Karmic
Consequences
“Cause
and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed, for the effect already blooms in the cause, the
end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed.”
Ralph
Waldo Emerson (“Compensation”)
The
whole notion of karma comes from the ancient Sanskrit language of
India, but has inexorably made its way into our modern culture. It
means essentially that a cause produces an effect like itself. In
other words, if I am mean, I will reap the consequences of meanness,
and if I am kind, the consequence will be kindness shown back to me.
Just yesterday, I heard someone who was talking about the murder of a
gangster, saying, “Yeah, that was karma, man.” Can't get much
more mainstream than that.
Like
the laws of physics, karma is a universal spiritual law, and not just
in the Eastern religions. The Bible says it this way: “As you sow,
so shall you reap.” (Galatians 6:7) Just like gravity, karma is
unavoidable. The Old Testament story of Joseph and his multicolored
coat is a tale of karmic consequence. In it Joseph's brothers are
jealous of his close relationship with Jacob, their father, so they
take Joseph into the desert and sell him as a slave. They tell Jacob
he has been mauled by a lion, and is dead. He's taken to Egypt and
put into chains, but Joseph has the gift of prophesy, and is able to
decipher the meaning of dreams. He soon becomes the Pharaoh's own
prophet, and is given great power over lands and wealth. During a
time of famine in Israel, Jacob sends his sons begging at the
Pharaoh's palace, where they are met by the brother they treated
so badly all those years ago. He holds the key to their fate—he
could have them flogged and killed for what they did to him; that
would be their just desserts. But Joseph is different from his
brothers. His choice is to forgive them.
The
only end-run we can make around karma is to forgive. When we forgive
others their transgressions, we create “good” karma, which
cancels some of our own debt. Not only that, but it is like lifting a
heavy weight off our backs. When we aren't carrying anger in our
hearts, we become a light in the world.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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