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#280991 11/15/06 10:01 AM
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I've always wondered why it is that certain types of trouble comes in batches. Sometimes it appears as just a run of bad news or bad luck, but sometimes it's odder. Am I the only one who has experienced a week where technology goes haywire, or anything mechanical is certain to break? I seriously doubt it. Why does this happen? Is it the stars in a certain alignment, or is it vibes we give off? There are just some days (weeks) where I should not handle glass for instance... breakage rates soar! Please help solve this mystery of my universe!


Be kinder than you need to be. Everyone is dealing with something.
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#280992 11/15/06 10:10 AM
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If we didn't have any bad days, we would never be able to appreciate the good ones.

#280993 11/15/06 10:39 AM
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that's certainly true, but it doesn't explain why my washing machine, car and fax machine all decided to make that point on the same day! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />


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#280994 11/15/06 02:16 PM
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I have days like that too...I tend to put it down to astrology, or sometimes PMT <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Today had that potential but seems to have turned around- whew! I had an annoying set to with my credit card company who had charged me the wrong interest rate, finally got that sorted with much 'please hold the line' went to the bank & had to wait behind local shopkeepers banking bags & bags of pennies, then got home & found I'd missed a delivery. I could feel myself getting a little irritated, but decided to stay cool & philosophical about it. Half an hour later the delivery man rang & asked if I could receive the parcel now as he was changing his route & would be going back past mine <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Lots of gorgeous aromatherapy products to unpack now...

Of course if you get flustered when things start to go wrong you tend to 'go off centre' & the whole lot escalates from there <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I like the positive stance Socorrista is taking, so welcome to the forum with your calming outlook <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

#280995 11/15/06 04:20 PM
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when these things happen, I just think that maybe God wants me to do other things or he's punishing me for putting off washing my clothes for another day or something like that... or maybe that an accident will happen on the intersection that you always take to work, and that God doesn't want you in heaven yet, so He made your car unmovable. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

#280996 11/16/06 10:21 AM
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Acoosh, while I don't know if God cares whether I do my laundry or not (at least I hope that's true, since I am currently ignoring a pile of it in the hamper!! <img src="/images/graemlins/angel.gif" alt="" />) I can confirm that very often when I've been really frustrated behind a slowpoke driver, I will be blessing him/her instead when we pass the radar trap ahead! Sometimes not getting what you want is the best misfortune you could have. I agree that if we try to go with the flow in God's time, or with the divine etc. we are far less likely to get our knickers in a knot (to borrow a Brit expression Lauren! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />) I will aspire to that degree of coolness... aromatherapy has got to help! T


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#280997 11/16/06 11:22 AM
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Karma.

#280998 11/16/06 01:02 PM
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I get my knickers in a twist Trishh <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> But not so often these days!

Yep Karma & just maybe avoiding something that you really don't deserve may be part of all of this.

I just noticed the aromatherapy order had way too many creams & massage oils & was missing some other components. I rang the company & they are sending the missing items & letting me hang onto the extras as it was their fault. Keeping your cool & being nice about things that go wrong really pays off <img src="/images/graemlins/music.gif" alt="" />

#280999 11/17/06 03:03 PM
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Yes,Lauren, keeping one's cool when faced with sorting out difficulties sometimes does pay off. You're so right. I am persisting in my pleasant pursuit of understanding currently with the cell phone company. <img src="/images/graemlins/devil.gif" alt="" />
I was raised with a Christian version of karma I think Alexandra... if I was mad at my mom and thinking bad things I would link that to pinching my finger in the drawer soon after. I am not sure what I believe in that regard now that I am older... certainly being distracted by anger might make one less careful and therefore more prone to injury. Although I am a firm believer in one eventually reaping what one sows, I am not sure what to make of your suggestion that karma might be responsible for why I have within 24 hours broken both champagne glasses I have treasured for several years. (and no, smart ones, I wasn't drinking at the time!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />They just fell out of the cupboard quite independent of each other.)


Be kinder than you need to be. Everyone is dealing with something.
#281000 11/17/06 06:35 PM
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There's also the angle of 'life doesn't dish out any more than it thinks you can handle'. It sure is hard sometimes though!

I've had one heck of a summer... computer breakdowns (one almost immediately after getting a 'new' computer from the last one), my BF lost his job and ours bills all got behind, both of our vehicles broke down to where we were without transportation for a little over a month, and on and on... up to and including my grandfather dying (the first close relative to me dying when I was old enough to remember it).

