Do you do good things to improve your karma in life?

I don't believe in Karma. I am Jewish and we believe in Mitzvah. In the Tanach there are more than 10 Commandments. There are actually 613, but christians call the Tanach the old testament and choose to only follow the 10. the 613 and the 10 are called Mitzvah, and have come to mean doing good. The Jews concentrate on doing good, more than worring about going to hell for sinning. They do Mitzvah and always have. It is nothing new. It is, and always has been a part of the life of a Religious Jew. It has nothing to do with Karma. It has to do with following the Will of Hashem(G'd). Shalom~Adoniah

I do good things because that is who I am, I do not do it for anything in return or to improve my Karma.

Karma isnt why I do what I do...I do it becuase I know what its like to NOT have a helping hand, shoulder to cry on, ears to listen, any support and what its like to struggle alone etc...So I'm naturally a caring, helpful person becaue I've been on the dark side of life ya know..I couldnt bear to look myself in the mirror if I knew someone needed help and I could have given it but chose not to..

Hi OceanZealot, I have always wanted to help others when I can, it is just a part of who I am and has nothing to do with karma, at least not consciously. Blessings.

The Law of Karma forms the basis of the explanation of what happens in this existence and why it happens the way it does. H/B/J/S has this concept of Karma as the sounding board of all actions, and I personally find the Theory of Karma as one of the finest ways to explain the anomalies that one sees in the happenings of the world. Doing good deeds(called puNys-karma) adds "good" karma to one's "karma-account". Like wise bad deeds (pApa-karma] adds karma with "unpleasant" consequences in the coming lifetimes. The "logical" fall-out of the ToK is reincarnation and the cycle of births and deaths. A good understanding of this theory helps one to regulate one's life by taking responsibility for one's actions, without necessarily involving the "faith" component much. But the religions that believe in Karma exhort one cut the "bondage" that all "intentional and motivated" karma Good or Bad would entrap you in. Everyone is exhorted to perform all actions relinqushing doership, which in simpler terms is to "act without expectation" as someone has rightly said here- that he would act with good in mind, body and deeds only because it is his/her nature to do so, without "bothering" about the results. This is the essence of the message in H/B/J/S. Each one says it differently. IMO there is one reason for the performance of more and more good karma. We do not [B]know[/B] unless we are very advanced in our spiritual path whether we have gotten to the destination-state of "perfection". So, there is every possibility that this life is not our last sojourn on this plane of existence. Hence we need to equip ourselves for a possible future sojourn, just in case and "leave" some deposit to "claim" in future sojourns, so that we do not end up "high" and "dry" into this harsh world. There must be some good things happening to one (otherwise the tendency to turn criminal and destructive would increase- some plain psychology) so that he/she develops a positive attitude or more so retains it long enough to mature to that level where you could truly "grow" into the state of naiShkarmya(a state of karma-neutrality)!

WE do something good because we want to be gratified. Improving karma? It is because we don't have understanding that cause karma.

I like to help people when I can, not because I want to get good karma in return or because my faith tells me to or for any other reason to do with religion. It's just the way I've been brought up, and also because I think it's a nice thing to be able to help people who are less fortunate than I am. I don't think that people need religion to tell them to do good things. I think that it's a natural desire that's inherently in most people. One thing that we have as humans (that animals don't) is the ability to empathise, and I think that this naturally leads to our wish to help people out.

Well we all have to do some good things to improve our karma. I am always doing some good things whenever got an opportunity. It think it will be really beneficial for me as well as those whom I am helping. But I am not involved in funds and charities but trying to help some one in person so that they get total help.

Doing good things is useless without aware of their false, of a whole self, hope that we can end this suffering world.

Well what theology claims is that what you do in this life does not affect you until the next life. Thats why they say to do only good in this life so that in your next reincarnation, you have a pleasant one. This comes from where they say that anything negative you experience or pain that you go through in this life is your karma from the last life that you had. I believe it too, it makes a lot of sense. Doesn't mean I don't believe in God, but OH YES I do try my hardest to watch what I do now in this life. They believe that anything that happens to you is a direct effect of what you did to someone else. So say you get robbed or killed innocently by some random person. Well most will say that you were so nice and innocent but were you really? Yes you might have been in this life, but perhaps not in your last one? But once you get your karma from what you did, its repaid and its done. So if your having a good life and nothing bad is ever happening to you, then keep it that way. It means you behaved in your past life and have a clean slate with no Bad Karma coming your way. So that is why they say there is no reason to blame anyone but yourself for what happens to you in your life and how you control your life and destiny. Oh and it doesn't matter what you do to make up for what you have done in this life. If you killed someone, thats it, you will get your karma in your next life no matter what you do. So all we can do is just not add on to it lol, but I am a firm believer that anything can be forgiven so I think if we work really hard the rest of our lifetime, it can be repaid early. There is also a belief that you can get Good Karma, so it does pay off to do those good deeds. Honestly I believe there is alot of truth to it, but it's a deep and complicated belief. It's more for people who can't find their own religion so instead of having to deal with only getting to live once and then going to heaven, which is still intertwined in theology, you get reincarnated. You need to look up this video on Youtube. The title of the video is called "Amazing. Boy remembers past life" Its split up into five videos and its amazing, literally. It made me question alot of things and gave me hope for later on. Enjoy and God Bless!