3 fold law

[sobrique]

Have you ever heard of the '3 fold law'?


"Ever mind the rule of three
Three times your acts return to thee
This lesson well, thou must learn
Thou only gets what the dost earn."

It's an interesting concept.

It basically implies that there's a karmic balance to the universe. I have to say, in a sense I believe this to be true.
It's easy enough to see in extreme cases - a serial killer will be hunted down and be stopped.

Thing is though, I believe it applies in every situation. At a simple level, you've got to live with who you are. If you're spiteful, rude or selfish, then your punishment is that your are spiteful, rude or selfish. By the same token, kind, generous and passionate people get to live that way too.

I think it shows. The more extreme the trait, the more people notice. Traits tend to get reflected back. Being loyal, generous, helpful, enthusiastic, creative, thoughtful, kind, passionate tends to inspire it in others. The same is true of being unkind, spiteful, callous, deceitful, selfish.

How would you like to be remembered? How would you like to be thought of?
And how would you like the people around you to be?

Comments

[zaitan.livejournal.com]

How does this interact though, with what you said about people having diferent personas. It is very easy to be nasty in some circles and be an absolute gem in others. Take politicians for example.

You may have to live with yourself if you are a nasty piece of work. If you are though, you probably do not give a damm and it is hardly a punishment. You may also be so twisted, through bad experiences, that you think that everybody behaves in the same way that you do.

Remember that not all serial killers are caught.

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

Different personae don't necessarily imply that one of them is 'bad'.
Not all serial killers are caught, true. But at the end of the day, the world reflects how you look at it.

[darkgodfred.livejournal.com]

Alternativly there's the Babylon 5 view of fairness in the universe.

"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe."

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

If by terrible things happening, you mean random events, no things aren't fair.

That's the way of things. If however, you refer to nice people having a worse time of it, consider that friends are the balancing factor. If you're a nice person, then friends will go out of their way to help. If you're not, then usually they won't.

That's what I mean by balance.

[malal.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't think that actually happens. Of all the people I've know, almost no-one gets / got what they deserve. Bastards get a good life time and again, nice people get screwed.

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

I think I'm doing pretty well with my life.
Does that make me not a nice person?

Yes, there are some who are bastards and get away with it. And there are nice people who get taken advantage of.

So why doesn't everyone become a bastard, if it's more successful? Well, very simply, because it's too high a price.

[malal.livejournal.com]

Your one of the few exceptions, note I did say "almost".

Why doesn't everyone become a bastard? It's not the price, it's the principle, some couldn't even if they tried, others wont because of the fundamental "wrongness" of it.