But I'm still here, I'm still slogging on, wading through it all, and things are even looking bright now with a number of prospects on the near horizon.

Life is a test, and I firmly believe if you can pass through the hardships, you garner the rewards later.

Yes, both computers died on me. But now, my BF and I both have shiny new laptops, and mine is better than both the old computers combined.

Both our vehicles broke down... but now, instead of those two old vehicles, my much nicer and newer car is fixed and on the road again.

All our bills got behind and things were being turned off with no hope in sight to get them paid... but karma or whatever you want to call it stepped in, and my neighbor asked to buy part of our property, giving us enough to not only catch up on all our bills (and get my computer), but also to bring a beautiful young African Grey parrot into our lives.


So yes, trouble seems to come in batches... but it seems to always be followed by a batch of good. I just pray my good batch lasts at least as long if not longer than my bad batch!

#281001 11/19/06 06:19 AM
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Hi Jennie
Good to see you <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> It does sound like you've had a big clear out of the old (painful at the time) to make way for the new...which is much better for you.

I had a patch a bit like this earlier in the year. A clairvoyant friend was shown a sword & told they were 'tempering' me. 'Bad tempering me' it felt like at the time, but now I'm through it I can see that the experience has made me stronger.

#281002 11/20/06 04:30 AM
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Ravenstar, Karma is both timeless and non-judgemental... it's not a punishment, it's a consequence. From this morning, yesterday, last year, last lifetime.

It just is.
You do something, and it has a consequence. For everyone. Like ripples in a pond, what we say think and do always has a result, both or us, and the world at large.

#281003 11/20/06 04:58 PM
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Bad-tempering! I love it. I think that's a keeper.
So Alexandra, I'm interested... say your computer unexpectedly fries. Is that occurance a karma related event? I can't see how that is a consequence of one's actions unless you'd been rough with or neglectful of your equipment. Now how you respond to said computer frying... now that's understandably a karma generator! One can take it philosophically and respond to the situation by looking for the opportunity or lesson, or one could throw the computer at the wall and incur a lot of grief from the landlord.
I am not being glib here, because I do believe that our actions and even thoughts have consequences, I am just not sure how that relates to breaking machinery... or glass for that matter! ( I just heard the sound of breaking glass from the kitchen where my husband is doing dishes... that's 4 so far for the week... <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />)


Be kinder than you need to be. Everyone is dealing with something.
#281004 11/21/06 06:49 AM
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The law of Karma is both extremely simple, yet at one and the same time, devilishly complex... Just as an aside, the Buddha taught that there are four imponderables - four topics which it is futile trying to get your head around, because the complexities can drive a person insane - one of these 'Four Imponderables' is the Law of Karma...because we are influenced by the karma of others too, of course - of our family and loved ones, of our neighbours, of our community...even the Karma of our country....
So he suggested - as you yourself, have worked out, in your post - that it little matters the 'why' of things happening. The important is 'How' we deal with them as they land before us....

Karma is timeless...so it could be said to affect your computer, as it might once upon a time have affected your quill and ink....

Do you know that poem, about the nail ?

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost,
For want of the shoe, the horse was lost,
For want of the horse, the rider was lost,
For want of the rider, the battle was lost,
For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail!

I think Benjamin Franklin penned this one...doubtless with HIS quill and ink....

With regard to another aspect of Karma, there is the story of the horse farmer whose prize stallion runs off....
His neighbours comiserate, but their laments turn to congratulations when the son, having gone out to find this escaped horse, returns with both the stallion, and several fresh, wild mares too...

"Who knows what is good? Who knows what is Bad?"

...But the son, in trying to tame the mares, is thrown, and his leg is shattered....

This means that when the Emperor's Army comes recruiting, and takes every single eligible young man in the village, this boy is left behind...

"Who knows what is Good? Who knows what is Bad?"

This is why Karma is neither judgemental, nor comprehensible, to its fullest extent...
we simply have to deal with it, as it is, when it is, however it is.

