| WHAT IS KARMA? by R.M.
Soccolich
As a phenomenon, KARMA today continues to fall under many titles,
the world over, across diverse regions and even wholly opposing
cultural systems.
Fact is, throughout the course of human history, this thing called
karma has rigidly persisted in mankind's creative (and presumably
unique,) system of beliefs, from culture to culture, all across the
globe.
Now we must ask ourselves, why is karma so popular?
We must ask ourselves just what is it about this so-called Karma,
that gives it such power and perseverance? Why is karma, such as it
is, the one single philosophical premise which endures in humanity,
in spite of humanity's incredulous catalog of regional diversity and
age-old political prejudice?
That is the question...
Obviously, there can be no clear-cut answer. However, we may begin
to unravel the true mystery of karma when we begin to contemplate
the meaning of the word itself. Karma, originally a Babylonian term
for completion, or return, became (through time and erroneous
thinking,) synonymous with the idea of mortal penance, or a harsh
return to our own good senses!
Hence, karma soon became known as a spiritual term for our mortal
punishment, (based upon our mortal actions). Naturally, a
conceptualization such as this, seemed to imply that all of our
worldly misfortunes were merely verdicts of penance, or karma,
chosen by a ruling God (as a worldly reminder of HIS or HER strength
and watchful eyes).
However, every culture had a different God (or set of Gods,) and
each God had a different set of purposes, and so a distinction had
to be created to keep karma universal. Clearly, the concept of karma
needed to reinvent itself. Thus, man returned karma to its own
worldly recourse and deemed karma, a clear by-product of nature
herself.
Lo and behold, karma had now become a natural entity which existed
in the physical world!
Through these rationalizations of mankind, Karma became known as
God's gift to man, the ultimate embodiment of the perfect balance of
God's universe, regardless of that God's name or unique convictions.
As luck would have it, this rationalization dug deeper into the
psyche of man, than could ever have been expected. This fresh new
entry of karma into nature and the hands of man, proved appealing to
existentialists, naturalists and men of science alike, in other
words, to a whole new subheading of humanity’s diverse children.
Karma chugged along in its seemingly unstoppable growth.
In its new naturalistic clothing, karma became a sound concept, a
concept which demanded very little in the way of political
philosophy. Instead, karma weighed upon the internal balances of
nature herself; one thing occurring to account for another; just as
simple as that. Here was a universe of continuous checks and
balances, a relative universe in every sense of the word.
However, a few cagey sticklers still spotted a trace of moral
superiority in this so-called naturalistic concept of karma.
So karma, ever the universalist, reinvented itself once more. In so
doing, mankind utterly returned karma to its initial and perhaps
most exclusive, meaning. Karma, as a concept, became once again
consistent with a cycle of return, or completion. Karma simply came
back. It no longer passed any judgment. Karma was neither moral, or
immoral!
Karma simply returned. In truth, it did nothing more and truly,
nothing less!
Karma came back, like the Moon revolving around the Earth and the
Earth in turn, encircling the Sun. Karma simply came back. End of
story. If, in its return, it seemed to teach or demonstrate
something, that was simply our own human guilt mechanisms hard at
work. And that was that.
But still, there remained one last catch, even in this enlightened
view of karma.
If Karma existed in an infinite universe, with infinite and
overlapping occurrences, how could we honestly assess its
whereabouts. How could we find karma? Relatively speaking, in an
infinite universe, where did cycles begin and end, anyway? Karma
could be anywhere and everywhere, simultaneously! In fact, every
single thought which emerged from our brain was literally filled
with thousands of cause and effect relationships. And we possessed
hundreds of billions of these thoughts! In this, where did karma
end? And where had it begun?!
Karma now, had to put on the frock of Quantum Physics!
Karma no longer merely represented a physical cause and effect, but
rather what we thought about certain perceived cause and effect
relationships. In other words, karma became the focus of our chosen
thoughts themselves. Using karma as a model, our thoughts and
performed actions, were chosen one by one, in order to gain our best
possible results. Clearly, we pinpointed events which had previously
occurred in reality, to act as guides or models toward our best
possible future decisions. Karma became forethought! Hence karma,
having transformed from a spiritual essence, into a natural entity,
now became synonymous with our best thought processes. Karma became
the vision of man’s highest consciousness interpreting an infinite
and wholly uncertain universe, step by courageous step.
And in this final definition, karma had become the conscience of
man...
And that my dear friends, is very good karma indeed!
—
R.M.
Soccolich
Co-author of Mischievous Acts and Repercussions.
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