anything goes with emma chamberlain - karma [video]

Episode Date: April 9, 2023

[video available on Spotify] ever since i discovered the concept of karma, i’ve been obsessed with it. i learned it through my community. it might have been my parents, it might have been my friends, it might have been my teachers, i don't remember. but the moral of the story is ever since i've discovered karma, i have been obsessed with the concept. i’ve been living with karma in mind for pretty much as long as I can remember, and it's been a fundamental rule in my life. but as i'm getting older, i'm becoming more fascinated by these rules that i've been living by. i'm questioning them in a way, but not necessarily in a negative way or even in a super critical way. moreso wondering what more is there to learn about these certain concepts and how accurate are they? i just find the whole thing interesting and satisfying. so today we're gonna be digging into karma. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, ever since I discovered the concept of karma, I have been obsessed with it. I don't remember exactly when or how I discovered the concept. It definitely wasn't in a religious way because I didn't grow up religious. I have attended religious schools in the past without being affiliated with those religions, but yet I didn't even learn the concept of karma there. I learned it through my community. It might have been my parents, it might have been my friends, it might have been my teachers. I don't remember, but the moral of the story is, ever since I've discovered karma, I have been obsessed with

the concept. I have been living with karma in mind for pretty much as long as I can remember. And it's just been a fundamental rule in my life. But as I'm getting older, I'm becoming more fascinated by these rules that I've been living by for years and years and years. I'm questioning them in a way, but not necessarily in a negative way or even in a super critical way, more in a way where I want to know even more about these rules that I've been following for the majority of my life and a lot of people have been following for the majority of their life. I feel like there are a lot of golden rules that we live by.

Another example would be treat others how you want to be treated. That's considered the golden rule. You know, karma is kind of another one of those golden rules, I would say. And there are a lot more, but as I'm getting older, I'm just wanting to know more. I'm wanting to kind of just get in there and learn more about where these ideas have come from, what more is there to learn about these certain concepts, and how accurate are they? I just find the whole thing interesting and satisfying.

So today we're gonna be digging into karma. So let's start out with what karma is. If you were to Google it right now, what is karma? You would probably find that it says a few things. It's not just one thing. There's not one solid definition for karma. One definition is that it's destiny or fate following as effect from cause. So basically, you know, something happening as a result of your behavior. So, for example, a bad thing happening to somebody who did a bad thing, or a good thing happening for someone who did a good thing. Another definition of karma is the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states

of existence. This is a more religious definition. And based on the research I did, karma is sort of the overall energy within a person. And it's the combination of their good and bad actions. To have good karma, you must have done a lot of good in your current life and in all of your past lives. Because karma in its religious context also includes the idea of reincarnation,

meaning that your soul sort of travels from body to body over time, right? You've lived in multiple bodies over the course of history. So karma in a traditional way does not just count the karma of your current life. It also counts the karma from all your past lives. So if your past life body was a piece of shit, your current life, your current body, might suffer from that. Even though you, in your current being, had nothing to do with that. So, it's interesting because it's a accumulation of all of your past lives and your current life. You have good karma if you and your current life have done a lot of good

now and in your past lives. Or if you have done a few bad things here and there, you've sort of repaired and mended that bad karma with good karma by doing above and beyond generous or kind or helpful things for other people to sort of repair or erase your bad karma. And then if you have bad karma, that means you in your current body and all of your past lives have just been doing bad things. You're stealing, you're hurting people, you're being mean, you're not living life in a morally admirable way, okay? So karma can kind of be something that happens to you as a result of your actions, but it can also be the sum of your actions in their impacts.

So you have good karma, you've done primarily good things, and you have bad karma if you've done primarily bad things, right? I would say looking at it as more of a cause and effect is more western, right? It's more of a societal sort of belief, whereas the idea that it's a sum of your actions is more rooted in its religious background. Speaking of that, let's get into the history. Ooh, we're getting into the history of karma now. So I found all of my information on worldhistory.org. And I found that the idea of karma appeared in Hindu text before 1500 BCE with a limited meaning of ritual action. So it didn't have any sort of philosophical value yet.