#281005 11/21/06 01:49 PM
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Alexandra, thanks for the note. I especially resonated with the idea that we can feel the effects of our country's karma - which when you look at it is the willing participation in the will and workings of a political being. A country's decision to invade, to offer aid, to turn a blind eye... has got to result in some pretty significant karma. In fact, it might be seen that the whole world has at times been sick with the heavy karma the actions of many have caused. I would believe then that if that can be so, so too will the goodwill of many lighten the weight of the world so to speak. Now that's a thing worth living for.
T


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#281006 11/22/06 04:59 AM
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My pleasure Trish, glad to have helped.
This - if I may digress onto a personal note - is one of the many reasons why I am 'attracted' to Buddhism.

The Buck stops here.

We may not be to blame for it all, but our responsibility lies within ourselves to act and to respond constructively.

#281007 11/24/06 12:03 AM
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Does anyone have any insight about major "badness" that keeps reoccuring in some people's lives? For example, my mother-in-law was married to my husband's father, who committed suicide when he was 6. She later went through 2 not-so-good marriages, but finally found someone she truly loved again. This past May, after 6 months of marriage, she and her new husband were in a motorcycle accident, and he may never walk again. I count the 2 middle marriages as bad choices, but the 1st and 4th just seem incredibly unlucky...

Most of the other incidents indicate things that happen on a bad day or week, but what about major reoccuring things? Just curious what other people think...

#281008 11/24/06 05:39 AM
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Hi Froggie

Poor lady- what a lot to cope with. The working of karma does go some way to explaining why bad things happen to good people. We haven't always had 'good' lives & we may have committed some terrible cruelty in a past life. The karmic scales will always balance out- but sometimes not in the life when the acts were perpetrated. The good news is she is now 'clearing karma' on a grand scale in this lifetime & if she continues to be a pleasant caring individual despite her difficulties she will reap the benefits of her positive actions- whether in this life or the next.

It all seems very harsh, but you have to keep reminding yourself that you are the same soul, life after life, & this is part of the learning process. Take a read of Alexandra's long post on page 1 too- very wise comments. Who knows good & who knows bad?

#281009 11/24/06 09:44 AM
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With metta, Lauren....

<img src="/images/graemlins/heart.gif" alt="" />

#281010 11/27/06 11:09 AM
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Alexandra, I too like the concept that the buck stops here.
I resist the Christian idea of "the Devil made me do it" as Flip Wilson used to say (oh gee, that dates me, doesn't it?) because it absolves the individual of ultimate responsibility for their behaviour. The idea that behaviour follows us from lifetime to lifetime is terrifying, yet satisfyingly just in some ways. I suppose it is one faith/cultural answer to the eternal question of why bad things happen to entirely good people. It is some small comfort I guess when you are in the midst of a string of terrible events like Froggie's folks.


Be kinder than you need to be. Everyone is dealing with something.
#281011 11/28/06 05:08 AM
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Quote:
The idea that behaviour follows us from lifetime to lifetime is terrifying, yet satisfyingly just in some ways.


Yes, but don't forget that goes for good stuff too,which is why there is encouragement to transform what we perceive (in the moment, of the situation) to be bad, into something consructive, positive and good....

Quote:
I suppose it is one faith/cultural answer to the eternal question of why bad things happen to entirely good people..


And why good things happen to bad people....and why bad things happen to bad people....and why good things happen to good people....
Nothing is ever one-sided.... nothing is ever disproportionate.
I truly believe in my heart that a bad person who seems to always land on their feet, and seems to 'get away with everything' is setting themselves up for a mighty tumble, sooner or later...it all comes home to roost....They might very well be reaping the rewards for a past life well spent, but they sure as heck are in for a nasty shock for wasting this one...And in my not so inconsiderable experience, I have yet to meet a 'bad' person who is really, truly genuinely happy in their own life.

#281012 11/28/06 10:48 AM
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How about the concept that bad things happen in order to teach us to look for the opportunity hidden within or behind them? This seems to be a theme in my life--if the washer breaks down, instead of being able to do laundry as planned, I relieve my frustration by going for a walk and meet somebody interesting, or the repairman has a novel in progress he ends up paying me to evaluate and edit...and that's how it seems to work in my life. Anybody else experience this, too?

Barbara

#281013 11/28/06 11:16 AM
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Barbara...That's exactly what I've been saying....!
Hey!!

