Theos-Talk Archives (May 1995 Message tl00015)

Its always seemed to me as though the "Law" of Karma doesn't need
to be taken into account at all in questions of behaviour.
First, because its one of those things that seems straightforward
when looked at in broad, general terms, but seems absolutely
unknowable when minutely analyzed ...  does (for instance)
*every* thought, feeling or action have a *precise* reaction, of
the same sort? of a different sort? or is it just general
patterns of behaviour and thought? is it *only* individual
actions, or is every member of every group somewhat subject to
the actions of that group? and if so, in what way, and to what
degree, and as defined by what parameters?

The larger reason, however, seems to boil down to this: If Karma
*does* exist as some sort of universal, natural law, it certainly
doesn't need us to try to "figure" it out in any way ...  to
reason, for instance, that one wishes to act in a situation, but
that one needs to somehow take the karma of another into account,
or somehow be careful about "taking on" someone else's karma
seems kind of ridiculous ....  *Gravity* is another "universal"
law, but it certainly doesn't need our complicity or cooperation,
and nothing would sound more foolish than one person believing
they could "take on" some portion of the gravitational force
"afflicting" another.

I suspect *no one in incarnation* is capable of possessing
anything other than speculations about "karma", or at least of
actually expressing anything other than partial hints at the
truth (if there is one) ...  as our whole language is deeply
embedded in assumptions about the nature of reality that may not
hold at all other than in the world constructed by our physical
brains ...  we assume, for instance, three dimensions of space,
one of time, and we try to understand "karma" within that
worldview, and with the assumption that the karmic agents (i.e.,
ourselves) are seperate, atomistic, discrete units ....  but
presume (for instance) that at anything other than the most
physical layers of consciousness, the karmic agents are
fundamentally collective in nature, and operating in spaces
containing far more dimensions of both space and time (and even
our modern physicists ...  a rather grounded bunch ..  cannnot
currently explain physical reality with anything less than 11
dimensions).

I suppose I believe that simply intending to act with clarity,
with justice, with compassion, i.e., according to the classical
virtues, and letting the law of Karma (whatever the devil it is)
operate in whatever fashion it operates is the best way of
approaching the subject ...  problem is, I've heard "karma" often
used as an *excuse* for inaction ...

-JRC