You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
The law changes and I don't. How I stand vis-à-vis the law at any given moment depends on the law. The law can change from state to state, from nation to nation, from city to city. I guess I have to go by a higher law. How's that? Yeah, I consider myself a road man for the lords of karma.
I'm sorry, but my karma just ran over your dogma.
"I'd love to go out with you, but I've been scheduled for a karma transplant."
Why I Can't Go Out With You: I'd LOVE to, but... -- I've got a Friends of the Lowly Rutabaga meeting. -- I promised to help a friend fold road maps. -- I've been scheduled for a karma transplant. -- I'm staying home to work on my cottage cheese sculpture. -- It's my parakeet's bowling night. -- I'm building a plant from a kit. -- There's a disturbance in the Force. -- I'm doing door-to-door collecting for static cling. -- I'm teaching my ferret to yodel. -- My crayons all melted together.
In China at the present day many Taoist gods are (or are given out as) men deified for service to the state. This again may be statecraft. In India, the (still unexplained) rise of the doctrine of transmigration hindered belief. Apotheosis can mean nothing to those who hold that a man may be reborn as a god, but still needs redemption, and that men on earth may win redemption, if they are brave enough. Curiously, Buddhism itself is ruled by the ghost or shadowy remainder of belief in transmigration--Karma. Entry: APOTHEOSIS
The central point of primitive Buddhism was the doctrine of "Arahatship"--a system of ethical and mental self-culture, in which deliverance was found from all the mysteries and sorrows of life in a change of heart to be reached here on earth. This doctrine seems to have been held very nearly in its original purity from the time when it was propounded by Gotama in the 6th century B.C. to the period in which northern India was conquered by the Huns about the commencement of the Christian era. Soon after that time there arose a school of Buddhist teachers who called their doctrine the "Great Vehicle." It was not in any contradiction to the older doctrine, which they contemptuously called the "Little Vehicle," but included it all, and was based upon it. The distinguishing characteristic of the newer school was the importance which it attached to "Bodhisatship." The older school had taught that Gotama, who had propounded the doctrine of Arahatship, was a Buddha, that only a Buddha is capable of discovering that doctrine, and that a Buddha is a man who by self-denying efforts, continued through many hundreds of different births, has acquired the so-called _Ten Paramitas_ or cardinal virtues in such perfection that he is able, when sin and ignorance have gained the upper hand throughout the world, to save the human race from impending ruin. But until the process of perfection has been completed, until the moment when at last the sage, sitting under the Wisdom tree acquires that particular insight or wisdom which is called Enlightenment or Buddhahood, he is still only a Bodhisat. The link of connexion between the various Bodhisats in the future Buddha's successive births is not a soul which is transferred from body to body, but the _karma_, or character, which each successive Bodhisat inherits from his predecessors in the long chain of existences. Now the older school also held, in the first place, that, when a man had, in this life, attained to Arahatship, his karma would not pass on to any other individual in another life--or in other words, that after Arahatship there would be no rebirth; and, secondly, that four thousand years after the Buddha had proclaimed the _Dhamma_ or doctrine of Arahatship, his teaching would have died away, and another Buddha would be required to bring mankind once more to a