2002-3-29 04:31:00
I hope to finally lift your vision beyond the assumption that the concept of Karma is flawed, John Z.
We must remember that the core principle through which it operates is cause and effect.
How can there be a flaw in the principle stating that when there is a cause there is an equal effect according to the energy behind the initiated cause? How can there be a flaw in the scripture which says, "as ye sow so shall ye reap?"
I could not find a flaw in this principle if I researched it a thousand years.
You write:
"However, those ideas are a far cry from the exactness implied in the "opposite and equal reaction" formula. Let's say I act out on my anger, and throw a rock at someone's car window. The "opposite and equal" formula (which you say is "so absolute, so definite, so real, and so inevitable") says that INEVITABLY a rock will be thrown at my car window. That is the part that does not make sense. That is one part of the concept of karma that is flawed."
JJ
When the rock is thrown it is moved through the air by the application of a certain amount of energy.
By the time the rock comes to a standstill it has (by Newtonian physics and the law of cause and effect) been met with exactly the same amount of energy which originally propelled it. If it had not been met with an equal energy it would have remained in motion forever.
The first resistance was the friction of the air through which it sailed. The second was gravity pulling it downward. The third was the window and the fourth and final was the car seat upon which it landed and became stationary. The combination of these four sources of resistance exactly equals the original force which propelled the rock.
This is an example of cause and effect working out with exactness on the physical plane.
BUT...
Cause and effect does not end on the physical plane. To understand Karma one must look at the effects of cause as they manifest on the emotional and mental planes.
If the car was in a junk yard and no one cared much what happened to it then the cause and effect in the higher planes would be minimal. It would be similar to throwing a rock in a lake. There is a physical effect, but because there is little if any destruction of value the cause and effect beyond the physical is miniscule.
The only danger from karma may be that someday you might own a worthless car that someone throws a rock at. If this does not bother you then go ahead and throw the rock.
But, if the car is your new prized Porsche and some harmful person throws a rock through the window we have a totally different set of effects on the astral (emotional) and mental planes.
If you know this is a malicious act of destruction it may produce extreme anger, despair and feelings of vengeance within you. Beyond this you feel a sense of loss over the damage which has been done.
Just like pressing on your accelerator can propel a heavy object (your car) with much more force that that exerted by your foot because of other energies at play, even so the damaged done by the rock in this second case goes far beyond the physical energies.
Now if the damage was the result of an innocent accident you would still feel a sense of loss, but your emotions would not be so negatively effected. Because the emotional damage is not so intense, in the case of an accident the karma generated is not as great. But even in the case of accidents we do have responsibility for our carelessness and a certain amount of restoration will be necessary.
Now in the case of malicious cause the emotional effect can be great. Let us deal with three of the emotional effects of the victim.
(1) Anger. He feels anger and sends it toward the perpetrator with just as real of a hurl as the throwing of a rock.
(2) He feels a desire to obtain vengeance and considers hunting the criminal down and giving him some Texas justice.
(3) He feels sorrow over a sense of loss and thinks to himself that one person would not do this to another if they understood these feelings.
These negative feelings send a rock of energy through the ethers and they circulate there until circumstances are right for them to land on the doorstep of the initiating criminal. When this happens, however, it does not mean that he will own a Porsche and have a rock thrown at it.
What does it mean then?
It means that the emotional energy and feelings he initiated in another will return to him. Equivalent feelings may be generated in him by someone throwing a rock at his dog, a hit and run, a dentist pulling the wrong tooth or a number of things. The purpose of this emotional energy is not to generate an exact repeat of the initiating physical event, but an exact repeat of the emotions of the victim so the initiating rock thrower understands the harm he created and not do it again.
Now let us suppose that the guy who owns the Porsche is a saint and when he sees the damage he does not allow himself to become angry not seek for vengeance. He doesn't feel an sense of loss because he is just as happy to drive his Yugo. He can loose all he owns and still be at peace.
Is any karma then generated? Does this mean we can rob and plunder the righteous and will have no fear of retribution?
Not quite. The bad guys will not get off so easy. The saints may be forgiving and will not be sending out negative emotional energies of retribution, but they will assess the problem on the plane of the mind and this judgment will send out a projectile of mental energy which will descend to the emotional and physical plane to bring the needed lesson to the wrongdoer.
The advantage of the victim in transcending the emotional plane is that he will cease to initiate new harmful cause which will come back to haunt him. Instead, the karma fulfills its purpose and is thereafter neutralized.
Copyright 2002 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved