Karma


DEAR JEANETTE: What is karma? How does it work in our lives? D.B., NYC.

DEAR D.B.: The dictionary says karma is: “The law of cause and effect regulating one’s future life.” To the Buddhists, who developed the concept, it is usually interpreted as ‘inevitable retribution’.

Karma IS the law of cause and effect. It is NOT the law of punishment and reward. Let’s look at musical talent and see how it works.

If a person (let’s call him/her A) likes music but never gets to play an instrument, a desire has been initiated which will be a factor in future lifetimes.

During a later incarnation (not necessarily the very next one) the new person (B) will be given the opportunity, perhaps, to play an instrument. Exactly what advantage he (or she) takes of this opportunity will be determined by the “will” of the personality. Never forget that the free will of the individual must be taken into consideration in every situation. The situation may be predestined but our reaction is determined by our choice or use of our free will.

Now let us suppose that B learns to play a guitar and becomes good enough to join a band. We can begin to see how a person’s choice can have a great deal of effect on (can be the ‘cause’ of) events in future lifetimes. B must choose what kind of music will be played. If gospel music is chosen, influences and associations will be different than if rock music is chosen.

C (in a subsequent lifetime) might add other instruments and perhaps compose also. If B decided on church music then C might turn to the organ and compose inspirational music. But remember that music was not all that B learned. B was also exposed to the life of a minister or a priest. B may decide that this lifestyle is appealing and praiseworthy. Then C is influenced to become an active religious leader. The particular religion which C chooses may or may not be the same as B’s, but will be appropriate for his own life and times.

But B’s experiences may have caused him to become very cynical toward ‘religion’ and C may then move toward atheism and see his musical talents completely outside the sphere of religion. Now if B chose rock music, then C might become the leader of a large dance band. But the way may also have been opened into the drug culture by B’s lifestyle, and lead C into a life of crime.

So the interest that A had in music can lead to many different paths and lifestyles for subsequent incarnates. Thus we see that all is not ‘inevitable’.

Part 2


Remember that karma is the law of cause and effect. The earth is the cosmic school in which the soul can most easily learn of this law. The inter-relationship of the physical and time brings the relationship into focus to be seen, understood, and acted upon.

Let us look at a simple example: In the astral level (to which the personality proceeds when the body dies), thought is the powerful factor. To ‘think’ is to ‘do’ or ‘have’. A change in body shape, in clothes, or in location is as simple as thinking about it.

If an astral being desires to see the beautiful colors of the leaves of autumn, this is instantly provided. If the astral were the only experience of the being, there would be little understanding of cause and effect. Because of earth living, beings have come to know that there are many factors involved---many causes contributing to the effect: it is necessary to have particular types of trees, located in particular climates, with correct rainfall and temperature, and then to wait until the special time of year.

As we begin to learn these basic laws of the relationship of cause to effect and of the complexity of factors involved concerning the physical world, so we can begin to understand the application of similar laws to the non-material or spiritual side of our lives.

Mankind through the ages has discovered this relationship between many things: planting a seed results in a specific type of plant; kindness usually begets kindness and aggression usually causes the other person to retaliate in like manner; exposure to sunshine results in burning of the skin with the severity determined by the amount of time, time of day, type of skin, etc.

Our knowledge of such relationships is being increased geometrically through the use of science. Science is simply a method of investigation. Ideally it involves an open-minded look at things as they are, to discover what caused them to be as they are, and the result that can be expected under given circumstances.

Today the scientific method is being applied in the field of religion or the spiritual as well as in the material realm. Now we are learning scientifically how the law of cause and effect applies to the spiritual side of life.

Part 3


Why do so many karmic problems seem to be present in our lives today? Let me offer six reasons.

1. It is necessary for the soul to find an incarnation during which the particular problem will be appropriate, thus we have many Atlanteans now. Their problems involved the scientific achievements of an advanced civilization and therefore could not have been dealt with before.

2. The increasing knowledge about karma lets people bring some problems to their conscious minds so that they can be cleared much more quickly than when only the subconscious is at work.

