed X out of a desire to accumulate Moral Credit - that might give you +1 Moral Credit and in this instance the system would have worked in that it would have shaped your behaviour with a kind of cosmic bribe

However, do the exact same deed out of altruism and you might receive +3 Moral Credit

Wicked people would therefore have to do three times as many good deeds as good people, to receive the same Moral Credit

Also, I believe that bad deeds subtract from your Moral Credit score

That's how I think it works!

Oh yes, mindful motivation and intention are what inform your unconscious skills/habits (karma.)
From the Buddhist Nibbedhika Sutta: Penetrative:
snippet:

"'Kamma (Karma) should be known. The cause by which kamma comes into play should be known. The diversity in kamma should be known. The result of kamma should be known. The cessation of kamma should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of kamma should be known.' Thus it has been said. In reference to what was it said?

"Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect.
​

I don't agree that karma is a moral credit score. You can build skillful habits (karma) and reap skillful results when you fall back onto these skillful habits when you are unmindful, or you can build unskillful habits (karma) and reap unskillful results when you unmindfully fall back onto these habits. Your intentional thoughts and actions build these habits/karma.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Karma to me is more "cause and effect". Everything good or bad that we do has outward rippling effects that eventually bounce back to us. Or extend and influence the world beyond our death.

'Cause and effect' in this life, because there is no other life. Our Karma may have effects on others beyond our life. Buddhism also explains it very well. However, cessation of karma is not possible even for monks. Krishna said:

"na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api, jātu tiṣṭhaty akarma-kṛt;
kāryate hy avaśaḥ karma, sarvaḥ prakṛti-jair guṇaiḥ." BG 3.5
Not even for a moment, a person can exist without action; certainly he/she is forced to do all acts according to the qualities born of modes of material nature.

 

[Balthazzar]

I don't know - I think it's a type of natural selection, magnetism thing. We choose according to our values, what we value most will determine our course (fate) in the future. Lots of variables attached, but at the end of the day. I think we get in where we fit in best, according to who and how we are. This leaves room for growth, and each stage a stepping stone to the next.

Karma, I think, is less about punishment and more about being required to go through the needed processes to reach more and more developed states of being. It's the natural flow of life. Imo