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The Law of Karma
According to the Buddhist teachings, the law of karma says that for everything you do there is a result. Or as they say, for every cause there is an effect. This effect could be good or bad, depending on the cause.
Therefore, what the law of karma is telling us is that we all are responsible for our actions in some form or fashion. What we do or the actions we take will result in some form of result.
An example of this could be if we do a good deed for someone; the effect is kindness towards the person receiving the good deed. Another example is that if we think bad thoughts of someone, our thinking will reflect in our actions, which will result in us either doing harm to that person, or saying something bad, which could result in hurt feelings or resentment later.
But if we dwell on good, enhancing thoughts, we will only have the best of intentions and will treat the person, who is the center of our thoughts, with good will, hopefully resulting in a return of kindness of some type.
If the thoughts we have for someone else never materialized to the person (the person was not available to receive the actions), what would happen is that those thoughts would turn into feelings, but inward instead of outward. Therefore, these thoughts would stay buried deep inside ourselves until either we found a release somehow or we found the person the original thoughts were for, and give off those thoughts, whether good or bad. This would clear us of our thoughts, but the end result or effect could still be disastrous for the other person.
In order to live in peace and harmony with ourselves and the universe, we must live with positive energy, not negative. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This goes along with the Biblical text that states, "we reap what we sow". Therefore, what we produce or cause to occur we will get a result or effect.
The law of karma tells us that if we live in a body-consciousness, we are not pure in karma. For this level of consciousness only produces sexual lust, anger, greed, ego, and other negative emotions. Instead, we have to be linked with the Supreme Soul to have true karma, peace and harmony.
Understanding Karma
Previously it was described how the law of karma relates to cause and effect. But some people believe it relates to fate or predestination. However, this is not the case. Karma means action. It means to do something, but the action specified here is not mechanical action. It is not unconscious or involuntary action. It is an intentional, conscious, deliberate, willful action. How is this possible? It is because every action must, no matter what, have a reaction.
So, based on the law of karma, when we perform an act that is intentional, we reap the results or effect, either good or bad. Therefore, if we perform an act of kindness, the effect or result will be some kind of kindness.
There are times when you think of something you want, but you may not get what you want right away. This is because the universe does not know whether your thoughts are for good or for bad. So the universe may take time to figure it out first, then deliver what it thinks is closest to what you were thinking. But until the universe responds, the immediate cause (thought) could be either wholesome or unwholesome. The person will not know till the end result is accomplished.
According to karma, there are three doors of action. These three doors are body, speech, and mind. If we break these down into groups, we have three unwholesome actions we must avoid for each group. When we start with body, the three actions we must avoid are killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. As for speech, we must avoid four unwholesome actions. These are lying, slander, harsh speech, and malicious gossip. In the final group, which is mind, there are three unwholesome actions to avoid. These are greed, anger, and delusion.
If you avoid all ten unwholesome actions, you will avoid the consequences that result from doing them. The reason you need to avoid the unwholesome actions is that they only cause suffering for those who are the recipients of the actions.
This is why those who do bad things continue to do bad things. In their minds, this is all they know. The reason people act and think the way they do is directly related to their thoughts.
Those who are good and upright people, and practice this on an everyday basis, always have good coming back to them.
The old saying "what goes around comes around" is very true. This is also part of the laws of attraction and karma. To accept these laws, you accept the universal laws as set up by the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. Act in harmony with them and you will do well; act against them and you will suffer.
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