knowledge of the truth. The leaders of the Great Vehicle urged their followers to seek to attain, not so much to Arahatship, which would involve only their own salvation, but to Bodhisatship, by the attainment of which they would be conferring the blessings of the Dhamma upon countless multitudes in the long ages of the future. By thus laying stress upon Bodhisatship, rather than upon Arahatship, the new school, though they doubtless merely thought themselves to be carrying the older orthodox doctrines to their logical conclusion, were really changing the central point of Buddhism, and were altering the direction of their mental vision. It was of no avail that they adhered in other respects in the main to the older teaching, that they professed to hold to the same ethical system, that they adhered, except in a few unimportant details, to the old regulations of the order of the Buddhist mendicant recluses. The ancient books, preserved in the _Pali Pitakas_, being mainly occupied with the details of Arahatship, lost their exclusive value in the eyes of those whose attention was being directed to the details of Bodhisatship. And the opinion that every leader in their religious circles, every teacher distinguished among them for his sanctity of life, or for his extensive learning, was a Bodhisat, who might have and who probably had inherited the karma of some great teacher of old, opened the door to a flood of superstitious fancies. Entry: LAMAISM
JUSTINIAN II. KARAMAN JUSTIN MARTYR KARAMANIA JUTE KARAMNASA JÜTERBOG KARA MUSTAFA JUTES KARAMZIN, NIKOLAI MIKHAILOVICH JUTIGALPA KARA SEA JUTLAND KARASU-BAZAR JUTURNA KARATEGHIN JUVENAL KARAULI JUVENCUS, GAIUS AQUILINUS KAREN JUVENILE OFFENDERS KAREN-NI JUVENTAS KARIKAL JUXON, WILLIAM KARLI K KARLOWITZ K2 KARLSKRONA KA'BA, KAABA KARLSRUHE KABARDIA KARLSTAD KABBA KARLSTADT KABBABISH KARMA KABBALAH KÁRMÁN, JÓZSEF KABINDA KARNAK KABIR KARNAL KABUL KÁROLYI, ALOYS KABUL RIVER KAROSS KABYLES KARR, JEAN BAPTISTE ALPHONSE KACH GANDAVA KARRER, FELIX KACHIN HILLS KARROO KADUR KARS (province of Russia) KAEMPFER, ENGELBRECHT KARS (town of Russia) KAFFA KARSHI KAFFIR BREAD KARST KAFFIRS KARSTEN, KARL JOHANN BERNHARD KAFFRARIA KARTIKEYA KAFIRISTAN KARUN KAGERA KARWAR KAHLUR KARWI KAHN, GUSTAVE KARYOGAMY KAHNIS, KARL FRIEDRICH AUGUST KASAI K'AI-FÊNG FU KASBEK KAILAS KASHAN KAIN KASHGAR KAIRA KASHI KAIRAWAN KASHMIR KAISERSLAUTERN KASHMIRI KAISERSWERTH KASHUBES KAITHAL KASIMOV KAKAPO KASSA KAKAR KASSALA KALA-AZAR KASSASSIN KALABAGH KASSITES KALACH KASTAMUNI KALAHANDI KASTORIA KALAHARI DESERT KASUR KALAMATA KATAGUM KALAMAZOO KATANGA KALAPUYA KATER, HENRY KALAT KATHA KALAT-I-GHILZAI KATHIAWAR KALB, JOHANN KATKOV, MICHAEL NIKIFOROVICH KALCKREUTH, FRIEDRICH ADOLF KATMANDU KALCKREUTH, LEOPOLD KATO, TAKA-AKIRA KALEIDOSCOPE KATRINE, LOCH KALERGIS, DIMITRI KATSENA KALEWALA KATSURA, TARO KALGAN KATTERFELTO, GUSTAVUS KALGOORLIE KATTOWITZ KALI KATWA KALIDASA KATYDID KALIMPONG KAUFBEUREN KALINGA KAUFFMANN, [MARIA ANNA] ANGELICA KALINJAR KAUFMANN, CONSTANTINE PETROVICH KALIR [QALIR], ELEAZER KAUKAUNA KALISCH, ISIDOR KAULBACH, WILHELM VON KALISCH, MARCUS KAUNITZ-RIETBURG, WENZEL ANTON KALISPEL KAUP, JOHANN JAKOB KALISZ (government of Poland) KAURI PINE KALISZ (town of Poland) KAVA KALK KAVADH KALKAS KAVALA KALKBRENNER, FRIEDRICH WILHELM KAVANAGH, ARTHUR MACMORROUGH KÁLLAY, BENJAMIN VON KAVANAGH, JULIA KALMAR KAVASS KALMUCK KAVIRONDO KALNÓKY, GUSTAV SIEGMUND KAW KALOCSA KAWARDHA KALPI KAY, JOHN KALUGA (government of Russia) KAY, JOSEPH KALUGA (town of Russia) KAYAK KALYAN KAYASTH KAMA KAYE, SIR JOHN WILLIAM KAMALA KAYSER, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH EMANUEL KAMCHATKA KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH, SIR JAMES PHILLIPS KAME KAZALA KAMENETS PODOLSKIY KAZAÑ (government of Russia) KAMENZ KAZAÑ (town of Russia) KAMES, HENRY