Some Notes on the Law of Karma in Relation to Sex, Love and Happiness
I. Introduction
II. A Few General Laws Governing Life and the Universe
A. The General Law of Interrelatedness
1. The Basic Aspects of Man and Its
Interrelatedness
2. The Lower Nature and the Higher Nature of Man
B. The General Law of Continuous Development
III. The General Law of Karma
A. The Immediate Effects of Karma
1. Effects on Our Knowledge of Right and Wrong
2. Having A Holistic View of Our Character
3. Spiritual Love vis-à-vis Sexual Lust
B. The Long Term Effects of Karma
C. Spiritual Advancement and The Spiritual Brotherhood
D. Karma vis-à-vis Society’s Justice System
IV. Two Common Questions About Karma
A. Karma as Non-Transferrable
B. The Effects of Karma Cannot be Avoided
V. Endnotes
Some Notes on the Law of Karma
in Relation to Sex, Love and Happiness
I. Introduction
There is a definite order and balance in nature, in the world, in the solar system and in the entire universe. Such order and balance is partly due to certain definite laws governing life, nature, the world, the solar system, the universe. Everything, depending on its nature, is governed by certain laws. There are laws that are general which governs all forms of matter and energy. Examples of general laws are the laws of the interrelatedness of all things and of continuous development of all things. There are laws that are specific which govern certain forms and states of matter, i.e., there are specific laws governing solids, liquids and gases.
There are specific laws governing both living and non-living things. Within living things, there are specific laws governing different levels of development of living things. Thus, there are different specific laws governing plants vis-à-vis animals. There are also different specific laws governing animals vis-à-vis humans. One of the fundamental differences between animals and humans is that man has free will, man can choose what he wants to do. The animal’s behavior is mainly determined by its physical instincts, emotional impulses and very limited mental abilities. Animals do not have a free will in the sense that they do not have the higher mind of humans to analyze complex situations, to find the right way and the wrong way of analyzing the situation/s , and to decide on what course of right action to take.
Karma, the law of cause and effect, is one general law of the universe that has a different specific application to man. Because man has the freedom, the free will to think and decide to do good or to do bad, there is also consequently good results or bad results of his thoughts and decisions. Man’s freedom to think, to decide and to act in a right way or in a wrong way with the corresponding right or wrong consequences, is governed by a general law called karma. General laws like gravity, are independent of our free wills. When we jump, even if we do not like to fall down, the general law of gravity which is independent of our free will, makes us fall down. We cannot do anything about the law of gravity.
Similarly, when we do bad things, even if we do not like something bad to happen to us, the general law of karma operates in such a way that something bad will also happen to us a result of our bad thoughts and actions. The opposite is also true. When we do good things, whether we desire or not, something good will also happen to us as a result of our good thoughts and actions.
This article intends to discuss a few basic aspects of the law of karma, particularly in relation to the phenomena of sex, love and happiness. The information and knowledge I share here is a result of my own direct investigation.
II. A Few General Laws Governing Life and The Universe
A. The General Law of Interrelatedness
In my first book, Notes on Life and Learning Lessons, Chapter 24, “On What is Right and Wrong,” specifically discusses two general laws governing life and the universe. The two general laws discussed are the law of interrelatedness and the law of continuous development. On the law of interrelatedness, I discussed the following main points in that chapter:
a) some aspects of the essential interrelatedness of the various parts and systems of our body in relation to our physical health;
b) some aspects of a person’s essential interrelatedness to other members of the family, to the community and to our society;
c) some aspects of man’s essential interrelatedness to nature.
In summary, we see that everything is related to everything in various ways and in varying degrees. In a real sense, everything is a part of something and that something in turn is a part of a larger thing. This interrelatedness, this interconnectedness of a small thing to a bigger thing goes on indefinitely.
As you develop morally, as you progress spiritually, as you see more and more the right way of looking at life and the right way of living life, the more you will realize and feel this fundamental truth of interrelatedness of everything. At a certain high point of your moral and spiritual development, you will begin to know and feel what the Spiritual Teachers & Masters mean when they speak of “oneness with nature,” “international solidarity,” “the universal brotherhood/sisterhood of men/women,” “love and service for our fellowmen.”
In line with our topic on sex, love and happiness, I wish to discuss three of the major different aspects of man and the interrelatedness of these three different aspects to each other.
1. The Basic Aspects of Man and Its Interrelatedness. On the conscious level, we see man compose of three basic aspects - body, emotions and mind. On a general level, it is easy to see the interrelatedness of these three aspects. If the body is healthy, the person can think more clearly and feel better. If the body is sick, the person cannot think much and feel bad, irritable, sensitive, etc. If a person has too much emotional and mental stress, the body is also affected in many ways, depending on the inherited and/or acquired weaknesses of the body. Prolonged, intense psychological stress can lead to various physical ailments like asthma, enlarged heart, high blood pressure, etc. In the past few decades, science has uncovered more and more the truth regarding the significant effects of the emotions and the mind on the health of the body.
Even on simple physical exercises, enthusiasts and experts in the last few years have realized the importance of what they call, “body-mind” exercises. Such kind of exercises, like the “yoga” from India and the “tai-chi” from China, combines the concentration of the mind to the movements of the body, so one “feels and thinks” about the slow, flowing physical exercises. This is in contrast to the purely repetitive physical exercises practiced before.
