Sep 9, 2016
The Law of Karma
Or Cause and Effect – Part 1
I have already written quite a lot about this law. Here are some excepts
Karma is in principle the law of cause and effect. To determine whether or not there is bad karma we must merely look at the causes and effects that we all agree upon as the real thing.
We know that if we cause money to be put in the bank we will have the effect of available money (good karma). We also agree that if you cause a loan to be made at the bank that you will then owe some money (bad karma).
To say that there is no bad karma is to say that there are no negative effects. Therefore if there were no such thing as bad (or negative) karma is the same as saying that when you take out a loan from the bank that you will owe no debt. In this case if negative karma is denied long enough you will awaken to reality when you watch the bill collectors haul your car off.
To say there is no bad karma is the same as saying that when you drive over a cliff that only good things will happen. I think here we all will agree that when we create a cause in this life that an effect will follow.
Now perhaps some think that when we die all of our causes die with us and we carry no effects into the next life, but in principle a cause always is followed by an effect and they are carried over into future lives.
***
It seems like a number of people have a strong aversion to the terms good and bad or good and evil. It seems strange to me to want to negate or eliminate words from the dictionary, as if that will change anything, or as if that would eliminate negative judgments. A rose is a rose by any name. You can change the name of good and evil and you will still wind up talking about good and evil, but just using different terminology.
For instance I find it amusing that some who criticize me for using the word “judgment” and “good and evil” wind up judging me as being on the wrong path which is the evil one in their mind. They think that by avoiding the word evil and judgment that the two does not exist for them even though they are talking about it just as much as I am. The only difference is that I am being up front and honest about it.
Even though it is true that good and evil is what we define them to be, there are two definitions that should be important to us.
The first definition is that which has been given by the Brotherhood of Light. I stated this a few days ago, but it was not new with me for it has been stated and restated by the Master DK through Alice A. Bailey. Good is that direction which takes us forward in evolution and evil is that which takes us backward into what we were in the past.
The second definition to consider is that espoused by general humanity. For the general populace good is that which is desirable and evil is the undesirable. There is a lot of basic agreement as to the desirable and undesirable which allows the general public to talk about this subject with some intelligence. For instance giving to worthy charities is considered a good thing and robbing your neighbor considered bad.
If we could just have the oneness of either the Masters or the general public on discussing this subject I think we would all be far ahead.
A reader made an interesting comment on karma. She says basically that karma, or cause and effect can be stopped in its tracks by not reacting to it. Let me give my thoughts on this. On an emotional basis reacting or not reacting to an attack has no effect on karma. If someone is angry with you and kicks your leg and breaks it, you then have a choice to react or not react emotionally. If you feel anger at the guy that does nothing to his karma or if you feel no anger that has no effect either. It does not matter what you feel there was still a cause and an effect. He kicked you (cause) and broke your leg (effect).
Your feelings only have causes within your self. Such feelings have to be translated into some type of action to create new karma. If you kick him back then that is a new cause with a new effect. If you do not kick him back (whether you are angry or not) then you do not negate the past cause with its effect. Instead you have prevented a new one from surfacing.
Concerning the debt of karma Jesus said: “Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.” (Matt 5:26)
The reader tells us that karma (I assume negative karma) is wiped clean when we forgive ourselves. Forgiveness releases you from guilt and grievances but does not negate karma. It can lead to a faster repayment of it, but does not negate cause and effect. There has not been any negation of cause and effect since the beginning of the universe. Not one example can be cited.
Some may say that a miracle such as Jesus walking on water is an example. Not so. Jesus created a cause in accordance with the law and the effect was the walking on water, which was just as natural of an effect as a boat floating on water.
***
The law of Karma is the Law of Cause and Effect. There can be no cause unless there is a corresponding effect, for that is what a cause is. The first definition of a cause in The American Heritage Dictionary is: “The producer of an effect, result, or consequence.” The same dictionary gives as the first definition of effect as: “Something brought about by a cause or an agent; a result.” Therefore, by definition, there can be no effect without cause and there can be no cause without producing an effect.
Now some have said that Karma, or the Law of Cause and Effect, can be negated or eliminated. Some say that it only exists because we are attached to it or because we have judgment within us. Others say that we merely must rise above the illusion of this world and Karma will cease.
