Poop Shute

A Word On Karma

I just read something that troubled me. Someone made a remark about karma that seemed not to gel with what I know of karma. I have not been a Buddhist for very long, and I do not pretend to be any kind of expert, but the comments I read seemed contradictory.

By the way, brace yourself, because for the purposes of this post I will be discussing karma not only in strict terms of my own limited understanding of it, but I will also be discussing it as though it is accepted as reality.

For those of you who do not know, the idea of karma can be summed up in the old adages "what goes around, comes around" or "you reap what you sow." Basically, the universe has a way of balancing itself out, and if you put positivity out there, you draw it back to you, and the same is true of negativity. These ideas have recently been re-popularized in THE SECRET.

The writing that sparked this post was mentioning something about another person that hurt the author and made them very angry. The author went on to say they were comforted by the fact that karma exists. To me, this statement is either a gross over-simplification of karma or a complete disregard for karma in action in their own life or both. If they are taking comfort in the thought of someone else's misfortune, then they are putting more negativity out there, and therefor accruing "bad" karma of their own.

The idea doesn't break down to a simple DO bad = get bad. It's larger and deeper than that. Your thoughts, intentions and attitudes towards all life are part of it too. If you wish ill for another living creature you are bringing negativity into your world and into the universe as a whole. The idea is to transcend karma. The goal is to understand this cycle that forever moves us all towards balance, and not move against it, but to flow with it. If you are focusing on wrongs done to you and hoping and waiting to see the wrong-doer suffer then you are not flowing and certainly not transcending anything.

I want to restate that this is a fairly new idea in my own life. Not holding grudges and not letting anger or hurt rule me are challenging things to do. These are new and difficult things. If you've come here recently you've seen that I have generated some karma of my own. I'm not perfect and I too have issues, but I'm learning to let go more and more. I learned from that situation that I was discussing a few days ago and I am moving on. Yes, I was the one in the wrong there, but it is equally dangerous to dwell on something too much even when you are the transgressor. I felt remorse and I expressed it. And now it is done. Whatever happens next is out of my hands, and I accept that. I will move forward. I will not quietly hope for anyone to come to any kind of reckoning with their own karma, because that is not helpful to anyone and not the path I choose.

That was a lengthy tangent, but worth saying. Anyway, I am not criticizing the author of those words, but just bringing to light a certain contradiction in them. I hope and wish for love and light to everyone, even my ex-wife. It took me a long time, but it was a healing moment when I let go of the anger and wished her well. I am fairly sure our paths will not cross again, but I hope hers leads her to happiness and love.

The real irony to me is if the person I mentioned at the beginning reads this, they will likely take is as a hostile gesture, when it is exactly the opposite.

To finish, I wanted to leave a few of Siddhartha Gautama's own words to further elaborate what I am saying. Namaste.

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him."

"Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law."

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."


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A Great Read

HERE is a link to a very funny short story. It's very short, maybe three quarters of a page in Microsoft Word.

Enjoy.