Indeed, these three basic aspects of man are so interrelated that a good or bad activity on one aspect affects significantly the other two aspects in a positive or negative way. Thus, man should also be conscious and careful of his emotional and mental health.
In relation to the topic sex, love and happiness, I wish to discuss only in a general way, the interrelationships of these things to the three basic aspects of man discussed above. The next article, “On The Right way of Looking at Sex, Love and Happiness” would discuss this topic in a more comprehensive way.
2. The Lower Nature and The Higher Nature of
To be more exact, such “survival mechanisms” are true only for the lower nature of man which is composed of his physical body, the lower aspect of his emotions as well as the lower aspect of his mind that has simple mental abilities usually referred to as “common sense.” This lower nature of man properly speaking, belongs to the “animal kingdom” where behavior is determined mainly by the physical instincts (e.g. hunger, thirst and sex), lower emotional impulses (e.g. lust, fear, aggressiveness, paternal and maternal feelings, possessiveness, jealousy, pride) and “common sense.” Man has another nature, a higher nature, which properly speaking, belongs to the “human kingdom” where behavior is determined mainly by the moral and spiritual qualities of his “soul”. The soul’s qualities manifests in higher emotional impulses (e.g. unselfish love and service to others, kindness, gentleness, sympathy, trust, respect, sense of honor, unselfish sacrifice for others) and higher mental abilities (e.g. abstract thinking, scientific thinking, theorizing, artistic creations).
The lower nature of man is geared towards the preservation of the individual life and the continuity of the human species as a whole. In this sense, the lower nature of man is basically selfish or self-oriented. The higher nature of man is geared towards making man more and more unselfish, more and more human in accordance with the nature of its “soul.” Here is where the “tension” lies within man. He has the free will to decide whether to follow his lower “animal instincts,” which is much easier to do or to follow his higher “human nature”, control, master and thereby guide correctly his lower nature which is much harder to do.
Following one’s animal nature without control can be seen in gluttony, i.e., eating too much food. We can see this in people having sex simply for lust. Such a behavior means that one’s lower animal nature has prevailed upon, has dominated one’s higher human nature.
Following one’s “human nature” means to have sufficient control of our animal nature and to eventually master it so we could use our lower nature in the right way. Thus, for instance, to control the instinct of hunger and to use it in the right way means to eat the right amount of food as well as the right kind of food. To control the instinct of sex and to use of it in the right way means to engage in sex only to express one’s love for another. Only animals have sex to simply satisfy their sexual instincts. Man, being different from animals, being above the animals, should have sex only when there is love and love means, among many other important things, trust, respect, long term commitment, responsibility and sacrifice. Thus, sex with prostitutes, “one-night stand”, casual sex, “cheap sex thrills”, “sex trips”, are all wrong.
Some religious people believe that sex is bad, that people should not think about it nor discuss it. Some even think that its only justification is to have children so as to continue the human race. Such views are wrong. Sex is a part of our nature just like our head, body, arms and legs. It serves a very useful, even a good purpose. We can misuse our heads, feet and hands to harm people, or use it properly to develop ourselves and help other people. The same it is with sex. We can misuse sex and abuse someone or we can use it properly to show our love for someone and help him develop emotionally, mentally, morally and spiritually. The point is the right way of looking at something and correspondingly, the right use of something. Whenever we misuse our bodies, emotions and mind, we get bad karma. Similarly, whenever we use properly our bodies, emotion and minds, we get good karma.
B. The General Law of Continuous Development
In my first book, mentioned earlier, in the same chapter where I discussed the law of interrelatedness. I also discussed the law of continuous development. In summary, I discussed in that chapter some important ideas connected with the following:
a) The connection between evolution and creation. Evolution, as explained by
b) The continuous physical development of man along with his emotional, mental and spiritual development. I cited examples of situations where such developments are stopped and even destroyed like in the case of “dictatorial”, abusive selfish husbands and “dictatorial”, abusive, cruel fathers” who destroy the emotional, mental and spiritual development of the people they are suppose to love and take good care of;
c) The continuous development of societies, with such development primarily due to the struggles of the exploited and oppressed peoples for the truly just and humane society.
If I may quote from my first book summarizing this law, “Everything from the simplest atom to the most complicated organism which is man, is in a ceaseless flow of movement from the simple to the complex, from the lower to the higher, from the crude to the finer forms of life.”
The evolution of life can be summarized in this way: from the mineral kingdom, to the plant kingdom, to the animal kingdom and finally to the human kingdom. Man stands as the highest being in the world today. The purpose of life then, in relation to the law of continuous development, is to continuously develop ourselves emotionally, mentally, morally and spiritually to become fully human. This means that our higher nature must have more and more control over our lower nature. Correspondingly, we should overcome more and more our “survival mechanisms,” our selfish instincts, impulses and “common sense” so that eventually, we would become more and more unselfish, reflecting our higher human nature.
Specifically, in relation to our topic, this means that we should have more and more control over our sexual instincts, over our lower emotional impulse of lust and over simplistic wrong views - like men are naturally polygamous, etc. We should strive more and more to develop our higher emotional feelings of unselfish love, respect, trust, kindness, gentleness, etc. for our special love-partner, as well as deepen our knowledge and understanding of the right way of looking at life, at love, at sex, and other related things.