Do you realize what it would mean to escape karma to the extent that karma would no longer exist? If karma no longer exists for you, this means you would cease to exist. Non-existence is to have no power to initiate cause and effect. And non-existence is impossible; therefore, total escape from karma is impossible. If you are beyond cause and effect, you are beyond the power to even be alive.
DK through Alice A. Bailey tells us that the Masters do not eliminate the Law of Karma. Instead they learn to “wield the law”. In other words they create causes so the effects that result are desired effects rather than undesirable ones. In this way they are free from unpredictable karma. In other words, they are no longer victims of the law as regular humanity is.
A regular human in his use of karma is a little like a novice going to Las Vegas to gamble at blackjack. The odds are against him because he does not understand the game and does not realize, that because of his ignorance, the longer he plays the more he will lose. He who learns to master karma is a little like the master gambler who learns how to count the cards which will give him control over the game. In both cases the law of cause and effect is in full force, but in the latter case the Master Gambler uses the law instead of being used by the law.
Is cause and effect only applicable in the worlds of form? It would have to be applicable in all worlds because the worlds of form are an effect of energy which was an originating cause before the worlds were created.
In the beginning there was God and God Itself was a cause and creation is the effect. To those who say they can exist apart from karma, let me put forth this challenge.
I can show you billions of examples of karma (cause and effect). But can you show me even one example of anything that is real that creates no cause and effect? It takes a tremendous leap of faith to believe so strongly in that for which no example can be given. Why would someone believe in a place beyond cause and effect if such a place cannot be demonstrated internally or externally??? You can in deep meditation, attempt to withdraw into perfect stillness, but even this meditation (cause) has the effect of peace or stillness of thought.
Not only does logic, experience and the law of correspondences bear witness to the eternal existence of cause and effect, but all the writings revealed by the teachings of the Masters as well as the scriptures agree.
The Bible: Gal 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden. Gal 6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Note here that Karma extends beyond the physical for it says: “He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
The Book of Mormon: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
“Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation.
Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.
“And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness.
“And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.” (II Nephi 2:11-13)
Note that without karma, cause and effect there would be no creation, no you and me, and no God for God is the First Cause, the first agent of karma.
A Course In Miracles: “If I intervened between your thoughts and their results, I would be tampering with a basic law of cause and effect; the most fundamental law there is.” (Text Pg 27)
“Think not you understand anything until you pass the test of perfect peace, for peace and understanding go together and never can be found alone. 5 Each brings the other with it, for it is the law of God they be not separate. 6 They are cause and effect, each to the other, so where one is absent the other cannot be.” Text Pg 278 “ Nothing can have effects without a cause, and to confuse the two is merely to fail to understand them both.” (Text Pg 420)
Alice A Bailey; “As I write this instruction I would call your attention to the subject of karma. There comes ever in the life of a disciple and in the soul’s experience some one particular life wherein the Law of Cause and Effect assumes importance in the consciousness. From that life and that moment, the disciple begins to deal with karma, consciously and definitely. He learns to recognize it when events and happenings come which require understanding and which evoke questioning; he begins to study the quality of his radiation as a karmic agent, and therefore he becomes the maker and constructor, in a new and important sense, of his own destiny and future. His reactions to life and circumstances cease to be simply emotional in nature and become deliberately dictated by conscious observation; they then have in them a significant quality of preparation which is absent from the life of the average man. For the remainder of this life, therefore, I would ask you to carry the theme of karmic decision and of preparation for the future ever in your consciousness; I would ask you always to take action with as full an understanding of the probable following effects as you can manage to achieve, and to make a real effort to study the Law of Consequence and Compensation.”
“It is not my intention to explain or elaborate the subject of Karma. This occult yet fundamentally exoteric theme, the Law of Cause and Effect, evokes a general recognition when called by this name. When called the Law of Karma, it is immediately regarded as mysterious, Oriental and new. Called (as it sometimes is) the Law of Retribution, an entirely erroneous connotation has become attached to it. Today, the karma of humanity is descending upon it. I would remind you, however, that the continuous emphasis laid upon the malevolent aspects of karma conveys a wrong impression and negates the full grasp of the truth. There is as much good karma as there is bad; even in the present world situation, the good karma emanating from the soul of humanity balances the evil which comes from the material aspect and is continuously over-emphasised. It is the rhythm of matter in contradistinction to the rhythm of the soul, and these constitute the initiating causes of the present conflict, both in individual lives and in the general world situation. When this is properly grasped, the true picture may emerge in your hearts and minds with greater clarity.”