You're Buddhist! You just didn't know it - !! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

#281014 11/28/06 11:56 AM
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[/quote]And why good things happen to bad people....and why bad things happen to bad people....and why good things happen to good people....[/quote]


You know, we never ask why good things happen to us... only bad things! I've been studying the book of Job lately and it occurred to me that he never protested Heaven's actions when he was blessed by wealth, health and a great reputation. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />


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#281015 11/28/06 01:18 PM
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Very good point....

How many people have I seen and met who never spare a thought as to why their lives are trundling along happily.... and yet the moment the brown smelly stuff hits the rotating ventilator, it's suddenly a way of testing their faith, and it's all a cry of "Why me!?"


(Nobody on this forum, I'm sure.....!)

#281016 11/30/06 05:04 PM
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Hi Froggie

Poor lady- what a lot to cope with. The working of karma does go some way to explaining why bad things happen to good people. We haven't always had 'good' lives & we may have committed some terrible cruelty in a past life. The karmic scales will always balance out- but sometimes not in the life when the acts were perpetrated. The good news is she is now 'clearing karma' on a grand scale in this lifetime & if she continues to be a pleasant caring individual despite her difficulties she will reap the benefits of her positive actions- whether in this life or the next.

It all seems very harsh, but you have to keep reminding yourself that you are the same soul, life after life, & this is part of the learning process. Take a read of Alexandra's long post on page 1 too- very wise comments. Who knows good & who knows bad?


Yeah, I don't think I can believe in reincarnation for some of the reasons you stated. I'm more of a "the buck stops here" person too, I guess. Bad things happen to good people for all sorts of reasons, and I guess Rhonda's just gotten more than her fair share...

I'm not trying to disrespect your beliefs, but I just don't think that I can believe that someone so nice in this life would be a completely different person in another... If the soul is preserved from life to life, then would the personality be somewhat preserved too? Maybe I just don't understand the whole concept that well...

#281017 12/01/06 04:24 AM
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I've done past life regressions for years now & watched as the sweetest people recount experiences of lives as prostitutes, villains and all manner of other things. You'd be amazed!! They are often shocked by what they got up to, but it is healing because they can see how much they've moved on & where much present karma has come from.

#281018 12/01/06 07:03 AM
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Quote:
Maybe I just don't understand the whole concept that well...


I have entered a new thread on the Buddhist forum on 'Re-Birth as opposed to Reincarnation'. The two are quite different.
Go have a look-see and see if that helps any.

Come back with questions, if you wish.....

It may seem complicated, but it's really very simple.
But it's up to you to take it or leave it as you feel.

Last edited by Alexandra; 12/01/06 08:03 AM.
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Quote:
I have entered a new thread on the Buddhist forum on 'Re-Birth as opposed to Reincarnation'. The two are quite different. Go have a look-see and see if that helps any.


I guess that makes some sense. I'm a biology major (soon-to-be biologist). The analogy that came to my mind is cloning. In cloning, you take the genetic information from one organism, put it into an egg that lacks a nucleus, and allow it to gestate. This new organism contains the exact genetic material of the original, so you would think that it would look/act exactly like the "parent." However, that is seldom the case. Different environmental stimuli cause changes in the physiology which make the clone an entirely different being. Even identical twins are a bit different.

So going back to re-birth, I guess it is the same thing. It is the same spirit being subjected to a new set of environmental conditions, which elicit a different response...

I still argue that a good-natured person would be good-natured in past-births. Though circumstances may have caused that person to turn to prostitution, they may have been good-hearted prostitutes. Doesn't that count for something in the karmic cycle??

#281020 12/03/06 04:57 AM
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Quote:
So going back to re-birth, I guess it is the same thing. It is the same spirit being subjected to a new set of environmental conditions, which elicit a different response...
that's a really clear way of putting things in modern terms

Quote:
I still argue that a good-natured person would be good-natured in past-births. Though circumstances may have caused that person to turn to prostitution, they may have been good-hearted prostitutes. Doesn't that count for something in the karmic cycle??
Yes you are right, there are many shades of right & wrong doing and the 'bad lives' often come up because there is some important healing to do, we often don't see the dozens of 'good lives' as therapists because they aren't causing any problems for the client. People can see themes running through the lives & recognise themselves though their physical appearance, even their gender, may be different. They can pick themselves out in a crowd & know 'that's me'.

#281021 12/03/06 08:54 AM
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Looks like someone wants you to master technology in order for you to grow on...or master making phone calls( organizing?) to repair these things- <img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />


If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember what you said.
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