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I haven't read the thread, so, maybe this was aleady addressed? Lacking linear time, all choices and all outcomes are predetermined. If there is balance to the karmic debt or credit, the events which are balancing are always and forever fixed.
This naturally leads to questioning freewill. If there is no freewill, then, this also discourages any "attempting" to do anything.
I resolve this with the many-worlds-interpretation:
There are nearly infinite versions of me on nearly infinite time-lines. Each and and every possible combination of choices and resultant outcomes exist as one of these time-lines. When I make a choice, I am choosing which of those nearly infinite time-lines is "mine". The choices and outcomes are predetermined within each time-line. But the assumption that there is only one time-line is discarded.
If there is a karmic balance as a universal law applied to each and every time-line, then, my choices determine how that balance is actualized in my life. Is the path pain or is the path pleasure, is the path smooth or is the path rocky? That is partially my choice. But the balance is always happening. Nothing changes that.
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FYI: There are a lot of misconceptions about what's perscribed for "sin" in the abrahamic religions, but you are 100% correct. Atonement is not absolution. There is a path for absolution, it's virtually impossible, but I've met 1 person whom I think has acheived it. They literally became a different person.
This is important because, everyone makes mistakes. In the abrahamic model, none are perfect ( with only one exception ). If there are no ways to balance the scales, so to speak, then once a person makes any mistake, they might decide to just give-up on trying to do good. They're already sullied, so, what's the point? If they cannot answer this question, then, they resolve to take the least effort approach to everything. If it causes harm, so what? They're already going to hell.
The reason to attempt to balance the scales while in the material realm is, the "balancing" that happens in the here-and-now are finite. If I do the crime, I absolutely want to "pay the fine" or "due the time" here on earth. If it's beyond? Those events are ongoing. These issues of crime and punishment are complicated. Very complicated. That's why a justice system is needed. Individuals need to work as a team to establish earthly justice. From the abrahamic perspective, since none are perfect, the divine intention is improvement. ( Genesis 4:7 ).
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They don't. Each event is like a card in a deck. The card has attributes assigned to it. Among those attributes are a "web-of-causation" a "web-of-consequences", a significant event prior, and a significant event following it. All of the events in a specific time-line can be layed out sequentially determined by the attributes assiged to the event. That's linear.
Take 52 cards, splay them out in order. Expand the the number to 100, 1000, 10000000, 1000000000000.... as the linear sequence approaches infinity, the significance of the divisions between each event is decreasing. Once infinity is acheived, there is zero significance of the divisions between the events, but, that does not change the attributes on the card. So, from an infinite perspective all the cards are more-or-less gathered up together in a deck. They're all "concurrent" and "omnipresent". The attributes are still assigned to them. The deck can be shuffled. It doesn't change the cards. The event defining it which was prior, is still assigned as prior. The event defining it which is following, is still assigned as following. The web-of-causation hasn't changed. The web-of-consequences hasn't changed. The signifiicance of the divisions is "null" if the number of cards in the deck is limitless.
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... it influences the choices.
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I have never seen this "law of balance" in the Zohar...
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"Harm none" can lead to negligence and complicity both of which cause harm.
When witnessing a crime, any proper intervention causes harm to the perpetrator in the short-term.
Great thoughts going on here in this thread for sure. Even if there was no free will, the worst thing would be for it to be accepted. Think about that one. I know it has been touched on here philosophically how our knowledge and belief effects choices. Maybe that was what the apple was about in the Garden. If we become aware of too much of the truth it can effect negatively the choices many make because of the fear perspective... The knowledge of the highest levels is in the hands of psychopaths which is not good. They have access to texts people will never see and what they experience in the occult is most likely quite out of this world. I think we could handle full disclosure of the truth with a low fear level populous only...
This has been an interesting thought experiment. I appreciate all the comments made so far. I'm tending to agree that the whole 'non linear time' aspect of causation has no bearing on Karma (proper) that we know of. Personally, I am going to reject the broad New Age definition of Karma at this point because it describes 'everything' and thus means nothing at all. Instead, I will emphasize the definition of Karma in Hinduism as explained by Mahatma Gandhi:
“To one like myself, who believes in the four Varnas, human life, during this present birth on the planet, is only one of a series. … Our present existence is a discipline which has to be lived within certain rules suited to this special stage. We cannot choose at this stage, for instance, our own parents, or our own birthplace, or our own ancestry. Why then, should we claim as individuals the right during this present brief life-period to break through all the conventions wherein we were placed at birth by God Himself. … [O]ne's own religious duty … connotes our seeking to live in harmony with those birth conditions and not rebelling against them, or seeking to overpass their limitations, either for individualistic or selfish reasons.”
The entitlement of the Western New Age movement leads me to suspect that they would outright reject the restrictive nature of actual Karma as it was used by Hindus to structure society. I have some as yet ill defined thoughts regarding social structure and Rene Girard's Mimetic Theory that would help explain how Hindu society has lasted for thousands of years while other ancient cultures were relatively short lived and over run. If your thoughts immediately go to comparing your own culture to that of India or China (another culture that has lasted for thousands of years), then you do need to read about Rene Girard's Mimetic Theory, because it is related to the concept of Covetousness. ("My culture is better because..." could be called an expression of mimetic desire. The subject is you. The object is a feeling of superiority. The mediator in this instance is the culture being compared as a model to imitate or surpass, because reasons.) For Hindus born into a particular caste, explained by Karma, coveting the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of a higher caste would be out of the question. When everyone thinks they can be King, then social order collapses. Apply that statement to the caste system, and perhaps you'll have a glimpse of what Girard and others have taken books to explain. Thou shalt not covet.
As for reincarnation, I'm currently inclined to believe in it because of the writings of the Spiritist movement. Spiritists have some beliefs that resemble Hindu Karma, but I am not about to appropriate a word which has a culturally defined meaning. I do not believe in Karma because I am not a Hindu and take no part in its caste system. The Spiritist movement explains Divine Justice quite well without borrowing the word 'karma'. Again, I have some as yet ill defined thoughts as to how I might integrate Girard's theories and the concepts of the Spiritists. One comes into uncharted territory when internet searches reveal that no one has yet attempted reconciliation of certain philosophies. Do we always need to walk the well worn path? Those who question the certainty of their beloved beliefs are welcomed as fellow searchers. May they be blessed!