“A steady endeavour to see the reality in every form. This literally involves a study of the law of cause and effect, or karma, the object of the karmic law being to bring the opposite pole of Spirit, matter, into strict conformity with the requirements of spirit so that matter and form can perfectly express the nature of spirit.”
Discipleship in the New Age, Vol II, Pages 538-539
DK goes on to tell us that the earth is not a sacred planet because Sanat Kumara himself is somewhat of a rebel from a cosmic point of view and has some effects that he must deal with before the planet can take the needed initiation.
Even high entities who have learned to use the law of karma in a positive sense cannot let their guard down, for one of the Kumaras that came to the earth with the Ancient of Days (called Lucifer by Christians) fell from his lofty station when he did not wield the law with wisdom.
***
I am amazed at this strange doctrine concerning the negation of Karma that has surfaced in the new age community over the past few years and am curious where it has come from. All the sages past have taught the principle of cause and effect. It is plainly taught in all the scriptures of the world and in modern inspired books by Blavatsky, Alice A Bailey and even A Course in Miracles.
Is there some new recent channeled work that I am unaware of that brings forth this great illusion? If anyone could cite some reference here it may help me understand where this teaching is coming from and why it is so easily believed. Or is it possible that many are just creating their own version of belief in Karma associated with a desire to escape effect?
There is great illusion being derived here from the comparison of karma to the statement of Newton’s Law. The potential correspondence is accurate, but the correspondence must be seen as it is.
Where is the illusion then? In Newton’s law, as well as cause and effect which is basically Newton’s law, like creates like. The Law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Note that it DOES NOT say that the opposite reaction is a different type of force than that created by the action but an “equal” one. The word “opposite” refers to the direction of the force, not the force itself.
Sending out force does not cause something other than force to return, and sending out love does not return hate. But the opposite involved is not the opposite of love or force, but the opposition involved is in direction. Love begets love, force begets force, hate begets hate.
A reader asks what is the opposite of Karma? Answer: Oblivion, lifelessness, voidness, nothingness, deadness, no creation, no love – the opposite of Becoming. If this appeals to you then go for it, but for the life of me, I cannot see the attractiveness of it in this reality.
Now some say that cause and effect are happening at the same time in a higher reality where there is no time. This may be true, but still it does not negate karma. I submit that the Eternal Now is not timelessness as many teach, but a consciousness that allows time selection. If there were true timelessness, as some believe, then nothingness would be the result and the higher worlds are far from being nothing.
Now some associate karma with guilt, but guilt is created by illusion, a trick of the mind caused by an outside entity or voice that takes the place of the true god within. Outside voices can be very deceptive, but again, even with this we have a cause and effect. An outside voice causes you to believe you are to trust in the voice of God out there and that you need to hang your head in shame when commands are not followed.
Let us take a Mormon and a non-religious person drinking coffee together. The good Mormon will feel very guilty about it, but the other guy will feel no guilt even though they are doing the same thing. The true basic effect on them, physically, is the same. However, one feels guilty because he erroneously believes he is displeasing god and the other feels no guilt. Because guilt is created by illusionary cause, it can instantly disappear as soon as the illusion is removed. In this way Christ removed our sins; he dispelled much illusion that removed us from the effects of karma that we never had in the first place.
Imagine that the Mormon authorities told the church that they could now drink coffee. Instantly, all guilt surrounding this act of coffee drinking would be erased, but the real effect from the hot liquid and caffeine would remain the same as before in the real world.
On the other hand, the effect of missing out on a lot of enjoyable coffee drinking is a residual effect through decision to accept illusionary cause.
Now some of you are saying that karma exists merely because we believe in it. The only way karma is altered by belief is when belief initiates a new cause and produces a new effect. It does not negate a past effect, but joins in with it.
Let us say a person throws a stone in a stagnant pool and it creates a rippling of waves. Now I have a second stone that I will label as a cause created by belief and I throw it in where the ripples are. Does this nullify the previous effects? No. The ripples are still there from the first stone.
Does the new stone create an overall new effect? Yes. Is there any way that you can use belief only to cause all the ripples to instantly disappear? No. If you desire a still pool what are you to do? Wait for the forces to play themselves out. There is no other way. As the forces are playing themselves out you might want to make the best of it and throw a leaf in the midst and watch it dance upon the forces until stillness arrives.