It just simply meant action, something that is done in action. But then it sort of became philosophical in 800 to 300 BCE. And now it means what you do and what the consequences are. And it starts to become more of a religious term. At the time, it was interesting because South Asian cultures saw karma as an act of nature. So in their belief system, karma was something that was like a universal law. It was something that just happened, like nature, in a way, in its automaticness, right? But in Abrahamic religions, karma was considered something that a God would inflict on to people.

So a God would see you misbehave, and they would say, okay, now you're gonna be punished. So even a long time ago, when this concept was still very new, it was not one specific thing. It was different for different religions. I think there's something to be said for a concept that goes back so far in time. When concepts have existed for hundreds or thousands of years, they can't be ignored, in my opinion. Even if they might feel a little bit outdated in

some way, there's a reason why they've stood the test of time. They must be serving an incredible purpose. And that's what I feel like is going on with karma, especially. You know, it still exists today because it's something, it's a concept that I think we might need in society. Even though it has a religious background that maybe not everyone agrees with, I think that it's become so widespread now and it's never died out as a concept because it's necessary. Humans need it in a way. I don't know, that's just my opinion. But I find the older the concept is, the more I'm willing to be open-minded to it, even if it might seem outdated or unrealistic at face value. Like, for example, there are some religious beliefs that are heavily entwined with the idea of

God, and obviously not everyone believes in God, right? But I do think a lot of those ideas are incredibly powerful, even if you remove God from the equation. The moral value of the concept still stays strong even after you remove God from it. So I guess my point of all of this is, even if sometimes old, old concepts seem outdated or they seem a little bit too a little bit too religiously driven or they're a little bit too abstract or unrealistic. If they have a positive impact in some way, I'm willing to look deeper at it and not just completely discount it as BS because it's related to religion in some way. Well, you know what I mean? So now I want to talk about the overall discussion around the concept of karma in modern society and especially in the Western world

because the concept of karma did not start here in the Western world. It started in Asia, I think specifically South Asia. And it's traveled here. But I want to talk about what karma is today, especially where I live in the Western world. Because obviously I live here. I'm experiencing sort of the conversation here. And so I'm best able to talk about its impact here and in my personal life. I'm very unfamiliar with how it's discussed in its original home place. I really do see karma becoming much more than a religious belief and more of a universal rule.

A non-religious concept. Now I don't know if this is offensive to the people who practice, say, Hindu, which is one of the religions that first started talking about karma, right? I don't know if it's offensive to them that, you know, the Western world used the word karma as kind of a less religious term. I am completely unsure. I hope it's not. But regardless, it definitely is this sort of societal rule at this point. And you sort of see it thrown around. It's in a Taylor Swift song. It's being referred to really frequently and not in a religious context. You know, I swear, I hear people telling stories about how,

you know, karma bit me or I know somebody who got fucked up by karma. Like, I feel like it's always being talked about. There are a lot of non-religious people who are living by this concept, living by this rule, who are not religious. Although, there are definitely a lot of people who discovered the whole philosophy from their religion. Whether you think God is responsible for karma or the universe is just responsible for karma, it has the same principles. You know, I think the main difference between karma in history and karma today is that karma at first was considered, you know, your current karma in your current life and your karma from your past lives. Whereas that doesn't really seem to be

the perception of it today. When I hear karma discuss today, it's about you in your body now and your past lives are irrelevant. I think the idea of reincarnation is not necessarily is not necessarily a common belief, at least in the Western world. I mean, it depends on your religion, but I don't think that's as popular of a belief, whereas the idea of karma originated, the Hindu religion, reincarnation is a major belief that they have.

Although I did read on a website, PewResearch.org, that fewer than half of a group of people practicing Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Janism, Janism totally fucked up the names and you know that. So just, I'm sorry. Fewer than half of those people believe in reincarnation.

