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Karma has its parentage in the physical law of cause and effect. My own view is some what controversial, but addresses some of the areas of contention I found. It is however my own view and not meant to reflect the truth or untruths of any other view.
The physical law of cause and effect can be seen working around us every day and through out history. It validity is easy to check and leaves me in no doubt of its existence.
Karma is said to be related to cause and effect and plays part in our spiritual enlightenment. What is not clear is the fact that what is created in the physical has to be played out in the physical, it cannot be put on hold until we reincarnate. It is the experience of an event that is carried through not the event itself.
As an example if Fred kills Bill it does not follow that next life time Bill will kill Fred. What is certain is that sometime within Fred's many reincarnations Fred will experience being killed. It also follows that sometime within Bill's many reincarnations Bill will experience killing. Fred does not need Bill nor does Bill need Fred for the cycle to be completed.
We will before our physical incarnations cease experience all there is to experience from physical incarnation. Where as this can be hard to accept it needs to be remembered that physical incarnation serves no purpose if we are to avoid the experiences it has to offer. We learn through our experiences.
Everything is not black and white, one cannot say this is wrong and that is right until one understands what they are judging. To do that they first need to experience it. Often all that is needed is to witness the event rather then take part in it however you cannot witness an event unless it takes place. This means every event has a purpose despite how unpleasant it may seem.
We cannot however afford to be complacent or simply avoid dealing with the situations around us . It is through understanding we progress. As an example is it wrong to kill? one cannot say "yes" or "no", it depends on the reason behind the killing. Something always needs to die so something else can survive. We have to reach our own judgement as to what is acceptable and what is not. You cannot make that judgement without experience. Is someone who eats to excess guilty of unnecessary killing? It is not normal to look at eating this way but all food means death to some sort of life form. A balance has to be reached so we may survive and our understanding will make us comfortable with our choices.
This is where to me Karma falls down, we are told there is good Karma and bad Karma and the judging is being done for us. The rights and wrongs of any belief is down to the creator of that belief and cannot be taken as fact. One belief may frown upon eating one sort of animal where another may not. Neither is right or wrong there is no difference, it is a personal choice that has no effect on spiritual enlightenment. Taking from this world more then we need to survive may well do.
Do I believe in Karma? Well I believe in the law of cause and effect and Karma is an attempt to bring that into the realms of belief. I think Karma has not been brought up to date enough to satisfy the current level of knowledge people have.
I have only touched on Karma lightly, it is a deeply involved subject worth studying.
Copyright Spiritual Journey 2007