On Karma

[Guest guest]

My 'take' on karma...

 

As I participate in these lists, I see submissions which predominantly

feature Hindu/Vedantic, Buddhist, Christian, and other specialized

vocabulary. Among these words, is the word 'karma'. That word means many

things to many people, just as 'ego' has many meanings, according to

personal interpretation.

 

I would venture that the people who originally 'made up' the word 'karma'

had something definite in mind, something which they were perceiving, to

which they gave this label of 'karma'. I imagine that they, the originators

of this term, desired to describe, as well as to label. Now, it seems that

we desire to understand 'karma', yet can we 'see' what the ancient

originators of the term, also saw?

 

The common understanding of 'karma' is that it puts forth 'cause and

effect', as in 'one reaps what one sows'. In this regard, the 'law of

karma' would then be seen to be a useful injunction which would imply what

is similar to the Christian 'golden rule', a guideline to behaviour, to

ease the difficulties of living among other Beings. If this understanding

of karma can indeed lead to 'moral' behaviour, so much the better. But it

seems to me, that the originators of the word, had more in mind than 'cause

and effect'.

 

The difficulty in 'understanding' the concept of karma, arises as a result

of the perception that the background is different from the foreground;

that the past is different than the present; that Being is different than

the universe; that the universe is the background in which the Being

dwells, when in fact, the Being is the universe.

 

Karma describes _interdependence_, not cause and effect. Karma states that

'if supporting conditions change, what is supported also changes'. No cause

is posited by karma; only interdependence is pointed to. In the overall

sense, karma is itself 'cause'; karma says that outside of karma, there is

_nothing_. Karma, then, IS the universe that we live 'in', and (usually

unconsciously) _as_.

 

That we _are_ incarnate Beings, may be seen as the 'gift of karma'; karma

is the overall 'maze' or matrix of Being, and at the same time, it is the

wanderer in that maze or matrix.

 

"If" a Being transcends the maze, the Being understands that the Being is

the maze; the maze and the Being both 'vanish' as _apparently_ seperate

'entities'. No longer will the Being wander the maze, for the nature of the

Being is the nature of the maze. Now, the Being wanders 'ItSelf'.

 

As the 'maker' of this maze, I am capable of finding my own way through it,

if I 'remember' or 'abolish amnesia' or 'become realized'. The name of

'karma' is _simply_ a reminder of the compounded 'reality' that I am.

 

The common, _exoteric_ 'meaning' of the word karma is 'you reap what you

sow', but the hidden, _esoteric_ meaning of the word, is different. It is

this esoteric (to the 'ignorant') meaning that I wish to reveal.

 

I speak of my own current understanding of 'karma'. I am the 'maker' of 'my

own' karma. The current perceptions of reality which I have, arise as

compoundings of previous perceptions; all perceived events, are woven in

'time', to create this matrix of 'reality'. Thus, this is my reality.

 

If I subtract 'time' form the above equation, all events are simultaneous,

now. It is this 'now' which I am. Thus, I am not bound by time.

 

If events do not occur in time, no event is separate. Thus, I am all events.

 

If I am all events, I am the 'root' of karma. If I am the 'root' of karma,

I may then 'change'. It is at this point that the very crucial question

must be asked; If I may change, what change do I choose?

 

This is the question which underlies all seeking, pursuit, dissatisfaction,

inquiry, hunger, desire, and aversion. If this question is correctly

answered, outward momentum ceases. If this question is understood, the

final expansion of the universe begins.

 

==Gene Poole==