“My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I have to say I’m not sure to what extent I’m a believer in Karma, but it definitely is an interesting concept – let’s take a look.

(Warning: My understanding of what exactly we mean by Karma may change as I write this right before your very eyes!!)

Karma as a Replacement for Revenge

So we have all had thoughts of revenge at one point or another in our lives. If a colleague treats you badly at work, maybe you bad-mouth them to others as a kind of payback. Taking this concept to extremes you may even end up in an all-out war with a particular colleague, feel absolute hatred towards them and constantly fighting against them in one way or another – wishing them harm basically.

I do believe that in this case, you are also hurting yourself. resentment towards others can be very destructive as we’ve already written about here: Forgiveness: How To Forgive (and Why).

If instead you can let go of any anger and resentment (often easier said than done, I know), letting whatever conflict occurred ‘touch’ you as little as possible, then you will be better for it. In these cases, focus can give a small problem a very big shadow, so it is much better to move on. Let Karma take care of the rest – i.e. if you think someone has done you wrong, it is not your job to make them realise or pay for that, everyone is responsible for their own actions and for their consequences and eventually our actions catch up with all of us. That’s Karma, isn’t it?

Karma in Action or Karma as Action

There are plenty of examples out there of good deeds being rewarded (just as there are for bad behaviour). There is also something to be said for simply feeling a lot better about yourself when you behave well towards others.

For most people, it’s difficult to be bitter and angry and behave badly toward others whilst at the same time having fun and enjoying life, but being generally quite friendly and helpful toward others whilst having fun and enjoying life tend to go together much better.

So it seems so far and is also generally understood that Karma is a kind of balancing, something similar to yin and yang – that every force must have an equal and opposite counter-force. A universal law which means that things will come back to you one way or another – people who do good will sooner or later have good things happen to them as a result and people who do bad things will get payback sooner or later.

So Karma can be thought of as Action and Consequence with the ‘Universe’ taking care of the consequence being (or eventually being) matched to the action.

Except the true meaning of ‘Karma‘ is just the first part – Action. Obviously every action has a consequence but the original meaning of ‘Karma’ from its sanskrit origins is ‘Action’.

If Karma Exists, Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

If we think of Karma just meaning ‘Action’ then we accept that nature and the universe around us is less like a balance sheet of good and bad and basically a lot more random (which certainly makes sense to me).

This idea sits quite nicely with taking responsibility for our actions, mindfulness and living in the moment. Also, if we consider that all actions have consequences and a general philosophy around this idea of ‘Karma’ being more about giving more attention to (and taking responsibility for) our actions, then this also removes some of the mysticism around the age old question of why the ’cause and effect’ view of Karma isn’t actually correct – and why bad things sometimes happen to good people and vice versa.

The Story of The Chinese Farmer (Alan Watts)

Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer, whose horse ran away. And all the neighbors came around to commiserate that evening, “So sorry to hear your horse has ran away. That’s too bad.” And he said, “Maybe.”

The next day the horse came back, bringing seven wild horses with it, and everybody came around in the evening and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You’ve now got eight horses.” And he said, “Maybe.”

The next day his son tried to break one of these horses and ride it and was thrown and broke his leg. And they all said, “Oh, dear that’s too bad.” And he said, “Maybe.”

The following day the conscription officers came around to recruit to force people into the army and they rejected his son, because he had a broken leg. And all the people came around and said, “Isn’t that great.” And he said, “Maybe.”

The Importance of Context

I don’t write enough about the importance of context, but it is a key consideration in all things. Most things need to be considered in their environment, circumstances, with respect to their timing (what has gone before or what may come after) or place on a given scale.

Some time ago my wife commented to me about how rude someone had been to her and that they didn’t seem like a very nice person. I agreed that the behaviour described did seem very rude but pointed out that we didn’t know what else was going on in that persons life and maybe they weren’t always like that.

Context is really important and I think this relates to Karma, particularly looked at from Alan Watts’ point of view. Watts uses the Chinese farmer story to show that you never really know whether something is fortune or misfortune. He is describing an attitude of not thinking of things in terms of gain or loss, advantage or disadvantage, because you don’t really know.

Taoism

You have heard of Yin & Yang, right?

In Chinese (Taoist) philosophy, the two poles of cosmic energy are yang (positive) and yin (negative), associated with the masculine and the feminine, the firm and the yielding, the strong and the weak, the light and the dark, the rising and the falling, heaven and earth, and they are even recognized in such everyday matters as cooking as the spicy and the bland.

In western cultures there is a focus on opposites and conflict between these opposites, whereas Taoism is more concerned with balance. Light is not at war with darkness, they both simply exist. In western culture life vs death, good vs evil, positive vs negative… there is a tendancy and idealism around cultivating the former to combat the latter. In Eastern philosopy, these things exist together as part of a system and must be in balance.

We looked before at Karma from a ’cause and effect’ viewpoint – i.e. you reap what you sow and also from an ‘action’ viewpoint (the original sanskrit meaning of the word ‘Karma’). It is the latter of these two views that relates to Taoism.

The Taoist believes that to understand karma, you must understand that the universe is driven by choice and free will. Karma is the energy that powers choice.

Final Thought

Your choices matter.

It is easy to blame others or even circumstance and hence skip taking responsibilities for your choices and actions. This is Karma. Taking responsibility for our choices can only lead to good things. Taking responsibility for our choices and their consequences must lead to better choices. It also means taking action. Taking action can only be done in the present so should hopefully mean a more positive and mindful existence.

This in turn has something to do with our integrity and our values.

Here are some choices to ponder:

• “I can’t” vs “How Do I?”
• Asking vs Guessing
• Truth vs Lies
• Being True to Your values vs Cognitive Dissonance
• Facing Reality vs Avoiding Reality
• Afraid to Fail vs Failure as a path to Success
• Seeking Solutions vs Assigning Blame
• Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

Your choices and actions do have consequences. Own them, they’re yours. The good news is that in doing (and in paying attention) you will be better equipped to deal with everything that life throws at you.

Don’t see Karma as some mythical thing that you hope will reward your friends and punish your enemies. See it as Alan Watts sees it, as an energy in the here and now which connects us to the universe around us and teaches us that whilst we chart a course through life determined by our actions, we should also be mindful that what comes back to us is not necessarily good or bad, fortunate or unfortunate but should be seen instead within whatever limited context we have and with a sort of calm detachment, like the Chinese Farmer because you never know what is around the corner.