So what's also interesting is actually even people who practice the religions who came up with karma actually don't all believe in the idea of reincarnation anymore. It seems that that idea is sort of losing popularity, even in its origin place, right? That's interesting. Although it seems that this idea that karma follows you through all of your lives, it seems that many people are finding this concept outdated. Although that is the case, it is fascinating to consider the possibility of past lives

bringing karma to your current life, because that would explain one of the largest holes in the idea of karma, which is why do good things happen to bad people sometimes, and why do bad things happen to bad people sometimes, and why do bad things happen to good people sometimes. Now if you ride or die for the concept of karma, but you don't believe in the element of reincarnation, then there's sort of a hole there. But if you do believe in the idea of reincarnation, then there's no way that karma could ever not be perceived as true by you. Because no matter what happens, good or bad karma

can be the explanation. If something bad happens to you, even though you're such a good person, in theory, you should have great karma. The explanation could be, well, in my past life, I must have done something wrong. And so I'm being punished for something that I did in my past life.

Whereas if you don't believe in reincarnation, then it might be a little bit earth shattering when something bad happens to you, even though you should in theory have good karma. And you're like, well, how is this fair? This doesn't make any sense. This doesn't add up with my philosophy, right? My philosophy that if I do good things, good things will come to me, right? This doesn't add up I think karma in the modern world is a little bit less deep. I don't think people are using karma as

in absolute end all be all in life. I'm finding that in casual conversation, when people mention karma, it's not heavy in a religious way. It's more lighthearted in a casual way. And it's more used in a way of describing when somebody gets some sort of payback rather than, you know, it being an action from the universe. I feel like now it just represents simply something bad happening to someone who did something wrong to you or did something wrong in general or something good happening to you or someone you know, when you or someone you know do something good. It has less of a mystical feeling,

I would say, in the modern world than it did in history. At least for some people. Now, this is not for everyone, because it definitely isn't for me. And I'll talk more about that later, but I think in general, in the Western world, based on my perception, it's much more of a light casual term with less depth and less weight.

Is karma real? What a question that no one will ever probably be able to answer. There is absolutely no scientific way, as of right now, to prove that karma is or is not real. Now it's important to say is or is not real because just as much as we can't prove that karma is real, we absolutely can't prove that it's not real. There is a 50-50 chance. It is absolutely not impossible that it's not real. There is a 50-50 chance. It is absolutely not impossible

that it is a real concept. I would even argue that it's not possible to prove that God doesn't exist. For those who are atheists who believe that God absolutely is not real and think that it's scientifically proven, I don't think it is because there are so many things that humans can't comprehend. I always think about trying to teach math to a dog. It's not possible. They're never going to be able to understand. And as smart as we humans feel, there are things that we'll never understand. And so I think of certain concepts like karma or the universe or laws of nature or God. I think of the way that we understand them and I have to wonder, how much are we not getting because we just aren't capable of comprehending beyond a certain point?

If there was a God and we could prove it for real, somehow it would be so hard to comprehend in so many ways. If like, God somehow came down from the sky and started speaking to, could you comprehend that? I would lose my fucking mind. I would lose my fucking mind. That's kind of different though. That's not really what I'm talking about with the dog example, trying to teach dog math. Because, you know, if God came down from the sky and we could saw him, I mean, we could probably figure out a way to comprehend that. But my point is, there are so many things that we can't comprehend, that we can't scientifically prove. And so, who knows what we don't understand. Something that we

might consider to be mythical or legend could actually be true. We don't know for sure. That's why when it comes to religion or concepts like karma, I will never say that it is not real. I will also probably never say that it is real, because I'm okay in that place. I'm okay not knowing for sure. Back to what I was saying, karma is an impossible theory to prove or disprove. But at the same time, science is becoming more accessible and advanced.

And things like religion and religious concepts are becoming harder and harder to believe in, because we're just so much more scientifically educated than we were. So something like religion, hundreds or thousands of years ago, seemed probably much more like a no-brainer, because there was no science to explain the world in any other way.

Whereas now I think there's a lot more skepticism around religion and religious concepts because we're just constantly being exposed to science that is giving a very different type of explanation for why things happen on this planet and in our lives. But you also might meet a lot of people out there who, despite maybe scientific doubts, believe that karma is absolutely real. I've met many people who believe 100% that karma is real, with not 1% of doubt, right? And I think depending on your life experience and your determination to believe in something, you may see the world in a way where your belief is supported. You know, if you tell yourself, I believe in this 100%. Then the way that you perceive the world is different.

