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)..
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)..