The next article, “On the Right Way of Looking at Sex, Love and Happiness” would further elaborate on this general law. Suffice to point out in this article that wrong, bad actions, the misuse and abuse of our bodies, emotions and minds resulting in bad karma, make us retrogress, make us move backwards in the evolutionary schema. We move backwards into becoming more and more like an animal. The more we behave like an animal, the more we get bad karma.
The opposite is also true. Right, good actions, the right uses of our bodies, emotions and minds resulting in good karma, make us progress, make us move forward in the evolutionary schema. We move forward becoming more fully human. The more we behave like a true human being, the more we get good karma.
III. The General Law of Karma
Man* has a free will to decide whether to do the right thing, i.e., to do good or to do the wrong thing, i.e., to do bad. Any kind of thought and action, whether right or wrong, good or bad serves as a cause with the corresponding effects. The effects have the following two results, one of which is immediate while the other result is long term. Let us discuss first the immediate effect.
A. The Immediate Effects of Karma
1. Effects on Our Knowledge of Right and Wrong. The immediate result/effect has to do with the person’s knowledge of right and wrong. In turn, such knowledge immediately affects the person’s sense of right and wrong. Let me cite two examples to elaborate.
Example # 1: Cheating in Exams
Let us consider a grade school student, with a relatively good family background where he was taught the good values of honesty and integrity. Consider a situation where he failed to study well for an exam. He* sees some students cheating in the exam and so he thinks that while cheating is wrong and bad, he decides to cheat also because first, he was not prepared for the exam and second, some students are cheating anyway. He thinks cheating is wrong and feels “bad and guilty”, but he rationalizes it thinking that he will do it
____
(*) the word “man” is used in a generic way, i.e., it refers to homo sapiens sapiens, whether male or female.
only once and that he will not do it again. He gets away with his first cheating and gets good grades. If his parents or classmates ask him about the exam, he will have a difficulty looking at them straight in the eyes and tell that he did good.
Then, a similar situation arises again where he was not prepared for an exam. He thinks of cheating once more. This time, he rationalizes it thinking that it is alright to cheat provided that it is only once in a while. He still feels “bad and guilty” about
cheating but such feeling is now less than before. He gets away with it again and gets good grades again. After cheating repeatedly for sometime and getting away with it, he will reach a point where he will think that it is actually not wrong to cheat as long as you are not caught.
At this point, his knowledge of right and wrong has completely been reversed. After doing something wrong repeatedly, he now sees a right as wrong and a wrong as right. Furthermore, at this point, he no longer feels “bad and guilty” about cheating. He can look straight in the eyes of his parents and/or classmates and tell them that he made good in the exams.
The opposite of course is also true. The more a person does not cheat, the more he has a clearer knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. Consequently, the more he will have a keener sense of what is right and what is wrong.
Example # 2: Cheating on One’s Wife
Let us now consider a married man who also relatively had a good family background on the values of loyalty and honesty to a special love-partner. Consider a situation where his friends would ask him to come along and have “a good time”, i.e., to go to a nightclub/bar and watch young women undress. On his first time, he would think that it is wrong and bad to go to such places but then, he would only go there because of “pakikisama” as well as “just once”. His friends would tell him that he is a good friend for going out with them and that he is “a real man.” Afterwards, he will feel “having a good time” although he also feels it is wrong and bad. He rationalizes it again by thinking that anyway, he was only watching the young women undress. He did not do anything more than that.
If his wife asks where he has been, he would tell a lie and would find it hard to look at his wife straight in the eyes while lying. The second time he goes to such places, he will feel less “bad and guilty” in going to such places and he will feel having “more good time”. Chances are, he will now have one of the young women he had been watching (young prostitutes are now called “guest-relations-officers”, GRO for short) sitting beside him.
After repeatedly going to such places, he will reach a point where he no longer sees going to such places as wrong. Later, he will not just “dine-in” a GRO but “take out” a GRO. By then, he will believe that it is actually the nature of man to be polygamous, i.e., men are really like that, they cannot stick to one woman. He would even think that it is necessary to go out with other women occasionally because he needs to “taste another kind of food” so as not to be fed up “eating the same kind of food everyday.” He will gradually lose his respect for his wife, looking at his wife more and more like a kind of food. His relationship with his wife will become more and more shallow as he concentrates more and more on the physical body of his wife. He then thinks more and more about how to make himself sexually satisfied only. In the sexual act, he will behave more and more in a crude way, in a rough way, minding less and less if his wife is getting hurt or not. He becomes less and less concerned if his wife is getting sexually and emotionally fulfilled or not.
When his wife asks him where he has been late at night, he will be able to tell a lie while looking at his wife straight in the eyes. At this point, he will believe that cheating on his wife is not wrong, that it is right as long as he is not caught. He also no longer feels “bad and guilty” about what the wrong thing he is doing. In fact, he will feel “good and great” having other women besides his wife, believing it adds to his manliness. Again, at this point, his knowledge of right and wrong has been completely reversed. He now sees cheating on his wife, having other women besides his wife as normal, as natural, as something good and right. He now sees men who are loyal and honest to their good wives as abnormal, unnatural, as something wrong. He thinks that such men are missing a lot in their lives by not having so much fun with other women. He will even think that such men are being controlled by their wives like henpecked husbands.