So you're going to start seeing things that confirm your belief. I think the reason why there are so many people out there who believe in certain concepts, even though they're not 100% proven, is because your reality is sort of fluid in a way. It's sort of moldable in a way based on the way that you think, and a lot of it is even subconscious. So if you believe karma is real, for example, there's a way that you can make karma fit every situation in your life, right?

If you believe in horoscopes, there's a way that you can fit your horoscope reading into your life on a daily basis. If you believe in God, there is a way that you can look at God and believe that he's responsible for all of the outcomes in your life. If you tell yourself that it's true, it almost can become true, whether it really is or

not. So that's why I think we find so many people who take certain religious concepts as fact is because in some ways, it might be kind of fact for them. It might as well be in a way, because it's real in your own imagination. It might not be real on a universal level, but if it's real to you, in some ways it might as well be real. Do I want to go down the rabbit hole? I don't know, it's a rainy day outside. I have time. I don't want to. But going? I don't know, it's a rainy day outside. I have time. I don't want to. But going back to karma more specifically, it is a concept that cannot scientifically be

proven or disproven. So no matter what side you fall on, you're not right and you're not wrong. Every way that somebody views karma is going to be a little bit different based on their life circumstances, their personal beliefs, their personal experiences. And as long as you're staying true to that, then the way that you perceive it is right. There's no definite truth. And that's okay. That's actually even more exciting in some ways.

It's even more mysterious and intriguing in some ways because it's sort of up to you how you wanna perceive it. There's no right or wrong way. You know? Now, let's talk about some arguments against the concept of karma. You know, people who maybe don't believe in this concept, what's the argument that

they have? I mean, I think the main argument would be explain how bad things happen to good people and explain how good things happen to bad people, explain that. I'm somebody who actually really does believe in karma. Yet I can't necessarily explain that. I would consider occasions where karma didn't work properly as maybe a universal mistake. I do believe in karma, but I also believe that not everything is perfect and especially on a planet with so many variables. I can see there being errors.

I could also see a possibility that karma not working properly, if you will, might be a part of a bigger picture that we're not seeing yet. You know, something bad happening to a good person could end up leading them in a direction that will bring them incredible levels of happiness. But it just might take some time before they figure that out. And a good thing happening to a bad person

could eventually lead them down a path that leads them to incredible punishment. You see, I'm saying, I see both sides. I see the side of karma not always working. And I also see the side of maybe that's just taking it at face value look a little deeper. There's also something to be said for just natural cause and effect, you know not something that's maybe the universe controlling the fate of things or nature controlling the fate of things or a God controlling the fate of things, but rather Just somebody's actions having direct consequences, right? I'll give you an example The likelihood that an asshole will fail in their career is much higher than somebody who is in their career is much higher than somebody who is incredibly nice, generous, and sweet, right? So somebody might know an asshole and say, karma's going to bite his ass one day, and he's going to fail.

And then when he does fail, it's like that was karma. But on the other hand, it could be just the fact that the probability is higher, that he will not find success in his career because he won't be able to keep a job, because he's an asshole. That is a direct correlation. You know, that might be considered to be karma by some, but to me, that's more a situation where that was just somebody's actions having direct consequences. You know? Another example, someone who is a cheater, a serial cheater, they cheat on everybody they

date, they never find true love and that's their bad karma. Well, obviously, they didn't find true love because they're a cheater and they're impossible to be with in a happy and positive way. Those two examples are demonstrating a very obvious cause and effect. It might look like karma at face value, but when you dig a little deeper, you realize, no, this was just the natural fate and destiny of the situation because

of the type of people that these people are. There was no special force involved in making these people pay for their bad behavior. But then some people might consider those things an exact representation of karma. Because in both of those situations, there's still a chance that they could eventually find success. But yet, they didn't. Karma served them their punishment on a silver platter. And God could have let them get away with it. The universe could have let them get away with it. Nature could have let them get away with it. But karma stepped in and didn't let that happen. So again,

both sides, good arguments. Okay, so now we've sort of touched on both sides of the argument here. But this is super important to me, what we're about to discuss next, which is, doesn't even matter if karma is real. Yes, there are arguably some holes in the theory of karma, especially if you don't believe in reincarnation. Karma can't always be the explanation for everything, right? It's not always going to fit the narrative that you wanted to fit. But I actually don't think it matters because from my experience, living as though karma is real with my own behavior has made me so much more morally stable. Living by the principle that when I do good, good will come to me. And when I do bad, bad will come to me. Living by that has not harmed me in any way, shape, or form.