HOME KAZERUN KAMMIN KAZINCZY, FERENCZ KAMPEN KAZVIN KAMPTEE KEAN, EDMUND KAMRUP KEANE, JOHN JOSEPH KAMYSHIN KEARNEY KANAKA KEARNY, PHILIP KANARA KEARNY KANARESE KEARY, ANNIE KANARIS, CONSTANTINE KEATE, JOHN KANAUJ KEATS, JOHN KANDAHAR KEBLE, JOHN KANDI KECSKEMÉT KANDY KEDDAH KANE, ELISHA KENT KEDGEREE KANE (Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) KEEL KANGAROO KEELEY, MARY ANNE KANGAROO-RAT KEELING ISLANDS KANGAVAR KEEL-MOULDING KANGRA KEENE, CHARLES SAMUEL KANISHKA KEENE, LAURA KANKAKEE KEENE (New Hampshire, U.S.A.) KANKER KEEP, ROBERT PORTER KANO KEEP KANSAS KEEWATIN KANSAS CITY (Kansas, U.S.A.) KEF KANSAS CITY (Missouri, U.S.A.) KEHL KANSK KEIGHLEY KAN-SUH KEI ISLANDS KANT, IMMANUEL KEIM, KARL THEODOR KANURI KEITH (old Scottish family) KAOLIN KEITH, FRANCIS EDWARD JAMES KAPUNDA KEITH, GEORGE KAPURTHALA KEITH, GEORGE KEITH ELPHINSTONE KARACHI KEITH (burgh of Scotland) KARAGEORGE KEJ KARA-HISSAR KEKULÉ, FRIEDRICH AUGUST KARA-HISSAR SHARKI KELLER, ALBERT KARAISKAKIS, GEORGES KELLER, GOTTFRIED KARAJICH, VUK STEFANOVICH KELLER, HELEN ADAMS KARA-KALPAKS KELLERMANN, FRANÇOIS CHRISTOPHE DE KARAKORUM KELLGREN, JOHAN HENRIK KARA-KUL KELLOGG, CLARA LOUISE KARA-KUM KELLS Entry: JUSTINIAN
It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad
vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a
serious bummer.
CARMATHIANS (QARMATHIANS, KARMATHIANS), a Mahommedan sect named after Hamdan Qarmat, who accepted the teaching of the Isma'ilites (see MAHOMMEDAN RELIGION: _Sects_) from Hosain ul-Ahwazi, a missionary of Ahmed, son of the Persian Abdallah ibn Maimun, toward the close of the 9th century. This was in the Sawad of Irak, which was inhabited by a people little attached to Islam. The object of Abdallah ibn Maimun had been to undermine Islam and the Arabian power by a secret society with various degrees, which offered inducements to all classes and creeds and led men on from an interpretation of Islam to a total rejection of its teaching and a strict personal submission to the head of the society. For the political history of the Carmathians, their conquests and their decay, see ARABIA: _History_; CALIPHATE (sect. C. §§ 16, 17, 18, 23); and EGYPT: _History_ (Mahommedan period). Entry: CARMATHIANS
The legends of Belshazzar's feast and of the siege and capture of Babylon by Cyrus which have come down to us from the book of Daniel and the _Cyropaedia_ of Xenophon have been shown by the contemporaneous inscriptions to have been a projection backwards of the re-conquest of the city by Darius Hystaspis. The actual facts were very different. Cyrus had invaded Babylonia from two directions, he himself marching towards the confluence of the Tigris and Diyaleh, while Gobryas, the satrap of Kurdistan, led another body of troops along the course of the Adhem. The portion of the Babylonian army to which the protection of the eastern frontier had been entrusted was defeated at Opis on the banks of the Nizallat, and the invaders poured across the Tigris into Babylonia. On the 14th of Tammuz (June), 538 B.C., Nabonidos fled from Sippara, where he had taken his son's place in the camp, and the city surrendered at once to the enemy. Meanwhile Gobryas had been despatched to Babylon, which opened its gates to the invader on the 16th of the month "without combat or battle," and a few days later Nabonidos was dragged from his hiding-place and made a prisoner. According to Berossus he was subsequently appointed governor of Karmania by his conqueror. Belshazzar, however, still held out, and it was probably on this account that Cyrus himself did not arrive at Babylon until nearly four months later, on the 3rd of Marchesvan. On the 11th of that month Gobryas was despatched to put an end to the last semblance of resistance in the country "and the son (?) of the king died." In accordance