As I understand as of today, Karma is a consequence of your actions, modified by the intention behind them. If your intention is to do bad, it doesn't matter how many intermediaries you use.
At one level, Karma exists in your mind. As in, every thought and deed modifies your mind slightly, leading to a domino effect that you experience later on. It exerts itself from the unconscious level of your mind. It is inescapable, since you generally aren't even aware of it.
At another level, you could think of karma as payment for getting work done. Say you want to do xyz for abc reasons. You will move in that direction (may not happen if your movement is not sufficient), but you'll need to pay for that. Karma is the payment for that. This may not be an entirely accurate portrayal though.
There are other levels I don't understand.
Karma has nothing to do with New Age. They're just the latest ones to copy the concept, and did a poor job at that. Just like they copied Yoga but butchered it into some kind of stretching routine. It is a millennia old word that comes from the Sanskrit language. It is not at all a simple concept as has been made out to be. If you care to learn, I'd suggest going to the primary Indian sources.
Every action/thought will have consequences, modified by intentions.
Karma is payment.
So, if I do a good deed with the selfish intention of getting good karma (i.e. beneficent consequences down the line), I will get that. Why? Because remember karma is payment: So you're investing energy today to reap a benefit tomorrow. It's no different from investing money today to get a return tomorrow.
If I do a bad deed with the intention of getting a benefit today, I'll have to pay for it tomorrow (like a loan).
So yeah, those celebrities will get a benefit proportional to the actual "good" that they do (not the exaggerated PR figures). But it's their own investment they're getting back, so it's kind of fair. The only thing not fair, perhaps, is idiots who give their energy (and money) to celebs, out of their own free will. A misallocation of resources, IMO.
Acting with selfish intention will generate karma. Any action to satisfy a desire you have is of selfish intention, by definition. The only actions which do not generate karma are those done with the intention of following your dharma without regard to how it affects you (another Sanskrit word, but for now we can take it to mean duty): these are selfless actions, since you didn't factor in your own desires, even if they also happen to be satisfied by the action you took. This is the science of karma yoga. Yoga also goes into the techniques of unwinding karmas before they're due etc.
Now, what you're probably also wondering is whether you'll get back something you didn't put in, if you do a truly selfless deed (i.e. karma yoga)? I don't understand this fully.
Perhaps God/other entities (if they exist, and I think he/they do, but maybe you don't) are pleased with you and grant you extra energy? Even without that, I know at a minimum you get freedom. Karma (both good and bad) is like a constraint on which direction your future goes. So being free of karma gives you the freedom to go anywhere. You energy which is locked up in various karmas becomes free, and you have more usable energy to work with.
Rebirth now makes sense: almost everyone has pending karmas before they die. They have to pay for that (karmic loans), or receive that (karmic deposits). In each life, they engage in more selfish actions, accruing more karma. So they keep paying and receiving until they have no pending karmas (i.e. they finally take to the path of karma yoga and become free).
Only without pending karmas, you have no need to be reborn (unless you want that, because remember you're free if you have no karmas)..
As I understand as of today, Karma is a consequence of your actions, modified by the intention behind them. If your intention is to do bad, it doesn't matter how many intermediaries you use.
At one level, Karma exists in your mind. As in, every thought and deed modifies your mind slightly, leading to a domino effect that you experience later on. It exerts itself from the unconscious level of your mind. It is inescapable, since you generally aren't even aware of it.
At another level, you could think of karma as payment for getting work done. Say you want to do xyz for abc reasons. You will move in that direction (may not happen if your movement is not sufficient), but you'll need to pay for that. Karma is the payment for that. This may not be an entirely accurate portrayal though.
There are other levels I don't understand.
Karma has nothing to do with New Age. They're just the latest ones to copy the concept, and did a poor job at that. Just like they copied Yoga but butchered it into some kind of stretching routine. It is a millennia old word that comes from the Sanskrit language. It is not at all a simple concept as has been made out to be. If you care to learn, I'd suggest going to the primary Indian sources.
Good question. As I understand:
So, if I do a good deed with the selfish intention of getting good karma (i.e. beneficent consequences down the line), I will get that. Why? Because remember karma is payment: So you're investing energy today to reap a benefit tomorrow. It's no different from investing money today to get a return tomorrow.
If I do a bad deed with the intention of getting a benefit today, I'll have to pay for it tomorrow (like a loan).
So yeah, those celebrities will get a benefit proportional to the actual "good" that they do (not the exaggerated PR figures). But it's their own investment they're getting back, so it's kind of fair. The only thing not fair, perhaps, is idiots who give their energy (and money) to celebs, out of their own free will. A misallocation of resources, IMO.
Acting with selfish intention will generate karma. Any action to satisfy a desire you have is of selfish intention, by definition. The only actions which do not generate karma are those done with the intention of following your dharma without regard to how it affects you (another Sanskrit word, but for now we can take it to mean duty): these are selfless actions, since you didn't factor in your own desires, even if they also happen to be satisfied by the action you took. This is the science of karma yoga. Yoga also goes into the techniques of unwinding karmas before they're due etc.
Now, what you're probably also wondering is whether you'll get back something you didn't put in, if you do a truly selfless deed (i.e. karma yoga)? I don't understand this fully.
Perhaps God/other entities (if they exist, and I think he/they do, but maybe you don't) are pleased with you and grant you extra energy? Even without that, I know at a minimum you get freedom. Karma (both good and bad) is like a constraint on which direction your future goes. So being free of karma gives you the freedom to go anywhere. You energy which is locked up in various karmas becomes free, and you have more usable energy to work with.
Rebirth now makes sense: almost everyone has pending karmas before they die. They have to pay for that (karmic loans), or receive that (karmic deposits). In each life, they engage in more selfish actions, accruing more karma. So they keep paying and receiving until they have no pending karmas (i.e. they finally take to the path of karma yoga and become free).
Only without pending karmas, you have no need to be reborn (unless you want that, because remember you're free if you have no karmas)..