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AUTHOR SYLVIA MASSARA

the answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42!

4/9/2014

8 Comments

 
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Perhaps, it is just like the author of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy states... "If the answer is 42, then what is the real question to the mystery of life in this universe?" Frankly, I’ve just about given up on this one.

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For years, I’ve been into the works of "Abraham" and Esther Hicks, Louise Hay, Bob Proctor, Wayne Dwyer, Susan Jeffers, and a whole lot more. I've also explored the philosophy of Buddhism and Hinduism; but to this day, I've yet to find a satisfactory answer, especially when it comes to karma and the law of attraction.

For instance, if we're meant to work off karma from a previous life, how useless is that when we don't remember what we did in a previous life in the first place? So how can we learn from what we did in another life? Shouldn't we be learning (and paying) from what we did in this life?

This explains why many evil or bad people get away with murder--basically all sorts of crimes, betrayal, hurting others' feelings, and so on--and the unnerving part is that many of them go on to flourish, live long lives in good health, have money, and even find happiness; while some poor souls who try to do right in this life are beset with illness, poverty, abuse, or whatever calamity life throws their way. So I've given up on the notion of karma--unless it's in this life and you pay for it in the same lifetime.


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As for the law of attraction--I've lost faith in this, too. I mean, if you are in this life to work off negative karma (and this is why things are falling apart around you according to the karma gurus), then all the law of attraction in the universe isn't going to fix it. No amount of positive thinking is going to "burn off" this so-called negative karma if you're meant to really work it off. One concept seems to contradict the other! So which one, if any, is right?

I've tried for years to think positive; I’ve applied the advice given by Abraham/Esther Hicks, Louise Hay, Bob Proctor, and all the others. Unfortunately, nothing has worked out right for me. I mean, none of the things I've wanted--and I wasn't asking for millions either--just things like health and being able to earn a modest living while doing what I love (my writing). These things still remain dreams for me.

Meanwhile, I look at ex-partners, ex-friends and ex-bosses who’ve turned out to be real users and abusers. Now, I know for a fact that some of these people are thriving. Makes you wonder, right?


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The only thing I've found to be valuable in my exploration of all these issues is what the Buddha said: "Don't believe anything anyone tells you, even if I tell you, unless it makes perfect sense within your heart and soul." Or words to that effect. In any case, I have found this to be the most sensible thing of all that any spiritual teacher could have taught me.

I guess I will always have a problem with karma--and if it really does exist, then it sucks. I think justice should be served when someone hurts another person--and not ten lives from now.

I tried to get all spiritual and fluffy, but in the light of pain, betrayal, and other hurtful things (plus all the awful things that happen to people, animals, and mother nature), it's very difficult to remain light in spirit. As for reincarnation--I hope this doesn't exist either, because there is absolutely no way I'm coming back unless it's as a cherished kitty to a loving family!


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You will have to pardon my cynicism, but after some of the things I've been through and seen in this world of ours, I need a better answer than karma or the law of attraction. I find people use these concepts too lightly in order to explain why things happen. Sometimes, it's just a convenient cop out for society at large.

You see someone who is homeless or disabled, and you dismiss it as "Oh, it's just karma they're paying off." So this makes it easy to walk away from the helpless millions who are sick, starving, living in war-torn nations, victims of crime, abuse, etc, etc. It's all so "permissible" when you think it's their karma, or that they're attracting this into their lives through the law of attraction.

Well, I'm more of an "eye for an eye" kind of person even though I don't believe in traditional religion. But it's a bit like being in the mafia. You hurt me or my family, and I'll get you back with the proverbial horse's head, among other things—of course, I’ll make sure the horse is only a prop as I couldn’t kill an animal.

Blame it on my Italian heritage, but until I find another answer, which at the moment keeps eluding me, I will always wish for revenge (or poetic justice) for the evil doers. You know what they say, what goes around, comes around--yes, but when? And why did it come to those of us who are trying to do the right thing?

Well, as for why bad things happen to good people, I still can’t explain this one. So if I cannot have justice, I'll have to stick to the best answer possible for the moment: "42".



8 Comments
Nicole Chardenet link
4/9/2014 05:09:05

Well.....don't be so sure that all those users and abusers have such wonderful lives.

I offer up as one example, Richard Cory:

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.


A fictional example, to be sure, but it's a good point...you don't know what other peoples' lives are like. Just found out something about a friend of mine this weekend who I kinda envy because she's so pretty and she can still get excited about meeting new men (she's only a few years younger than I). Um, seems there was a very bad Someone in her past and it appears to have affected her whole life since. Including some parts of her life that she's deeply embarrassed about. I had no idea. It explains a few things, though.

There are things that happen to you that are just "shit happens". There's nothing you can do about shit happening (although a Buddhist koan might ask, 'What is the sound of shit happening?' :) However, we can still control how we react to things and that can often make all the difference.

Please don't give up on the search for peace. I believe you can and will find it. Your life may never be perfect, or what you wanted, or what you got...but you can be damned sure it's a helluva lot better than the hand others got dealt in life.

I work with a Rwandan girl whose family escaped twenty years ago, when she was ten. I don't ask her too much about that..I gather she left just before the violence started. But she's been going to the memorials in Toronto (this week marks the 20th anniversary of the genocide) and she passed on her friend's blog post, memories of someone who WAS there for the genocide. And let me tell you, girlfriend, everything you and I are dealing with are #whitegirlproblems.

BTW, the Toronto Star ran a story about a Rwandan woman who forgave *and became friends with* the man who hacked off her hand and *killed her baby*. I don't know how she did it...I think I could forgive someone who hacked off my hand but I don't know if I could forgive murdering my child. But she did, because she didn't want to live with the hate. I can grasp that. I can't be friends with my ex but I've stopped hating him. Maybe that's what forgiveness is...not exonerating the person, just refusing to live with the anger and the hate anymore...which aren't hurting the other person in the slightest.