It's only made me a better person. It's only made me make better decisions, and it's only ever brought more love and joy into my life. In my experience, right? It's an incredible moral principle to live by. And I think in a lot of ways, it will feel true to you. Maybe not in the way that you might expect it to. For example, when living as though karma is real, you may not find that when you do a good deed immediately after you find a hundred dollar bill on the ground because the universe or nature or God put it on the ground for you. But instead you might find a lot of smaller joys, sort of results of your good behavior. But it will feel like good karma in a way.

Even if it's not as magnificent as some sort of mystical event happening to you that's magical after you do a good deed, it is true, I would say, that when you do good in this world, that good comes to you and not always in mystical, magical ways, but maybe in sort of obvious ways. For example, if you smile at people and you send out a warm energy to people and you're generous with people, people are going to be nicer to you. More people are gonna wanna be your friend.

More people are gonna wanna help you out in life. More people are going to bring your name up in a room full of executives at a company of a job that you want to get. More people are going to want to invite you to their birthday party that ends up being the most fun night of the year, etc. It's like putting positivity out in the world, putting love and warmth inevitably does invite in so much more joy into your life. Whether you can get away with doing the wrong thing or not, doing the right thing impacts the way that you see yourself. So being a good person on the outside

and treating everyone incredibly and being the sweetest is half the battle. Doing the right thing when no one's watching is the other half of the battle because even if you don't believe in karma and you think that if you can get away with bad behavior and nobody finds out that it doesn't count, you're wrong because you know what you did. And doing things that you know are wrong make you feel bad about yourself. Whether you consciously realize it or not, your self-esteem goes down. You don't get away with it 100 percent because the way that you carry yourself, the way that you think of yourself will inevitably be altered by bad behavior. And it might impact your life

in negative ways. You know, you go into a job interview, you don't have as much confidence. You look in the mirror, your self-esteem is awful. So when you go and talk to a stranger at a bar, you don't have as much confidence. You don't have as much charisma, because you feel bad about yourself. My point is, living as though karma is real, will bring good into your life. It will improve your life, I would say. And whether or not it's real,

might actually not matter at all. Now I wanna talk a little bit about my personal experience. I'm like laying down. Oh my God, This is a totally unflattering angle now of me. So if you're watching the video episode, suddenly I'm not looking as cute due to the angle. But I'm just like in the mood to lay down kind of. How unprofessional of me. Anyway, I want to talk a little bit about my personal experience with karma and sort of my own very personal philosophy on it How it plays a role in my day-to-day life, etc

I sort of live my life in a way where I don't know if karma is real or not. I'm okay with that I decide to live as though it is and so when it comes to my day-to-day life Whether I am around other people or I'm completely alone, I try to do as much good as I possibly can in hopes that I will, number one, make others in myself feel good, but even more than that, you know, sort of have good karma in a way, which will hopefully bring good things into my life, big or small. When I do bad things, for example, I flip someone off in traffic.

I do it in LA traffic. You think I don't do that? You think that I'm too morally stable to do that? You're wrong. The finger's up once a week, probably. That's so not true. Once a week, no, I would say it's probably dirty look once a week.

Middle finger once a month with the road rage of it all. But let's say I do something wrong. Yeah, give somebody the finger and traffic. I don't know, give attitude to my parents. Maybe like get overly sensitive and angry at somebody who doesn't deserve it. Probably my parents, to be honest, that's kind of the only people I do that too.