with the conciliatory policy of Cyrus, a general mourning was proclaimed on account of his death, and this lasted for six days, from the 27th of Adar to the 3rd of Nisan. Unfortunately the character representing the word "son" is indistinct on the tablet which contains the annals of Nabonidos, so that the reading is not absolutely certain. The only other reading possible, however, is "and the king died," and this reading is excluded partly by the fact that Nabonidos afterwards became a Persian satrap, partly by the silence which would otherwise be maintained by the "Annals" in regard to the fate of Belshazzar. Considering how important Belshazzar was politically, and what a prominent place he occupied in the history of the period, such a silence would be hard to explain. His death subsequently to the surrender of Babylon and the capture of Nabonidos, and with it the last native effort to resist the invader, would account for the position he assumed in later tradition and the substitution of his name for that of the actual king. Entry: BELSHAZZAR
_Rivers._--The rivers of Asia Minor are of no great importance. Some do not flow directly to the sea; others find their way to the coast through deep rocky gorges, or are mere torrents; and a few only are navigable for boats for short distances from their mouths. They cut so deep into the limestone formation of the plateau as to over-drain it, and often they disappear into swallow holes (_duden_) to reappear lower down. The most important rivers which flow to the Black Sea are the following:--the Boas (Churuk Su) which rises near Baiburt, and flows out near Batum; the Iris (Yeshil Irmak), with its tributaries the Lycus (Kelkit Irmak), which rises on the Armenian plateau, the Chekerek Irmak, which has its source near Yuzgat, and the Tersakan Su; the Halys (Kizil Irmak) is the longest river in Asia Minor, with its tributaries the Delije Irmak (Cappadox), which flows through the eastern part of Galatia, and the Geuk Irmak, which has its sources in the mountains above Kastamuni. With the exception of Sivas, no town of importance lies in the valley of the Kizil Irmak throughout its course of over 600 m. The Sangarius (Sakaria) rises in the Phrygian mountains and, after many changes of direction, falls into the Black Sea, about 80 m. east of the Bosporus. Its tributaries are the Pursak Su (Tembris), which has its source in the Murad Dagh (Dindymus), and, after running north to Eski-shehr, flows almost due east to the Sakaria, and the Enguri Su, which joins the Sakaria a little below the junction of the Pursak. To the Black Sea, about 40 m. east of Eregli, also flows the Billaeus (Filiyas Chai). Into the Sea of Marmora run the Rhyndacus (Edrenos Chai) and the Macestus (Susurlu Chai), which unite about 12 m. from the sea. The most celebrated streams of the Troad are the Granicus (Bigha Chai) and the Scamander (Menderes Su), both rising in Mt. Ida (Kaz Dagh). The former flows to the Sea of Marmora; the latter to the Dardanelles. The most northerly of the rivers that flow to the Aegean is the Caicus (Bakir Chai), which runs past Soma, and near Pergamum, to the Gulf of Chanderli. The Hermus (Gediz Chai) has its principal sources in the Murad Dagh, and, receiving several streams on its way, runs through the volcanic district of Katakekaumene to the broad fertile valley through which it flows past Manisa to the sea, near Lefke. So recently as about 1880 it discharged into the Gulf of Smyrna, but the shoals formed by its silt-laden waters were so obstructive to navigation that it was turned back into its old bed. Its principal tributaries are--the Phrygius (Kum Chai), which receives the waters of the Lycus (Gürduk Chai), and the Cogamus (Kuzu Chai), which in its upper course is separated from the valley of the Maeander by hills that were crossed