3. Many of the birth defects today are karmic. Death wounds leave ‘scar tissue’ on the soul pattern which is difficult to ‘heal’. Thus someone whose mouth and lower jaw were badly injured during death could come back as a child born with a cleft palate and deformed mouth. Medical science today can correct that and give the child-adult a normal appearing and functioning face, thus healing the soul pattern also.

4. Emphasis during the Age of Pisces has been “Love” while during the coming Age of Aquarius the emphasis will be “Wisdom”. The karma accumulated during the Age of Pisces can more easily be cleared before that influence is completely gone. So many souls are rushing to do that which they could not or simply had not bothered to do before. Souls too can be lazy, you see, and procrastinate.

5. In former days, many people never moved out of the village in which they were born and seldom traveled more than a few miles from it. So the number of people with whom they could have karmic interactions was severely limited. Thus each personality would work on only those problems that related to the few people they knew, then simply live out the rest of the life, marking time so to speak, and hopefully not incurring additional negative karma during the wait. There are, of course, other factors but we are dealing here with karma.

6. In Western civilization at least, it has been only recently that a person would have more than one husband or wife except in the case of the death of a spouse. So again we find that couples worked out their karma, then simply marked time. Now it is possible to have several meaningful relationships during one lifetime.

It is also interesting to note that a karmic meeting may involve very little time - for example, when two soldiers recognize each other as ‘brothers’ even though (in this lifetime) they had not previously met and, in spite of being ‘enemies’ they refused to kill each other.

Part 4


Now let us consider how ‘bad’ karma can bring about good results.

It is almost axiomatic that when things are going easily we do relatively little growing. There are lifetimes when this is intentional but the situations presented during a growth lifetime will be very different from those in a relaxed one.

You may have heard the expression that troubles can be stumbling blocks or stepping stones. If you will visualize yourself taking a hike through the woods, we can illustrate this. As you walk along you come to a fairly good sized rock. If you do not make any change in the way in which you are walking, you will probably stumble over the stone with more or less disastrous results.

But approach the rock again as you walk through the woods. Being aware, you step up (or climb, if the size of the rock necessitates it) carefully onto the top of the rock, thus placing yourself on higher ground from which a new and different perspective will be obtained, and from which you can proceed on the pathway you have chosen until another rock presents itself.

As we follow the path before us in life, it is often necessary for us to approach the same rock again and again until we find the way to make it a stepping stone instead of a stumbling block.

The experience of an alcoholic may be a good example. Often when alcohol has become a crutch or a screen behind which to hide from reality, the person will have more and more frequent and disastrous bouts with alcohol which will continue until it is realized that more trouble is being caused than cured. Then using whatever method is helpful to him, the alcoholic will overcome this problem (get on top the rock) and become a stronger person for having had the experiences.

In considering that good can and does come from these difficult experiences, let me again remind you that the results of the ‘learning’ may appear only on the soul level and are not necessarily evident to the personality during the incarnation.

On the other hand the incarnate, especially through persistent application of will power, may make tremendous strides forward (turn a great big rock or several smaller ones into stepping stones). This permits the soul to make more rapid progress toward the time when it will ‘graduate’ from the earth and no longer need to incarnate.

Part 5


How can one overcome or avoid negative karma?

Let’s look at how karma is accumulated. For ease of illustration, let’s think of negative karma in terms of demerits. Now I do not regard karma as discipline or punishment but rather as an opportunity to learn. Keeping this distinction in mind, the demerit system can be helpful in explaining the workings of karma in our lives.

Let us consider two of the most common ways we get ‘demerits’---actually hurting someone and/or wanting to hurt someone. For simplicity, we will disregard relative seriousness and assign one demerit for hurting and one for wanting to hurt.

We quickly see that if we get mad and wish harm to someone we have picked up one ‘demerit’. If we get to fulfill our wish, we get a second. On the other hand, if we accidently hurt someone we get only one.

Now it is clear that our avoidance of the injury will keep the other person from getting that particular black mark whether or not his act was intentional. Think of A stepping on the toe of B. If B sees A’s foot coming in time to move his own foot, then A has not hurt B whatever his intentions were.

If B knows that his working conditions make him vulnerable to foot injuries, he may have worn steel-toed shoes and thus protected himself. Or A could actually step on B’s toe, but B could accept the blame for having had his foot in a dangerous place.