So, this week, at least, I'm not bitching about my problems. At least not to my Rwandan friend :)

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Sylvia Massara link
4/10/2014 03:13:49

Well said, Nicole, but my point in this post is not about bitching but about us trying to understand karma and the law of attraction. Now, if I believed in karma, I would say about the Rwandan lady who forgave that man: "Oh well, she must've done something horrible in a previous life, and this is why in this life she's paying for it by losing a hand and her baby, and having to learn forgiveness." This is how a majority of those who believe in karma write it off.

Others, who are into the law of attraction, will say: "Oh, she attracted this into her life by having negative thoughts, or some such, and this is why her hand was hacked off and her baby was killed."

Do you see my point? This is total bollocks (as the Brits say). No one, and I mean NO ONE who hasn't committed some kind of atrocity should have to suffer this kind of calamity. The point of this post is that learning our lesson (whatever that means) or paying off karma for something we did in a previous life is total BOLLOCKS!

I like a level playing field: You do something bad in this life; you pay for it. You try to do good in this life; you can at least have a peaceful kind of life. That's it, pure and simple.

And now, I'll leave you with something Sun Tzu said: "If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy floating past."

I think I'll stick to Sun Tzu's philosophy :)

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Nicole Chardenet link
4/11/2014 06:19:27

The belief in karma and the law of attraction *can* enable some to just blow off injustice in this world, and I have a problem with that. Because it's blaming the victim, and since religion/spirituality is all just theory anyway, we shouldn't take it THAT seriously. (Not saying religion & spirituality is bad...just that if we're religious/spiritual, we should full recognize that we're basing our worldview to a very big unproven theory).

If there really is such a thing as karma and law of attraction, then perhaps we are *obligated* to help others where we can because, even if theoretically, they were bad people in a former lifetime, well, then helping them out in *this* lifetime is teaching them mercy...a lesson they may well not have learned in their *last* lifetime.

As for attracting bad events with bad thoughts...well, there may be *something* to that in that focusing on negative things or people can make us crazy hurtful...look at the terrorists who cling to their extremely unhealthy worldview and hatred like drowning men to life rafts...And there's something to be said for "programming" our brains to help us attract more positive things in life (what that's really saying it, thinking in the right manner so as to recognize and act on opportunities when you see them).

But I don't like the idea that a Rwandan woman got her hand cut off because she had 'bad thoughts'. We *all* have bad thoughts. It's the nature of humanity. Trying to control those bad thoughts is what therapy, mindfulness, Buddhism, etc. is all about.

Interestingly, and not apropos of this post, I was wondering on my way home tonight just *why* we all seem to prefer to cling to negative thoughts and energies so much. I recognized years ago that some of the anger I still cling to (not as much as before, but I'd sitll like to get rid of it) is actually my shield, keeping me from being hurt by others. But, it also makes me less inclined to forgive, and lack of forgiveness hurts no one except myself. I *know* it's bad for me, so why do I cling to it? Because not having that shield scares the s**t out of me.

So in short, the idea of karma and the law of attraction is like any other religious/spiritual belief in life (or the Force, padawan :) It can be used for good or for evil!

Sylvia Massara link
4/11/2014 09:04:30

Hi Nicole, this blog only allows one reply per person it seems, so when you replied the second time, I couldn't reply back :) Must be karma. LOL.

I do agree with what you say in your reply below. When I studied Hinduism some years ago, they did say however that yes, it's like people do blame the victim. This is why "untouchables" in India and other countries with similar beliefs, are considered as those who've done something wrong in past lives. And disabled/deformed people are considered even lower than untouchables. I find this kind of belief very cruel.

Showing kindness to people is something we should all practise, although I could never be kind to an evil person. We all have free will, and if they choose to do horrid things, I'm not going to be kind to them :)

About the anger thing you've been feeling--I get that too, and it's not about recent things all the time--many a time, I don't even know why I feel this way. Could it be the state of the world we live in?

Sylvia Massara link
4/11/2014 09:06:07

Oops! It did allow me to reply after all, only I had to hit the reply button above in order to reply to your second comment. Go figure.

Kris May
4/9/2014 08:59:34

Couldn't agree more. Good one, Sylvia!

Reply
AJ Beamish link
4/17/2014 22:35:39

"Believe those who seek the truth. Doubt those that find it."

People are always asking why... What if the question is "why not?" Then pretty much any positive answer you could come up with makes sense.

I think the universe was created for sh17s and giggles (shiggles, the kids say these days). Just live life in a way that harms no one else and let the dead worry about the afterlife.

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Sylvia Massara link
4/18/2014 02:14:35

Hi AJ, as the Scottish say "shite" (pronounced like "height" but with the "sh" at the beginning). So "shite" happens :) And I like the kids' use of "shiggles" too.

But yes, no one can explain why bad things happen to good people or why the evil ones seem to get away with it most of the time. I guess it will remain a mystery. And those who claim to have an answer are probably wrong. So yes, I "doubt those who find it" as we've had proof throughout history how wrong people are with their beliefs, specially where religion plays a huge part in making things worse. I'm more of a "live and let live" type. I'm entitled to my thoughts, and you are to yours; but I won't "burn you at the stake" if you don't believe in what I believe. Nothing worse than people trying to impose their belief system onto others!

I always enjoy the irony when they say two armies fighting each other pray to the same God for victory--this in itself proves that God is something we made up (as God cannot please both sides). So for me, the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything still remains 42 ;)

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    Sylvia Massara is an Australian author who is passionate about animal rights, climate change and  saving our planet, plus the right of individuals to choose DIY euthanasia.

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