The opposite of course is also true. The more a man becomes loyal and honest to his good wife, the more he sees and appreciates the ideas, the feelings, the character of his good wife. His love for his good wife deepens and he thinks more and more on how to make his wife happy. In the sexual act, he will behave more and more in a gentle manner, minding more and more if his wife is getting sexually and emotionally fulfilled or not.
Such is the immediate effect of karma on our knowledge of what is right and wrong as well as on our feeling of, our sense of right and wrong.
2. Having A Holistic View of Our Character. In consideration of the general law of the interrelatedness of all things, every time we do one major good or bad thing like in the examples given, it affects our entire way of looking at life, our entire way of using things and our entire way of relating with people. A person who repeatedly cheats in the exam and has reached that point where he believes cheating is right as long as you are not caught, this wrong idea will also affect the way he relates to his parents, brothers and sisters, friends, girlfriend, etc. He will eventually tend to also cheat and lie to other people. Our minds and hearts are not totally compartmentalized where we can do one wrong thing in one area of our life and not let it affect other areas of our lives. It is not like that. The general law of interrelatedness, of interconnectedness would operate whether we think about it or not, whether we like it or not. While we have many different roles and activities in life, we only have one mind and one heart. So, one role or activity that we do automatically affects other roles and activities that we do, although the effect has varying degrees on other activities. Indeed, what we do in one area of our life affects sooner or later, other areas of our lives. The effects of regular cheating of a student playing basketball might be minimal but gradually he will also tend to cheat in other games. Then this very wrong idea of cheating would also have effects on the way he relates with his family, friends, neighbors, girlfriend, etc. as he will gradually learn also lie and cheat to these people.
3. Spiritual Love vis-à-vis Sexual Lust. Every time a person thinks of and does a good thing, his knowledge of right and wrong increases, his spiritual wisdom increases and his sense of right and wrong becomes sharper. Accordingly, he also increases his spiritual will, his moral courage to do what is right. Then, his love for others becomes more and more unselfish, less and less physically and sexually oriented. The most unselfish, purest and highest kind of love is spiritual love, a deep spiritual bond between two or more Souls. Spiritual love for a special love-partner may or may not use sex to express love, depending on the circumstances. If one or both of them already have commitments, i.e., one or both of them already have boyfriends/girlfriends or are already married, then spiritual love only remains in the heart and mind with no physical, sexual contact. Spiritual love respects the circumstances and will not do anything to wreck a certain relationship especially when the person is already married nor will it wreck the life of a single uncommitted person. In fact, a person who has spiritual love for another who is already committed will help his love one to be a better boyfriend/girlfriend or a husband/wife while a married person who has spiritual love for a single person will help that person find the right man/woman to love. Spiritual love is primarily concerned with the other person’s right kind of happiness. Spiritual love is also focused on helping the love one on becoming a better person like becoming a better boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, father/mother, etc. Indeed, the right kind of happiness of the loved one is also the happiness of the spiritually mature loving person. The moral and spiritual growth of the loved one is of outmost importance to the spiritually mature loving person.
The opposite is also true. Every time a person thinks and does a bad thing, his knowledge of right and wrong decreases, he becomes more confused about what is right and wrong. His sense of right and wrong also becomes more dull. Accordingly, his spiritual will to do what is right weakens. Then, his love for others becomes more and more selfish, more and more physically and sexually oriented, more and more based on sexual lust. For humans, the lowest kind of love is one based purely on physical attraction, on sexual instincts, on sexual desires very similar to the sexual desires and instincts of animals. The crudest and lowest kind of selfish love is commonly called lust, a mere sexual attraction between two bodies and nothing more.
Thus, we must always be very careful of what we think and do because our thoughts and actions affect our knowledge and sense of right and wrong. Accordingly, such thoughts and actions mold our character.
B. The Long Term Effects of Karma
The other effect has to do with “rewards or punishments” in the long run. Whenever we do a bad thing, we release something like a negative, bad psychic force that travels somewhere “up there” and it comes back to us like a boomerang. Similarly, whenever we do something good, we release a positive, good psychic force that also travels somewhere “up there” and then it comes back to us also like a boomerang.
The amount of time that is required for the negative or positive psychic force to come back to us depends on many factors. One important factor has to do with the degree or intensity of the good or bad things we did. In general, as the seriousness of the good or the bad thing we did increases, the shorter is the time required for the psychic force to come back. Usually it takes a few or some decades for the psychic force to come back to us. If the positive or negative psychic force does not come back to us within our lifetime, it will come back to us in the next life, when we reincarnate again.
The kind of “punishment or reward” that we get depends on what aspect/s of the person did we maltreat and/or what aspects of our being we did misuse. The amount of “punishment or reward” depends on the degree, intensity, seriousness of the good thing or bad thing we do. By aspects of the person I refer to whether it is the physical aspect and/or the emotional and/or mental aspect and/or economic well-being. Let me give a few examples to elaborate.
Example # 1: On Rape
Rape, a very savage, brutal act of a man over a woman, affects all aspects of a woman. The rapist first of all, violates and inflicts great pain on the woman’s body. Then, the rapist inflicts deep pain and violence to the woman’s emotions and mind. Rape is a heinous crime where the man does a great amount of violence to the woman physically, emotionally and mentally. Rape is an example where the man’s lower animal nature has completely overcome, totally dominated his higher human nature.
