What Goes Around Comes Around, Or, Does it Not? The Law of Karma

Credit: Circle of Life painting by Bec

KARMA: a noun

Here's how it's defined by different groups:

• Hinduism, Buddhism: action, seen as bringing upon ourselves inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation. In Hinduism, Karma is viewed as one of the ways we can reach Brahman. 
• Theosophy: the cosmic principle, according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation, according to the person's deeds in the previous incarnation.
• Fate. Destiny
• The good or bad emanations felt to be generated by someone or something.

(Synonyms: predestination, predetermination, lot, kismet.)  

Life is a  big circle.

We see this in various stages as we go through life: babyhood to puberty to parenthood or grand-parenthood.

Most of us may want to live in relative freedom from repercussions that involve our thoughts, words or deeds. We may want to believe that life is lived age by age, step by step, and that the past is the past. Indeed, this so.

Except for Karma.

We may celebrate the rite of passage from childhood into full adulthood, counting only the years we have advanced. We may never notice a circle forming around us.

But it is.

Once we are at an age and stage where we should be aware and awake to what is considered decent and acceptable human behavior, the Soul begins to reckon with us: You do this and you get that...

And this unrelenting law does not ever seem to let go of our past. 

Is it our imagination, or is it real?

It's as real as your next conscious wrong action that you know could have a profound effect on your life but you do it anyway. Although you may commit a "tiny" wrong action in the overall scheme of things, somehow...in some way...the Soul tracks even this "tiny" infraction and seemingly has it come back to haunt us in moments least expected.

As some religions teach, some people may indeed be living through Karma, good or bad, today that's inherited from a previous lifetime. This concept certainly would explain why some people seem to walk through life unscathed, *despite their evil and uncaring temperament, while others considered by all to be "good" people seem to walk through fires each day. 

But I am convinced that Karma does not wait for another lifetime to play out in our lives, especially for those who are aware of and awake to the consequences of their thoughts, deeds and actions and choose to do wrong anyway.

"What goes around comes around."
"You Reap What you Sow."
"Cause and Effect."

These are all words we've heard but never paid attention...until the balancing started.

For sure, "What goes around comes around," becomes very profound and so true when applied to the Law of Karma.

Live long enough, and you'll start seeing past wrongs, or rights, coming full front and forward for you to correct or manage in some way. You'll sense when you're living "inherited good" from past good behaviors, thoughts or words, as you'll be taken back to memories of those previous times. Likewise, with previous bad behaviors.

Perhaps some people are taken back to a previous, distant lifetime, which they don't remember. These

are the most confounding. The point of the "going back," though, is for us to wake up to the truth of our wrong actions, thoughts or beliefs. For those who are aware, and awake, Karma can be as close as next week. 

I'm not speaking simply of cause and effect, which is the end result of any wrong action.

Rather, I'm pointing out how the very wrong, or right, word, thought or deed may come back to  you in the same negative, or positive, way from another to let you wake up to the truth of the error. or, to reinforce your path.

At this stage of my life and level of consciousness, I know better than to try to "mess" with Karma or try to cover over bad thoughts, words or deeds. It doesn't work.

By grace, I may be forgiven the wrong I may have committed, but I know for sure not an iota is ever obliterated. So, repeat the same "error" of thought, word or deed, and even grace will not rescue you. It seems to scream at you:

You KNOW better, DO better!  

So, we should never, ever worry about *those people who seem to enjoy walking through life with total freedom, violating others, especially with those who are helpless to defend themselves in some way. Believe it or not, only Divine Mercy or Grace will save the evil ones at those times when they, too, become helpless or incapacitated in some way. 

Should they live long enough, they will reap the same injustices that they have sown.

                 Karma is an exact Science

                                   and

                    is the Mathematics of the Soul!

The Soul tracks the minutest of details of our lives, and it seems to track the most minuscule of infractions we may have committed.

So, should we then view Karma as "punishment for our sins?"  NO! Karma is language of the Soul, and it's more sophisticated. Appreciate it!

Karma is the tool our Soul uses to expand our spiritual development and awareness.

As hard as it is for most of us to accept, when we find ourselves in situations that are challenging, embarrassing, or painful, we must not run from the truth.

These are the times we must have a day of Holy Reckoning with our Soul and reflect on past words, thoughts or deeds that may have led us to this point.

Karma is so unrelenting, it may take decades to show up as it contorts and finds ways to wake us up to the inevitable truth of errors in our ways. Sometimes Karma itself is the wake up call! When we become more aware and alert, then Karma is like a radar system, beeping almost instantaneously when we take a wrong step.

We may want to believe that we have given over our lives to some enemy that tracks us down for punishment. Actually, we should view the beeps and the alerts as our companions through life, and we should learn to embrace them as our best friends.

If treated with respect, Karma can help us navigate life with a mindfulness that is enviable by those who are unaware, giving us Peace that truly passes all understanding and the Wisdom of Solomon in our interactions with others.

A Few Tips About  Karma:

• Karma is our life's companion. It's our spiritual DNA.

• Don't ignore Karma. Become aware and alert to it. 

• See Karma as an instrument of sophistication for evolving our connection to our Soul.

• Use Karma...don't let it use sink you into defeat when the circles of life swarm around you.

• Karma also works with thoughts, deeds and words you carry about yourself: learn to love yourself! Fix what you can fix and leave the rest to Karma to help heal what needs to be healed.

Most importantly, be at peace with the world:
The world will then inevitably, unrelentingly, be at peace with you.

Photo Credit: My Story. Check out on Facebook 

Namaste',
Che'
*NOTE: For Christians, Psalm 37 can be especially soothing during times with people who challenge us.