The common explanation for Karma has always bothered me. Maybe I have interpreted the teachings incorrectly, but I cannot accept there is some kind of heavenly score board that keeps tabs on the bad things a person has done and then smacks him/her down later in their life with some sort of payback. Hard to accept karma is like what John Lennon describes in the lyrics in his song Instant Karma;
“Instant Karma’s gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet”
Is what is happening in our world today with COVID-19 some sort of payback for our sinful deeds as a species? Is this Karmic repayment demanded from every life and/or generation until the score is properly settled? I think not.
Karma and the Law of Attraction
To me, they are the same. It is what the Beatles were trying to say at the end of the Sargent Peppers album,
“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you made.”
Don’t get me wrong, I believe we have to face the consequences for our actions. We reap what we sow. But I think karma is more the net result of the energy you spend or don’t spend. For example, if you don’t go to college, then you can’t expect to get a degree. Another example, if you put energy out to the Universe that you are a victim and that you are bound to be taken advantage of by everyone you meet, you will attract into your life what you project. This is why my view of karma is that it serves to remind us, not punish us, of the need to be aware of negative thoughts and actions so we can change them.
Karma also works for the things we judge as good. If you are kind and loving towards others, even strangers, you will attract kindness and love.
The past has led you to a place where you can take steps towards a new future
Do you think our past shapes our future? I don’t think so, that is why the thought of karma as punishment for our actions bothers me. Most of the decisions we made throughout our lives were based on the beliefs and knowledge we had at the time. In other words, we made the best decision we knew to make. Furthermore, many of these beliefs we learned as children.
Here is an example from my life. I grew up accepting that pleasing others was a good thing, this is what one does as a trade for another’s love and support. I didn’t understand this was a habit based on the mistaken supposition that I was not good enough unless everyone approved of me.
Until my mid-forties, I spent a lot of energy pursuing the approval of others. Finally, I learned through failures and disappointments that, by believing I had to please others to earn their affection, I had opened myself up to be manipulated by them. In particular, when the chips were down, they were nowhere to be found. This did not mean the Universe was punishing me for my faulty judgement, on the contrary, the Universe had been sending me people who took advantage of me to teach me a lesson about the fallacy of measuring my self-worth by the approval of the others. The person refusing to learn this lesson was me, and that is what kept me in this worthless cycle for decades. it makes perfect sense to me that the disappointment I was discovering corresponded with the energy I had emitted into the world. The Universe was doing its part, sending me the relationships I needed to experience so I could discover my mistaken beliefs about myself.
Conclusion
Karma is a good thing. It is there to burst our bubble when we surmise the material world is our answer to a joyful and meaningful life. If you use feeling victimized to get sympathy, or you rely on your physical beauty to manipulate others, or you use anger and violence to bully others, your karma will eventually teach you these things were illusions.
The great thing about the past is that it brought us to where we are today. It is not a predictor of the future. You do not have to keep imagining that you will keep repeating failures as some sort of punishment for your sins. Wisdom is upon you and karma is introducing it to you through your life experiences. Keep an open mind so you can learn the lessons that were meant for you. You have nothing to fear.
COVID-19 is punishment if you believe the Higher Power/Universe/God that is part of all things uses punishment to put us in our subservient place. I believe this Higher Power is a loving spirit that is always looking to learn, create, expand and evolve. This Power wants the same for us. COVID-19 is not punishment, it is a difficult challenge, but one that can help us as a species learn, create, expand and evolve. We are being given the opportunity to become better.
Remember, paying gratitude for your life forward will reward you with great joy and contentment.
Photo by Mark Daynes on Unsplash