The long term effect, taking a few or some decades to hit back the rapist, of a very bad karma, generally goes this way: the rapist would first experience serious damage to his body which could be a serious disease like cancer. This corresponds to the damage the rapist first did to the victim’s body. Since the rapist first violated, destroyed the woman’s body, consequently, the karma would first hit and destroy his body. Then, the cancer or whatever kind of damage to the body, will entail a lot of pain for the rapist. This corresponds to the deep emotional and mental pain the victim next experienced. Whether the rapist will survive or not depends on many other factors. Suffice to point out that the law of karma is such that whatever aspect/s you violate in the other person, it will comeback to you in the corresponding aspect/s of your being.
Example # 2: A Woman Gold-digger
There was once a mother who asked me about the rare disease of her daughter. The mother told me that her daughter, then in her early teens, has this kind of disease whereby a wound would just come out in her daughter’s body anywhere. The wound would then gradually worsen and have pus on it. Finally, a few weeks after, it would get well leaving a bad scar behind. Her daughter by then had many scars in her body. The doctors she approached told her they do not know much about such a rare disease. When I checked it with her Spiritual guides and Higher Self, I was informed that it was the result of her bad karma.
In her last past life, she used her body to fool men. She was a gold-digger who destroyed the lives of good men. Since she misused her physical beauty, correspondingly the karma is such that the disease now is gradually scarring her physical body. Other aspects of her life, specifically her financial status would also be negatively affected in due time as part of her bad karma for destroying financially the men she fooled.
If I may explain briefly who and what Spiritual guides are, Spiritual guides are the souls of people who were once close to a certain person in our world because at least once in that person’s past lives, these spiritual guides were either his good parents, good brothers/sisters, good close friends, etc. Since it is not yet the souls’ time to go back into this physical world, they volunteer to guide people who were once close to them. The Higher Self of a person is that spiritual entity which is a part of our SOUL - our Highest Real Self - that also guides us. The Higher Self is nearer to the common concept of “the inner conscience”, the inner voice that tells us what is right and what is wrong.
Example # 3: Men Playing with Women
Many men nowadays play with women’s lives. Such men look at women like sex objects, like an additional sex gadget they could use to make them sexually gratified. Such men are generally called playboys. Such men abuse women physically and psychologically, though not in the violent way like the rapists. Their karma is such that they would generally lose the vital energies of their bodies at a faster rate, especially in their fifties and sixties. This corresponds to the abuses they made on the bodies of women. Such rapid loss of their vital energies, of their “inner” physical strength in their fifties would also make them suffer psychologically, especially so since they measure their manliness in terms of their physical, sexual strength and not in terms of the amount of goodness they have done. Of course, as they have wrong outlook on women, they generally live superficial, restless, unhappy lives.
The opposite is again true. Men, who generally have a good character, who respect a women’s body, feelings and ideas, maintain and reinforce their vital energies, growing old more slowly and more gracefully.
Example # 4: A Businesswoman Fooling Her Partners
There was once a case of a woman who approached me regarding a business problem. She felt “very unlucky” for she could not get deals or promotions that she felt she should have gotten. She told me she feels it is no longer just a matter of being “very unlucky” but that, she feels it must be some sort of bad karma. However, she told me she has not done something very wrong in business so far. When I checked it with her Spiritual guides, I found out that in her last past life, she was also a businesswoman. She had business partners then and they put up a sort of advertising firm. There was one big potential client that approached their office one day and inquired. She was the one who talked with the potential client. To cut a long story short, she got the big contract but she did not inform her business partners. Eventually she made a lot of money for herself alone and later quit the partnership. She put up her own advertising firm. The long term effect of her bad karma came back to her in this life. Those many cases of “business opportunities” and “career opportunities” that she “unluckily” did not get was her bad karma. Again, since her wrongdoing had to do with her financial dealings, the karma also correspondingly affected her in this lifetime in her financial dealings.
C. Spiritual Advancement and The Spiritual Brotherhood.
When you continuously do a lot of good things, you will reach a certain high level of spiritual development such that you will have the right to be helped by Higher Spiritual Beings and/or Members of the Spiritual Brotherhood. Such Beings/Members will then help you in some ways to lighten your burden or improve your personal and social situation. You will have less and less troubles as you do more and more good things. Consequently, you get more and more good karma.
The Spiritual Brotherhood is an organization of people, both down her and “ up there” who have reached what I would estimate to be the college level of the
The opposite is also true. When you continuously do a lot of bad things, you will go down to a certain very low level of spiritual development such that you will be reached by the very evil influences of the “Forces on the Dark Side”. Then you will have more and more serious troubles, more and more bad karma.
D. Karma vis-à-vis Society’s Justice System.
The law of karma is different from our justice system or how things simply work out in this world because of the laws of society and interactions with people. When a person does a criminal act, our justice system works to catch the criminal, to give him due process and eventually to convict him and put him in jail. This is quite similar to the way karma works because karma is something like “automatic justice” which no one escapes because any good or bad act you do automatically releases a good or bad psychic force which boomerangs on you no matter where you are. But this is not part of the general law of karma itself. A few obvious differences are: a) in our justice system, some criminals are not caught and thus, do not pay for their crimes; b) some criminals are caught but because of their power and/or money, they get away again; c) the punishments and rewards involved are different.