The time will indeed come when all karma will be played out and we will enter into a peaceful rest to contemplate the experience. But then we will plunge again into the rippling world of cause and effect and play the game one more time, but a little wiser than before.
If karma, cause and effect, is caused by mere belief then why does it exist on the surface of Mars where there is no intelligent life or belief? Why does karma exist in the animal kingdom, for animals have no beliefs? Some say that karma exists because we see ourselves as separate. Yet the animals see themselves as interconnected, and still experience the effects of karma.
DK basically saidAmong primitive man, for millions of years, the animals were the ones that dominated the human kingdom. Early man lived in constant fear of ferocious animals and there was a great struggle on the part of the human kingdom just to stay alive in their midst. Many there were who had friends and family killed and eaten by the beasts.
Now he says that this situation which lasted for eons created karma within the animal kingdom that is being played out today. The situation is reversed and humans are a threat to the animals rather than animals being a threat to humans. He says this karma is the true reason that we presently kill animals for food. When this karma has played out then there will be a balance achieved between the human and animal kingdoms and both shall live together with greater harmony.
DK also says there is karma in the very elements of the earth itself, an effect from the previous solar system. Our personal belief would have nothing to do with this residual effect from billions of years hence.
If we define karma as that which is perceived, then a change in perception can give the illusion of negating karma. For instance if Jim wants to give me an anonymous gift and gives it to Jane to give to me, I will erroneously perceive that the gift originated with her. The true fact is that the cause of the gift was Jim, no matter what my perceptions were. If my perception is changed and I see that the gift did not originate with Jane, but perceive it erroneously to be from Jack that does not negate the true cause. This true cause is still Jim no matter what my perceptions are.
True karma is actual cause and effect, not perceived cause and effect. We daily experience the effects of many causes of which we are consciously unaware and which have nothing to do with our individual belief system.
A while back I perceived myself typing the word “the,” but instead typed “tghe.” My perception did not create the reality, but my lack of focus and cause on the physical plane did. I believed at first I typed the word correctly, but belief did not alter reality.
In fact, the alteration of reality and the creation of misperception of cause and effect is a technique used in brainwashing. In the book 1984 we read of many alterations by Big Brother, but instead of creating a new pleasant reality, the result was hell on earth.
Some say there is no real karma here because this world is just a larger dream state, and when we awaken from the dream we will discover the karma never was. First let me state that this is a very long dream. Creation on the physical plane has been ongoing for trillions of years and since we have been and will be involved for such extensive periods then perhaps it is in our interest to make this a “happy dream” as A Course in Miracles calls it.
It is in the nature of all conscious beings to dream on a regular basis. One who is deprived of the dream state becomes insane. Dreaming in one form or another is something we will do on and off as long as there is existence.
Even a dream has a cause and then within the dream itself there are causes and effects. When I have a good dream with good causes and effects (karma) I often reflect upon it during the next day or so and feel that it adds to my quality of life. Thus even if it turns out that this life is like a dream we will still take the experience with us to a greater reality and this life will be a cause to ongoing effects in higher realms.
DK describes the coming liberation from physical life as follows:
“Respond, O Rising One, to the call which comes within the sphere of obligation; recognize the call emerging from the Ashram or from the Council Chamber where waits the Lord of Life Himself. The Sound goes forth. Both soul and form together must renounce the Principle of life and thus permit the Monad to stand free. The soul responds. The form then shatters the connection. Life is now liberated, owning the quality of conscious knowledge and the fruit of all experience. These are the gifts of soul and form combined.” Tenth Law of Healing
Note that in this liberation, form reality is not forgotten for he says we will then own “the quality of conscious knowledge and the fruit of all experience. These are the gifts of soul and form combined.”
“The quality of conscious knowledge and the fruit of all experience” is thus good karma (effect) that we take with us to the higher planes. Belief has nothing to do with it. Attachment has nothing to do with it and judgment has nothing to do with it. You will just take this “fruit” with you even though you will be free from attachments at that distant time.
Now those of us here are far from having the connection shattered with form so it is best to plow with the horses we do have rather than dreaming of riding the tractor we do not have. If we merely dream of riding the tractor we do not have, we will cease being a cause, but if we plow with the horses we have, cause will be generated and the effect will be a plowed field. Maybe it will not be plowed as quickly as we can dream of doing it on a tractor, but at least it will be plowed in real life and preparation is made to eat the real fruit of the vine.
Copyright by J J Dewey
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