The ways in which we can be hurt---physically, mentally, or emotionally---are almost endless, but the steps of watchful avoidance, protection, and forgiveness usually apply, singly or together, in every situation.

So far we have discussed only ways in which new karma can be avoided. You have probably already realized that the third step of forgiveness is the key to eradication of much karma.

But how do we forgive? Perhaps understanding is near the top of ways to bring about true forgiveness of another. If B understands that A’s act was not intentional, then B will no longer need to blame and can forgive.

Even if B learns that A acted ‘with malice’, understanding may bring forgiveness. But what of a case where ‘understanding’ shows that A is evil, vicious? It may be difficult to realize that there are such people, but could you truly look at such a person without wanting to help him become a better person? Have you not then forgiven?

Part 6


Karma is one of the factors which causes us to return with or encounter the same people in lifetime after lifetime. You have probably met someone for whom you felt an instant like or dislike. This is often dismissed as “She (He) must remind me of someone else.” So you will have hit upon the correct answer even though it may not be someone in this lifetime to whom you are referring.

Intense emotions, especially of a negative kind, on a person-to-person basis are one of the surest ways to guarantee that you will meet that person in a future lifetime. There is a saying that the only sure way of getting rid of an enemy is to make a friend of him.

When emotions are involved in the relationship between two specific people (or sometimes more than two), then the ‘correcting’ lifetime will usually present a similar situation between (or among) the same souls.

Such relationships as husband-wife and parent-child are particularly prone to abuse which will result in return ‘bouts’, but the circumstances could be very different for the second (or third or fourth) time around. The relationship may even be different, but we will be given a chance to prove that we have learned the lesson.

Please place the emphasis on 'learned' because the time between incarnations is never wasted. Immediately after death of the body, there is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the lifetime.

This is followed by time in the appropriate cosmic schools. When our guides deem that we have learned the lesson, we will again find ourselves back on earth with ‘that’ person.

Emotions of a strong, positive type are used to help us during many of the rough lifetimes or incarnations. Anytime we are facing rough situations, personalities with whom we have strong, positive ties will be placed in strategic positions around us, thus giving us examples, support, and encouragement to help us ‘make the grade’ this time.

It seems that we are given every possible chance, even receiving special assistance and support, to learn our lessons and make it to graduation. Certainly the more I learn of the ways in which karma and reincarnation work, the more convinced I am that this world was indeed created b a most kind and loving God.

When we can understand this, decide to learn the laws that govern His universe, and work within them, we are indeed following God’s Will for us. Having used our own free will to reach that point, we will still have the lesson to learn, but things will certainly go easier from that point. Having decided to study in the third grade does not automatically advance us to the eighth grade, but does make the lessons easier.

Part 7


As we end our series on karma, it is interesting to note that there is group karma too. These examples have come from the reincarnation material assembled by the Religious Research Foundation (P. O. Box 350208, Grand Island, FL 32735-0208; phone (352) 589-4308; email relresearch@earthlink.net).

In one instance it was seen that many of the people involved in the protest groups during the Vietnam War were incarnations from souls who had been incarnate as young men during World War II and had been killed during that war before they had the opportunity to accomplish the job or jobs for which they had incarnated.

Such rapid returns are often ill-advised because they do not give the soul time for proper evaluation of and learning from the lifetime just lived. Thus the new personality may repeat mistakes of the former or (by swinging the pendulum too far) may go to extremes in another direction.

Nevertheless the human being has been given free will (on the spirit level as well as the incarnate) and sometimes the soul will not listen to the advice of those older and wiser. Thus we see that the soul has to learn, sometimes, by making mistakes, just as we do while on earth.

Another example of group karma and how it has affected history is in the black-white situation in America. Many who experienced slavery prior to the Civil War, were reborn in white bodies in the years following the war. There was, too frequently, an attitude of revenge for the treatment received as slaves.

In their turn those who had been white during the slavery days had gotten the impression that a black was not capable of independent actions and assumed that without a ‘slave-driver’ a black would be lazy and indolent. This was then their action when they found themselves as blacks even though not slaves.

Luckily this period of mass mistakes on the subconscious level is drawing to a close and should make possible much improved race relations in the future.