Thus, in accordance with the law of karma, a criminal who is not caught by our justice system will still be punished by bad karma, though in a different way. A criminal caught and punished by our justice system, will still be punished by bad karma. The law of karma is different from and independent of our justice system.
Similarly, if we are kind, honest, friendly, helpful to others and they in turn reciprocate by being also kind, honest, friendly and helpful to us, though it is quite similar to karma, it is not part of the general law of karma. Such reciprocity is simply the act of free wills of people whom we interact with. Karma is like the law of gravity which is independent of our free wills unlike the reciprocity mentioned which is dependent on the free wills of the persons concerned.
IV. Three Common Questions About Karma
There are few misconceptions about the general law of karma which I would like to clarify.
A. Karma as Non-Transferable
Some people usually ask me this: if the father is bad, i.e., the father is a womanizer, can the father’s bad karma transfer to his daughter/s? If karma cannot be transferred, why is it that in some cases, daughters of womanizing fathers end up with the wrong kind of men?
The immediate as well as the long term effects, of the general law of karma are non-transferable. Since it is the person himself that releases the positive or negative psychic force, it will only come back to him. The psychic force never misses its target. In line with the concept of karma as “automatic justice”, it is only right that the punishment or reward goes to the person himself who did the act. It is wrong, it is very unjust to let somebody suffer for the errors, for the crimes of another person. Thus the general law of karma would not affect the daughters of a womanizing father.
The reason why some daughters of womanizing fathers end up with the wrong kind of men is simply because their fathers failed to teach them how to choose the right kind of man to love and marry. The relationship between a father and a daughter, between parents and children in general is essentially a relationship between a teacher and his students. The children learn from the words and actions of their parents. A bad teacher correspondingly teaches the wrong ideas and bad values to his students. A womanizing father, showing himself as a wrong and bad example, wrongly teaches his daughter that it is normal to have a boyfriend or a husband who will fool around once in a while. Thus, some daughters end up with the wrong kind of men to love.
It is not automatic that if the father is bad, the children will also grow bad. There is a saying that “kung ano ang puno, siya rin ang bunga” i.e., the fruit of a tree depends on the tree itself. A coconut tree cannot but bear coconut fruits. The example looks good but it is not accurate. Man, as a human being is different from trees and all other living creatures because he has a higher mind and a free will. His higher mind allows him to analyze what is right and what is wrong. His free will gives him the choice either to do the right thing or the wrong thing.
A good teacher will teach right ideas and good values to his students. However, his students may or may not follow his good teachings and good example. Some of his students will follow his good teachings while some will not, preferring to do wrong, bad things. One of the best Spiritual Teachers, Jesus Christ, had one disciple, Judas who, in spite of all Jesus’ excellent teachings, decided to do something very seriously bad.
A bad teacher like the womanizing father, will teach wrong ideas and bad values to his students. However, his students may or may not follow his bad teachings and bad example. Some students, because they have matured morally and spiritually, will realize the wrong, bad effects of such wrong ideas and bad values. Thus, they will not follow their teacher’s bad example and bad teachings. Such people have for instance experienced how their womanizing fathers have neglected them and have brought great suffering to their mother. Such realization will make them decide not to have such kind of man to love. Some, because they have not matured morally, spiritually, will simply follow the teacher’s bad teachings and bad example. Many sons of womanizing fathers also become womanizers.
Thus, the saying, “kung ano ang puno, siya rin ang bunga”, is not always true. It is only sometimes true because character is not inherited. Character is formed by one’s ideas and values in life. As a person practices his ideas and values, his character is being molded correspondingly. If a man believes in the wrong idea that it is normal for men to womanize and treat women like sex objects, he develops a bad character that is dishonest, unfaithful, lustful. If a man believes in the right idea that men should treat women equally, should respect them as fellow human beings, he develops a good character that is honest, faithful, respectful, caring and loving. Such ideas and values are first taught by the parents who serve as the children’s first teachers.
It is a sad fact that a child’s mind has very little ability yet to distinguish between right and wrong. Thus, a bad father can have a terrible bad influence on his children. But there are other influences that can and do contradict the wrong teachings of a bad father. An older good brother/sister, a good uncle or auntie, a good neighbor, a good friend, a good teacher in school, can teach children the right ideas and good values that will counter what their bad father is teaching. To some extent, even good past lives where a person has learned much what is right and wrong can do and also help a child distinguish in his/her present life what is right and wrong. Thus, some children can still develop the ability to see the difference between right and wrong. Correspondingly, some children can decide not to follow the wrong teachings and practices of their bad father.
In my study of life and society, in my exposure to many types of characters of people, my observation is that the childhood years, the formative years of a person’s life is very important to the formation later of the person’s basic character and personality. The childhood years is like the foundation of the building. A good, strong foundation is very important for a person to grow up with a strong and good character while a bad, weak foundation is disastrous for a person’s growth. Nonetheless, while the childhood years is a very important stage, there are also other important influences after the childhood years that would strongly influence his further growth. It is wrong to make a judgment on a person’s character simply on the basis of his childhood experiences and/or family background. Indeed, a bad, weak foundation can be changed, restructured and reinforced though it is really harder while a good, strong foundation can also collapse.