by the Roman road from Pergamum to Laodicea. The Caystrus (Kuchuk Menderes) flows through a fertile valley between Mt. Tmolus and Messogis to the sea near Ephesus, where its silt has filled up the port. The Maeander (Menderes Chai) takes its rise in a celebrated group of springs near Dineir, and after a winding course enters the broad valley, through which it "meanders" to the sea. Its deposits have long since filled up the harbours of Miletus, and converted the islands which protected them into mounds in a swampy plain. Its principal tributaries are the Glaucus, the Senarus (Banaz Chai), and the Hippurius, on the right bank. On the left bank are the Lycus (Churuk Su), which flows westwards by Colossae through a broad open valley that affords the only natural approach to the eleated plateau, the Harpasus (Ak Chai), and the Marsyas (China Chai). The rivers that flow to the Mediterranean, with two exceptions, rise in Mt. Taurus, and have short courses, but in winter and spring they bring down large bodies of water. In Lycia are the Indus (Gereniz Chai), and the Xanthus (Eshen Chai). The Pamphylian plain is traversed by the Cestrus (Ak Su), the Eurymedon (Keupri Su), and the Melas (Menavgat Chai), which, where it enters the sea, is a broad, deep stream, navigable for about 6 m. The Calycadnus (Geuk Su) has two main branches which join near Mut and flow south-east, and enter the sea, a deep rapid river, about 12 m. below Selefke. The Cydnus (Tersous or Tarsus Chai) is formed by the junction of three streams that rise in Mt. Taurus, and one of these flows through the narrow gorge known as the Cilician Gates. After passing Tarsus, the river enters a marsh which occupies the site of the ancient harbour. The Cydnus is liable to floods, and its deposits have covered Roman Tarsus to a depth of 20 ft. The Sarus (Sihun) is formed by the junction of the Karmalas (Zamanti Su), which rises in Uzun Yaila, and the Sarus (Saris), which has its sources in the hills to the south of the same plateau. The first, after entering Mt. Taurus, flows through a deep chasm walled in by lofty precipices, and is joined in the heart of the range by the Saris. Before reaching the Cilician Plain the river receives the waters of the Kerkhun Su, which cuts through the Bulgar Dagh, and opens a way for the roads from the Cilician Gates to Konia and Kaisarieh. After passing Adana, to which point small craft ascend, the Sihun runs south-west to the sea. There are, however, indications that at one period it flowed south-east to join the Pyramus. The Pyramus (Jihun) has its principal source in a group of large springs near Albistan; but before it enters Mt. Taurus it is joined by the Sogutli Irmak, the Khurman Su and the Geuk Su. The river emerges from Taurus, about 7 m. west of Marash, and here it is joined by the Ak Su, which rises in some small lakes south of Taurus. The Jihun now enters a remarkable defile which separates Taurus from the Giaour Dagh, and reaches the Cilician Plain near Budrun. From this point it flows west, and then south-west past Missis, until it makes a bend to discharge its waters south of Ayas Bay. The river is navigable as far as Missis. The only considerable tributary of the Euphrates which comes within our region is the Tokhma Su, which rises in Uzun Yaila and flows south-east to the main river not far from Malatia. In the central and southern portions of the plateau the streams either flow into salt lakes, where their waters pass off by evaporation, or into freshwater lakes, which have no visible outlets. In the latter cases the waters find their way beneath Taurus in subterranean channels, and reappear as the sources of rivers flowing to the coast. Thus the Ak Geul supplies the Cydnus, and the Beishehr, Egirdir and Kestel lakes feed the rivers of the Pamphylian plain. Entry: ASIA