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Karma

© Ami McKay

The third law of motion states, "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." This is the physical manifestation of the law of Karma.

We have many ways of looking at the principle of Karma. Other 'rules' in various cultures seem to reflect the same message, that what we put out into the world is what we ultimately get back from the world. The Golden Rule is another example of this kind of belief. If we want to experience love, compassion and kindness from others, then we need to be putting forth love (unconditionally) into the Universe. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Seems like a very simple idea, and yet we often have trouble understanding it and even more difficulty with putting this idea into action. What holds us back from having a complete understanding of Karma in our lives?

Negative Karma

I'm sure you have heard people say things like: "he's got some BAD Karma," or " she deserves some good Karma in her life." Well, as much as we would like to be able to say what is good and what is bad, that's not really how Karma works. Our own personal judgment can actually taint karmic outcome rather than helping us to understand it.

Laurie desperately wanted to make a splash in her community's theater scene. She saw how tight knit the group was and felt like an outsider when it came to auditions and casting. She began to calculate how she might make more of an impact within the group. She thought that perhaps if she put great effort into doing personal favors for the organization then various members might begin to take her acting skills more seriously. She felt that 'one good turn' deserved another and that if she continually ran herself ragged trying to please everyone that eventually she would land bigger roles in some of the productions. She built up her expectations and in doing so, lost sight of how karma truly works.

After a couple of months of continually doing favors for members of the group, she found that she felt disappointed and used. She began to judge other members of the group and became tired of always serving the needs of others. She found her personal life slipping away and became bitter toward theater life. (Something for which she once had great passion) She began to ask herself where she went wrong.