Figuratively speaking, if you are a thief in one life and rob someone, then in the next life the same will happen to you. Or, for example, if you were an influential, but bad person – you fed on people’s kindness, took the last cent from the poor, and so on, in your future life you will definitely be born a sick child in some “third world country” and you will know all the horrors of injustice.
At first glance, this basic understanding of karma seems very logical and fair. However, the above examples are extremely rare. Usually, Karma doesn’t work like that – it is a much more complex mechanism!
Karma as a way to understand the other side of your actions
This is one of the most important “components” of karma. That is, it is not just some kind of “tool” for reward and punishment but a derivative of the law of equilibrium, which says that having cognized one side of a phenomenon, one must also learn the other.
When we somehow act in relation to other people (bad, good – not so important), then we “experience” the action only from one side – from our own. And at the same moment we have a kind of “indebtedness” to life – we must feel the other side of our act in the same way – the consequences that the other person experienced.
For example, if a mother loves a child and takes care of it, then she automatically creates a similar “picture” in her future, but on the other side (where she is a child, and her mother loves her in the same way).
When a man meets a woman, but at the same time does not value her and treats her as an object, then at that moment he “organizes” in future incarnations exactly the same situation for himself. That is, being born in a female form and love for a person who looks down on him and enters into a relationship literally “out of grace”.
Therefore, most of the things we do lead to the fact that in the future we will know their downside as well as “working off” of some old “debts”. This often refers to unpleasant situations that we want with all our might but cannot avoid.
The fate of a person is not only influenced by his karma
Every person at birth has a certain destiny – that is, a set of potential life scenarios. In addition, the concept of “destiny” can include the place of birth, the family where the child is born, inclinations and abilities, and so on.
In other words, we all have the “raw data” with which we are born.
So, this fate or our “initial data” is not only influenced by karma. Karma is just one of the important factors.
What other things besides karma affect us?
- the level of development of the Soul, the stage of development at which it is
- craving for “soul mates”, and their mutual influence on each other
- long-standing connections of the Soul with certain egregors, which can “tighten” a person in certain situations
- free will with the help of which we are able to shape our future (Our will is not able to fulfill absolutely any desire, but nevertheless it largely affects our life path)
In general, many different factors influence the fate of each of us, and karma is not the only one of them. Therefore, we should not reduce all events of a particular life solely to karma – it would be wrong.
Since each person’s karma contains a huge amount of obligations, it rarely works quickly and “linearly”
Since the number of lives of one Soul tends to infinity, then we can imagine how many “karmic obligations” (the need to know the other side of your actions) accumulated in each of us!
It would be very, very strange if all these obligations were “paid off” within one or two lifetimes. Why?
Let’s imagine a domineering, cruel, cynical and unprincipled person. He literally “wipes his feet” on everyone who is weaker than him, and goes to any means to achieve his goals. In the course of one, even not very long life, such a person will have time to accumulate a large amount of negative karma for himself.
That is, he creates a lot of “debts” for himself, and now, sooner or later, he must be in the role:
- women deceived by him
- children who were not loved by their father
- friends he betrayed
- business partners who were “thrown for money”
- people who suffered as a result of his activities and the desire to appropriate all the best for themselves
This is just a small example that illustrates how many “obligations” one person can create for himself as a result of just one short life.
If we think about it, then it is practically unreal for him to “work out” all of them according to the results of the next one or two lives. The following reasons:
1) It is problematic to play all these roles in one or several lives
2) For “working off” it is necessary that the necessary circumstances have time to develop, and all the required participants are “attracted”. These events may take a long time to form.
3) And finally, one of the most important factors. Since the key point of karma is to “know the other side” of your actions, then often this requires becoming a person with an absolutely different set of qualities and character traits.
Let’s say that in order for a cynical person to know the consequences of his deception, he needs to be in the place of his past “victims” – to be naive, trusting, and full of faith in humanity. To change to this degree, one or even a dozen lives are often not enough.
The fact is that a change in personality during incarnation is rarely a “180-degree turn.” In most cases, the qualities of character and worldview in a new life are partly a “legacy” from the old, an imprint of the views and way of life of that time.
Therefore, in order to move from a cunning, calculating and selfish type to the opposite – trusting, kind and open, it often takes a very large number of incarnations. Such a transformation usually occurs gradually, step by step, through a smooth “flow” from between personalities close in character.
For all of the above reasons, a situation that is described in some esoteric books is very rare in life, where “bad guys” in the next life are born in third world countries and suffer in every possible way, while good people, on the contrary, immediately end up in ideal families.
No, it’s not that simple and linear. “Bad” incarnations can go one after another for some time. At this time, a person actively “learns the dark side”, and from the outside it may even seem that life does not punish him for atrocities in any way.
The same is with bright and kind people. They can show their best moral qualities for several lives in a row, and at the same time live lives where they are treated badly and unfairly.
It is understandable that from the point of view of the layman, such a situation may look illogical but we must understand that our Soul has millions of lives, and each individual incarnation for it is a drop in the ocean.
Therefore, there is no need for soul to “rush” somewhere in working off its karma. On the contrary, it makes sense to go through all the necessary stages of development gradually, step by step.
Justice will certainly prevail and retribution will come. It’s just that all this will not happen immediately and will not be as linear as our physical mind perceives.
Karma cannot be “cheated”, although some have tried
Some esotericists claim that long “delays” of bad karma actions are possible, and they consider themselves the almighty arbiters of fate.
However, when using such techniques, you need to understand the main thing – they work for the time being. That is, as long as a person has enough energy potential and skills to manage his own destiny, karma is “postponed for later.” But then its “critical mass” accumulates, which falls on a person with terrible force.
It is said that torment occurs after such “cunning control of fate.” techniques. These are the most cruel incarnations, where time after time it is as if the Soul is being rolled through a meat grinder. All past achievements are lost, the level of development falls, the person constantly suffers and does not understand why.
In general, it is not recommended for anyone to interfere with the work of karma and consider himself above it. When a person commits bad deeds, he will invariably face their consequences, and trying to avoid it will lead to even more suffering.
Fortunately, in our world, such methods of “eliminating bad karma” are practically unknown. Most people have a low level of development and lack the necessary energy potential. But in this case, this is even a plus – no one will become a “victim of their own cunning”.
Epilogue
Karma is an extremely complex and interesting mechanism. It is not just a “carrot and stick” – that is, a method of encouragement and punishment, but a tool that helps us to know life to the fullest, and to see the other side of everything we do.
Thanks to karma, each of us can see reality from different angles, and collect as much experience as possible in order to transfer it to our immortal soul.
Therefore, it makes no sense to consider it evil or some kind of “harmful invention”. On the contrary, karma is a perfect instrument of the universe, which helps to maintain balance in any world and for the souls that inhabit it.
