Karma – What You’d Better Know For a Better Life

It has no conscience. It plays no favorites. No king, queen, pop star, rock star, movie star, sports star, celebrity, president, prince, princess, pauper, potentate, pope, minister, doctor, lawyer, educator, judge, janitor, man, woman, child, human, animal, bird, fish, insect or plant escapes it. It makes all tow the mark. It makes all bend to its will. It makes all conform. It cannot be bought, influenced, altered or changed. It perceives no preference and grants no immunity on the basis of political correctness, power, position or prestige.

It rules, simply and matter of factly. Period. What is it? It is Karma — the universal, fixed, immutable, law of nature – the vehicle of absolute justice, the great law of sowing and reaping, cause and effect, action and reaction, choice and consequence. The word “karma” is an ancient Sanskrit word for action and reaction. Considered a concept by some, it is actually a natural law, functioning in what the scientific community defines as cause and effect, describing what Sir Isaac Newton, arguably the greatest scientist of all time, states as his Third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, karma.

Karma is a very simple law, and most people know of the phrase “sowing and reaping.” The issue is that few people believe it. Why do we know this? Because if people believed it, they wouldn’t do many of the things they do or make the kinds of decisions they make. Many people create actions blindlessly and recklessly without so much as a nano thought of what they’re doing or of the consequences of their actions. Although people may have heard of the karma theory, many don’t believe it because they see what appears to be a world full of injustice, as well as people committing crimes that ostensibly go unpunished. This leads people to exclaim, “Justice! What justice? “The world is full of injustice. People do [sow] evil deeds but they don’t get penalized for them.” In other words, people feel such violators do not reap the deeds of their sowing. Hence, the confusion.

Indeed, injustice may appear in the world, but in actuality there is no injustice at all in this world. There is perfect justice, even though we may not understand it. In reality, those who do evil deeds do eventually get their punishment, although not necessarily in this lifetime. As 20th Century Saint Sawan Singh states: The wicked people… suffer heavy punishment for their sins in hell or in their future lives. Therefore, just because evil deeds appear to go unpunished, it doesn’t mean they escape penalties for their behaviors. Everybody must pay for their bad deeds just as Saint Sawan Singh states. It’s simply a matter of when, where and how – all of which is in God’s hands. Seeds sewn must germinate. It’s the law.

Perfect Masters and Living Saints throughout time immemorial have taught this concept. Following are a few spiritual quotes testifying to this great karmic law of sowing and reaping.

You reap whatever you yourself have sown. Guru Nanak, 15th/16th Centuries.

The fruit of action unfailingly overtakes the doer. Guru Ravidas, 15th/16th Centuries.

If you fear pain, if you dislike pain, don’t do an evil deed in open or secret. If you’re doing or will do an evil deed, you won’t escape pain: it will catch you even as you run away. Buddha.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Bible: Galatians 6:7.

What is it about karma that we had better know if we want a better life? Answer: that karma is a law, not a philosophy, not a concept, not a belief. What we do returns to us. What we put onto the Circle of Life returns to encircle us without any consideration or sensitivity for our feelings, sentiments, beliefs, state of being or life condition. Therefore, if we lie, cheat, steal, deceive, betray, hurt, harm, endanger, vilify or take the life of a living being, the same will happen to us.

By the same token, if we help, support, love, inspire, encourage, and give life to others, the same will eventually return to us in this life or a future life. Therefore, if we want to have a better life, we must align ourselves with this great law of creation – as we sow, so shall we reap. If we sow darkness and hate, it is darkness and hate we will get in return. If we sow love and light, it is love and light we will ultimately experience. Simply stated, having a better life means planting better seed.

Karma

With every step we take let it be known –
We reap the fruit of all we’ve sown.
No innocent tear, no painful cry,
No sad misfortune strolling by.

We do the act, we plant the seed;
The Law exact, we reap the deed.
From life to life, from time to time,
Precise our sentence, cruel or kind.

No soul escapes, no soul defies,
We roam the Wheel for countless lives;
From birth to death, around we go
in Maze of Maya – tortured soul;

Coming, going, endless forms,
Blinded eye, countless storms.
Our only grand and saving grace –
To meet a Master face to face;

To beg His mercy for our life,
To end the turmoil and the strife;
To end the suffering, nightmare plight;
To bathe us in resplendent Light;
To free us from the hell we roam,
To guide, protect and take us Home.

~finis

Copyright Richard Andrew King
All rights reserved