But I don't know, maybe ignore somebody for no reason. I don't know. I can't for no reason. I don't know. I can't really think of bad things I do on a consistent basis at this point. When I do things like that, I feel genuine guilt. I think a really good example is like throwing trash on the floor. I never do that. If something falls out of my bag or something, I always go back and grab it. Because to me, that's the right thing

to do. And I don't want bad karma. If I knock things over in the store, I'm walking down an aisle and I knock something off the shelf, I pick it up and I put it back. When I'm in someone else's bathroom, I'm like at someone's house, I'm going to put a new toilet paper on so that the next person has toilet paper right there and available. I'm going to put a new toilet paper on so that the next person has toilet paper, right there and available. I really try not to make careless or inconsiderate or rude choices as much as possible. I stop myself with the concept of karma in the back of my head like, this is not the right thing to do. I know that, so I'm not gonna do it. If I do flip someone off in traffic,

if I do drop a piece of trash on the floor, it falls out of my bag and I'm too busy to go pick it up, so I let it fly in the wind like a total piece of shit, or I mean, somebody else's bathroom and I'm too lazy to replace their toilet paper. I feel bad about it later and I regret it. That's why I don't really do it anymore. But if I do, then I try to fix it later.

This is very traditional in the idea of karma. You can reverse bad karma by good behavior. So an example of that would be, let's say I drop a piece of trash on the floor and I don't pick it up and throw it away. Okay, the next time I see a piece of trash on the floor, I might pick it up and throw it away. And to me, that's sort of evening it out.

I did something nice to counteract my bad behavior that I feel sort of guilty about. And maybe instead of just picking up one piece of trash, I might go pick up three pieces of trash and throw them away. So I'm actually doing even better for the world than before. If I feel kind of guilty about it and want to mend that mistake,

and I go and throw away three pieces of trash, that's two more pieces of trash that are in the trash can that wouldn't have been otherwise. You see my point here, so it's like, I live in that way. And obviously those examples are very mundane. There are probably larger examples in my day to day life that I'm just not thinking of. But I think that that demonstrates the way that I sort of carry myself really well. I also have found it challenging at times to see people who maybe I know are bad people

or who have wronged me be incredibly successful in their life because to me it feels imbalanced, right? I look at somebody and I know what type of person they are. I know that at their core they're not a good person yet they may be incredibly successful and incredibly happy in a way. And to me, as much as I want them to be happy and successful, I feel frustrated because I feel like that's an imbalance in the universe. I've witnessed this so many times in my life. But what's really interesting about it is I can't name one scenario where I didn't see karma come into play at some point ever and that fascinates me. That's another sort of

example of karma playing a role in my life. I feel like I've watched it happen. I've sort of questioned like how is this imbalance possible? But then I've seen it fall together, and I've seen it make sense years down the line, and that blows my mind every time, without fail. And for the moments when I feel like bad things happen to good people, or good things happen to bad people, which does happen, I look at it in the way that I mentioned earlier.

I either look at it as a larger piece of a scheme in a way that's going to unfold. And we might not see it now, but eventually it will all unfold and we'll see that karma does eventually come around. I've seen so many times it makes sense like years down the line. Why what happened happened happened and I think that that can explain a lot sometimes but it can't explain everything and so when I find myself Knowing on that like okay, that doesn't explain everything. I Remember that all systems are flawed, you know, I don't look at the concept of karma as absolute fact and truth. I see it as something that can be wrong at times.

But for me in my life, I've seen it be accurate and do its work in a way. So I do believe in it. Whether it's the universe or it's nature or it's God or it's just likelihood and probability, no matter what the truth is, you know, I believe in it with that lack of knowledge and a part of believing in it is knowing that I don't know exactly how it works. And that's completely fine with me. It doesn't matter to me. Thank you all for

listening. Thank you all for hanging out with me. I hope that you enjoyed your time with me today. Hope it was a pleasure for you as much as it was for me. I really appreciate you coming and hanging out. If you want to hang out some more, new episodes of anything goes every Thursday and Sunday, come hang and listen, follow anything goes on Instagram and anything goes or on Twitter at AG podcast. Check out my coffee company, Chamberlain Coffee. I'm actually drinking a little matcha today because it's kind of late in the afternoon.

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Okay, but don't think too hard, because we actually might not have it. But anyway, yeah, that's all I have for today. Thank you for listening. Thank you for hanging out. Can't wait to see you soon. Okay, I'll talk to you guys later. Love you all. you