Twinn Swan

The law of karma is embedded into the structure of the universe. It affects all of us on an individual level. All of us have to bear the consequences of our activities and our karmic footprint.

What we sow now, we will have no choice but to reap later. With the passage of time, some karmas become unavoidable. Other karmas, however, can be transformed completely with personal effort. On a very basic level, the law of karma is the law of cause and effect. An action was taken–or not taken–and that led to a particular consequence.

Every action that we perform (and not perform) will produce consequences. Some of the fruits of these karmas will become evident soon after they have been performed. Some of the fruits of these karmas may be hidden till it is time for them to be revealed. Some of the fruits of these karmas will only become evident in our next life or lives. Some of these consequences will be favourable and some of these consequences will be unfavourable.

In some situations, the consequences of our karmic actions and non-actions begin to bear fruit shortly after they are performed. In most cases, however, it may take sometime for the results of our actions to come to the fore.

For instance, say that you chose to meditate twice a day. This practise will not bear fruit immediately. But given time–say 3 months–one will begin to see the fruits of this karma. There will naturally be many positive fruits of this karma. We may be calmer. We may be happier. We may even be more mindful in our daily lives. We can even expect that this is what will happen. It is a predictable result.

This is why karma is not only a theory but a reality. That is why it is called The Law of Karma. Recognising that there is a relationship and a link between our actions and their results is a far more logical way of allowing our behaviours to align with the results that we are after. If you want to be physically fit, you would naturally work out each day to get the result that you are after. You would not be a couch potato and expect to get abs. Somewhere in your mind you know that your actions must be aligned with the fruits that you are expecting to receive.

The time lag or the delay and the postponement between our actions and the time that the action takes to bear fruit is something to bear in mind when we think about the concept of karma. It usually requires that something has been done repeatedly over a period of time. A karmic pattern takes time to establish and time to un-establish.

Say, for instance, that you chose to take up cycling for a week. Perhaps you will have some aches and pains when you first begin. If you give up at this stage, you will never see the fruits of that action. But if you stick with your exercise regimen, even if it is only for three months, you will begin to see the fruits of that karma. You will see some weight loss, muscle gain and so on. Once again, a predictable result.

In the simple scenarios that I’ve described, it is all too easy to see the relationship between the action and the consequence. We know that if we take a particular action, we will be permitted to enjoy a particular result.

But in many instances, the relationship between the action taken and the consequence may be an ambiguous one. Say, for instance, we decide to help someone who murdered someone else. Did we know for a fact that they had murdered someone else? What if we helped them to get away with the murder that they committed? What if they were innocent and punished for a crime that they did not commit? The concept of karma, in the above case, becomes extremely ambiguous. It is suddenly not as clear as we would like it to be as there are many nuances involved.

The truth is that the law of karma, if not understood fully, can have detrimental effects on people’s behaviour. First things first, it can make one indifferent to the sufferings of others. Should we allow the murderer to suffer? What if he is innocent? Is there any chance that he is not guilty? Even if he is guilty, does he have a valid reason for why he did what he did?

We cannot allow people to suffer or undergo suffering because we believe that their past wrong actions have made them ‘deserve’ suffering. We also cannot allow our own personal biases and prejudices to allow us to believe that some groups deserve to suffer. What if he murdered another person out of self-defence? Yes, murder is wrong but what if he did it because he wanted to protect his family from harm? Suddenly, it’s not altogether clear. In this case, who is to judge and on what basis? What should the karmic consequences be in such a situation?

In either case, we should not be indifferent to another’s suffering. This can have severe consequences on one’s own karmic backlog. We should not ignore the suffering of others. At the same time, we should not become indifferent to our own suffering either. We do not deserve to suffer anymore than someone else may deserve to suffer. Perhaps we may have made some terrible mistakes in our life. Some people will be repentant and mend their ways. For others, it may be business as usual. Once again, the ambiguity arises! Who, then, are we to judge and on what basis and criteria?

Apathy is not a good response either. When we become apathetic towards another person’s and perhaps even our own suffering, we may conclude that we do not need to take any steps to solve our issues. We may not create the new karmas that may be necessary to reverse the karmic backlog that we have set in motion. If you have developed a gambling or alcohol problem, one of the ways that you can reverse this habit is to go for counselling and perhaps pick up some better and less damaging habits. The incorrect response would be to not do anything at all and allow the problem to continue on and become more severe.

One should not ‘blame’ or allocate responsibility wholly to one’s past karma. Rather, one should endeavour to neutralise the results of earlier bad results by performing good karma. If one does take the steps to break out of a bad habit, one can begin to emerge out of the darkness and into the light. It will not happen overnight, but with consistent effort, even the worst of demons can be overcome

When the concept of karma is clearly understood, we realise that every individual plays a prominent role in the unfolding of his or her own destiny. The concept of judgment, therefore, is not one of simple punishment for good and bad deeds. When we are ready to accept the role that we have played in our own lives, we realise that we have played a part in all that we have done and all that we have failed to do. We will realise that in some cases, it is all too easy to see the karmic consequences of our actions. In other cases, the ambiguous nature of the action taken and the consequence that it had will require further weighing.

Till next time, may you create good karma!