After yesterday's post I started wondering what the ultimate purpose of life is. What are we actually here for? I had always supposed that our spiritual journeys were individual and that by completing them we were adding to the general collective good of humankind in a return to the Godhead. I used to believe in karma and reincarnation - but now I do not - rather I believe in Grace. However I do believe that reincarnation and karma may continue to exist for those who believe in the them. They will manifest for those who believe in them - but ultimately they are illusions. Those who believe will remain on the wheel simply because they believe there is a wheel. But to me ultimately the theory of karma is immoral.
I first came to reject the theory of karma because I had contact with ignorant and simple minded New Agers whose idea of it was so simplistic that they saw it in a linear sense and thought that if people were born disabled, ( for example), that they were being punished for bad deeds in a previous lifetime. I consider this an immoral philosophy for three reasons:-
(a) As Buddha said we cannot really know even if karma exists whether these people are being "punished" or whether they are Bodhisattvas come to help save humanity. Therefore do not judge. Take the compassionate view and help them with their pain.
(b) The assumption that bad deeds must be met with punishment in such an obscene way is in itself immoral. The way of Love forgives. People who commit wrongdoing need understanding and healing - not yet more pain. People do wrong because they are already in pain. Heaping more pain upon them never helped anyone. A brief look at our prison system confirms this. Prison doesn't heal people - in general it just creates better and more embittered criminals. If some people do go to prison and reform I would suggest this is in spite of, and not because of the prison, experience.
If we in our limited human view can see this - how could the Creator of the Universe which is Love put people through the horrors of the Holocaust to learn a "lesson"? The next time you come across someone who promulgates this view of karma examine them very carefully. I would suggest you will see a person with a vindictive personality which is then projected into and justified by their beliefs. As I have said "Show me what sort of God a person worships and you will see the state of their soul".
(c) This simplistic view of karma promotes a callous attitude personally and socially. It leads to situations like the Dalits of India who are treated as subhuman because they are considered outside the caste system because of their "karma". If you believe someone is responsible for their lives and they deserve and believe in karma you will hardly want to help them - because they got what they deserved through they application of some morally neutral "law". On the other hand if you acknowledge that we are all wrongdoers and that Evil exists in the Universe and that because of this some people suffer injustice that is not of their own doing you are more likely to be compassionate and to want to help them. If you go further than that and realise that sometimes people are responsible for their own situations, (because of what you have observed of their situation in this life) but forgive them anyway and want treat them with Love then you will be at one with the Mind of God. Indeed you may help them get off the illusory wheel and help them move into the experience of God which is Grace.
In short you will be helping them Return to the Garden.
More will follow on this subject.......
Remember I love you all so,
Until next time,
Blessed be,
KK.