B. The Effects of Karma Cannot Be Avoided
Is there anything we can do to avoid the effects of bad karma? If we do good things, can the effects of the good karma erase or prevent the effects of bad karma?
With regard to the immediate effects of karma on the person’s knowledge of right and wrong as well as on his sense of right and wrong, doing good things would immediately also have a direct, positive effect. Correcting a mistake, starting with seeing one’s faults and then feeling truly sorry and making up for it, would immediately make more clear to the person what is right and what is wrong and sharpen his feeling of, his sense of right and wrong.
However, with regard to the long-term negative effects of bad karma, there is nothing else we can do. Like any other general laws, it just take its course, it just operates impersonally. It is like when you jump, there is nothing you can do not to fall because the law of gravity takes its course.
There is however something we can do to minimize its bad long term effects. We should learn to accept the wrong effects of something bad that we have done. We should feel truly sorry for the wrong things we have done. In this way, it sort of lightens the bad effects and we stop the possibility of repeating the mistake and getting again the same karma. It is like when we fall due to the law of gravity, we can fall hard or we can roll with the fall. Accepting the wrong effects and truly feeling sorry for the wrong things we have done is like rolling with the fall and thereby lightening the impact of the fall.
When we do good things and get good karma, while it cannot erase or prevent the wrong effects of bad karma, such good karma heals faster whatever damages the bad effects of bad karma had done. However, more importantly, we should strive to think of and do good things primarily not to get good karma but because thinking of and doing good things is simply the right thing to do. When we think of and do good things to get good karma, there is selfishness and such selfish motivation lessens much the good effects of good karma.
C. Karma is Only One of the Possible Causes of Important Events in One’s Life
A woman, in her early thirties, once said to me, “I have had three boyfriends who fooled me. I have a good friend in her late twenties who had cancer and some months after, died. Another friend of mine, a basically good person, recently lost her job. She was included in the retrenchment policy of the company she used to work with. Are these events part of the law of karma?”
The law of karma, the law of cause and effect, is only one of the possible causes of good or bad things happening to us. One of the main causes why women make the mistake of choosing bad boyfriends is simply not knowing the right criteria or having a wrong criteria in choosing a good boyfriend. Many women primarily choose a boyfriend because the man is handsome or intelligent or rich only to find out later that the man is dishonest, have other girlfriends and/or the man leaves her after “using” her. A man with a bad character consequently uses his good looks and/or intelligence and/or wealth to fool women. Thus, character is the most important criteria in choosing a good boyfriend. A man with a good character will not play with women, he will respect a woman’s body, feelings and ideas, he will have a word of honor, will be truthful and loyal. Many women today are confused about the right criteria because the mass media teaches people to value money, looks and intelligence, much more than character.
Another possible common cause is if the woman knows the right criteria, she misjudged the character of the man she chose to love. Many men talk good and act good when they are courting a woman but they actually have bad intentions rooted in their bad character.
As far as the effects of karma are concerned, there is no such thing as having a bad boyfriend as a karma. As I have discussed earlier in this article, having a bad boyfriend cannot be due to the effects of karma because the effects has to do with one’s own body, emotions, mind and/or livelihood/economic situation. If a woman fooled men, the negative karmic effects on the woman will focus on her own physical and/or psychological health and/or economic status. Physically, her life-energies, her physical strength will dissipate faster than normal especially when she reaches her early fifties. The fast dissipation is also due to the psychological stress, the tension she will feel as the effect of fooling men. It is a wrong understanding of the effects of karma that if someone fools someone, someone will also similarly fool him or her in turn. Of course, if a person fools a lot of people, it is very possible that one of the people he/she fooled will take revenge on him/her. If you treat people badly, they will consequently treat you badly but this is just a common natural reaction and is not part of karma for the effects of karma affects only the person involved. Karma does not and cannot direct the free will of another person to decide how to treat another person.
Getting sick, like having cancer, can have other causes aside from karma. It can be due to any of the following causes: 1) being infected by contagious diseases like AIDS, STD’s, tuberculosis, etc.; 2) Sickness can also be genetically inherited. There are no perfect bodies. The physical body that we inherited from our parents have strengths and weaknesses; 3) A wrong diet or lack of nutritious food, prolonged exposure to chemicals, smoking, lack of rest, sleep or exercise can also make us sick; 4) Emotional and/or mental stress can lead to psychosomatic illnesses which later can lead to actual physical illness. The right thing to do is when we get sick for whatever cause including karma, we should simply see a doctor and get the right treatment. I have only encountered very, very few illnesses that are caused by karma simply because only a few people compared to the general population, intentionally and seriously harm others.
Losing a job is caused by social factors. Because of the Asian financial crises and the inevitable intensification of competition among capitalists worldwide due to globalization, many Asian firms lose in the global competition and have to close down or become “junior partners” of the winning firms. Thus, retrenchment is inevitable. In losing a good job, we simply have to acknowledge the bad economic situation we are now in and try to look for another job, even with less pay because there are few jobs available in the market today.
Another common cause of good or bad events is pure and simple accidents. People drown, get burned, get hit by cars simply because of carelessness and/or accidents. Victims of crimes are simply victims of evil plans and actions of people who freely willed to do evil. There is no karma involved.
Remember, karma is only one of the possible causes of important events in one’s life. In fact, it is rarely the cause of important events in one’s life because few people in relation to the general population, commit really bad or really good actions that would bring about really good or bad effects later in accordance with the law of karma.
IV. Endnotes
There are certain laws governing life. All aspects of life follow certain laws. These laws are there partly to put order, balance and harmony in nature, in life and in the universe. You must know, understand and use properly these laws to have order, balance and harmony in your life. You cannot and should not go against these laws. If you decide to go against these laws, you harm yourself, you get into a lot of troubles.
You must continuously study and understand the two basic laws of interrelatedness and of continuous development. The law of interrelatedness would make you see the many important aspects of man namely, a) that he is an essential part of the family, community, society and the world, that he is intimately connected to his fellowmen; b) that he is a part of nature and not apart from nature; c) that he has, on the conscious level, 3 basic parts - physical, emotional, mental - and that these 3 basic parts are divided into his lower animal nature and his higher human nature. Such dual nature of man results in a “tension”, in a choice to either follow his lower, selfish, animal, physical instincts, lower emotional impulses and simple “common sense” or to follow his higher, unselfish human emotions and reflective thinking.
The law of continuous development would make you see that as everything moves forward, the goal of man is to become more and more human. This would mean that man must strive more and more to control, overcome and master his lower nature and develop further his higher nature. In the scheme of evolution, just as the human kingdom stands higher than the animal kingdom, there are other “kingdoms” beyond and above the human kingdom. Similarly, to such “higher” kingdoms belong those people who have controlled and mastered their lower nature, people who have complete spiritual wisdom, sufficient spiritual will to follow the will of The Father Above and sufficient unselfish love and service for his fellowmen. Such men and women have organized themselves sometime, … far, far back in time. They called their organization, The Spiritual Brotherhood. They have earned the right to be truly called, Sons and Daughters of The Father Above.
“Down here,” a child is called such because biologically, his/her genes comes from his/her parents. However, the child becomes truly and fully a child of his/her good parents if the child follows the good teachings of his/her good parents. By following the good teachings, by living a good life, the child is not just biologically the same with his/her parents but also the same emotionally, mentally, morally. The good parents can then say, “He/she is now truly, fully like us, a good person. We are proud of him/her.”
Each human being has a SOUL, the most precious gift from God, The Father Above. It is this SOUL that is made “in the image and likeness of God” and not the body. Having this SOUL automatically makes us children of God for its “spiritual genes” is made exactly like that of The Father. However, it is only when we firmly decide to think of and do good things, when we firmly decide to follow completely the will of The Father Above, then and only then do we become truly and fully Sons and Daughters of God, our Father Above. By then, we are not just children of God because of the spiritual genes of our SOUL but most importantly, because our emotions and minds are one with the will of our Father Above. The Father will then say, “He/She is now truly, fully my Son/Daughter. He/she has earned the right to be everything I am. I am very proud of him/her.”
You must know and understand the law of karma. In this way, you will know and understand why certain things happen the way they do. You will realize that indeed, “crime does not pay”, that the bad are punished and the good are rewarded. Such realization will make you strive to know what is right and wrong. Then, you will strive to do good and avoid evil. Then, there will be more and more order, balance and harmony in your life.
When you continuously develop your knowledge of right and wrong, when you continuously strengthen your will to do what is right, when you continuously deepen your love and service to others, you get closer to your higher nature and in turn, become closer to your Spiritual guides who can then help you more in your personal and social life.
At a certain level of your spiritual development, you will have earned the right to be helped by Higher Spiritual Beings, especially those who are Members of the Spiritual Brotherhood. Such Beings and/or Members of the Spiritual Brotherhood will then share with you their wisdom, love and moral support. They will be able to help you in resolving your important problems. They will show you how to correctly face the bad or good karma you got from this life as well as in other lifetimes.
You would also by then realize that you would do good and avoid evil not because of the rewards and punishments involved but because doing good and avoiding evil is simply the right thing to do for it will hasten your spiritual progress, you get closer and closer to your SOUL – your real, highest Self, to the Members of the Spiritual Brotherhood and to the Father Above. Even certain bad karma you have will sort of come sooner than scheduled for you to undergo and then leave behind.
Then, at a certain higher level of your spiritual development, you will consciously know the Spiritual Path and you will meet the Members of the Spiritual Brotherhood. Then, a whole new world, a whole new way of life awaits you. At that highest level, the general law of karma ceases to operate. As the law of continuous development dictates, you will have earned the right to be at the threshold of a new world, of a new kind of life beyond and above the human kingdom. You will have earned the right to go back to your original HOME and there you will find the Father waiting with open arms. Indeed, He was, is and will always be waiting for each and everyone of us to come back to Him.
Then, as you pass the final, most difficult tests, as you walk the final, hardest steps forward towards Home, you will have earned the right to embrace the Father Above. Then, as you are once more reunited with the Father, you will feel an indescribable joy, an immeasurable fulfillment.
As you will have graduated from the
Your final quest in this world will then be over!
Good luck to your new and much higher quest!
No comments:
Post a Comment