The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-04-11
THEWORKINGS OFKARMA
PAPER READ BEFORE THE LOCAL
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.
Mrs. j. a. MarshaIrs Explanation of
This LAW of Action and Reaction
which Governs the World.

| cd there is less liability TO become con-
! fused by the intricacies OF the network OF
effects that holds in inextricable meshes
| the governing conditions or to-day, inc
| complications OF which seemingly present
chaos of problems that staggers the
mlnd 10 contemplate ana oEeLco2nes US
| with the impOSsibility OF solution. But
| when investigation is based on the unity
as demonstrating that all things and condl-
| tons have but one and the same origin and
! must be governed by but one and the same
law, the difficulties that beser inquiry in
some measure disappear. Plato and Pythag-
oras, following the methods or greater In
itiates, taught always from unlversals TO
means of avoiding confusion In deductions
is follow the same principle throughout
The endeavor to escape from the all
including unity that binds beings and
things in the inviolable bonds or the one
law is what has occasioned modern thought
in it's profc lndest and sncerest reflections
TO stray 1 r from truth. IL Is written IN
the Secret Loctrine, Page 153, volume ii,
the only true Ariadne's thread that can
lead us through the inextricable paths OF
her domain toward her primal and maj
mysteries In the limited area or our
sensible perceptions, wherein, because or
the undeveoped state of our consciousness,
we lose sight of beginnings, the most evil
dent factor is the law of action and reac-
ton. or, cause and effect, or in theosophi-
cal parlance. karma. The word karma I'M
no adequate equivalent in English, and can
only translate it by two English words dis
tinctively opposite in significance: .,o :.
"karma, as action and reaction, Is
found. when we follow the indication
offered in the quotation from the secret
doctrine regarding analogy as the direct
guide in metaphysical and philosophical
speculations, to be at the root OF all mani
festation. 1t is the absolute and undeviat-
ing law that DEGREES the order of the march
of evolution. Through karma was the uni
verse projected into being Through kar-
of t,f m ~ life Through karma must it
be resolved back into the absoluteness OF
the unconditional. Action and reaction
mark the measure of the pulsations OF life
itself vibrating between the subjective and
objective planes of consciousness Inc
heart OF man and beast, the breath OF All
sentient creatures, the processes OF nature,
the sweep of worlds in their orbits, all OBEY
the adjustments of karma, and those ad-
justments are what preserve the harmony
that is the order of the universe. Our
growing consciousness climbs upward from
the inert TO the active through alternate
spiritual and material conditions Wnich are
interdependent, whence is deduced the cor
Rotary doctrine of reincarnation. which is
nothing more than the fulfllment and per-
feet method of the law of karma-
RESTORES LOST EQUILIBRIUM.
perhaps it will bring our comprehension
nearer TO the truth if we try to realize
karma as a restorer of lost equilibrium.
Not only in the physical planes, but in the
subtitle thought planes, where governing
impulses, that later materialize themselves
into acts. are molders OF conditions That,
once started swinging down the widening
ripples from their center, must touch into
responsive vibration the furthest end or the
universe before they are expended.
'Karma adjusts the return or the force,
whatever its character. from the periphery
of existence 10 the protector. We ming a
ball against a wall and, in obedience TO the
law it rebounds to our hand. We send
forth a thought against the potency OF the
unity, and il reverts TO US endowed with
the power with which our will has invest
bring it's reaction And since we recognize
karma as dominant in all of the operations
on the evident planes there IS no reason
why we should lose sight of IL or question
il in its applications to human action. Man,
the product of karna, must obey the law OF
Justice be had The love of justice is in
tuitive and recognizable even in undevel-
oped minds. Whenever we can discover
that suffering is due 10 reaction we become
reconciled TO it as necessary. How would
il be. could the world at large understand
that the common reign of misery Is due TO
the reaction from humanityS violation or
natural laws? 1t seems TO me that the Ell
feet of general knowledge of the law OF
karma would tend to even up conditions
somewhat.
I'VE find our greatest hope in the fact
that the law is inexorable, for the un-
deviating return Of actions is what makes
effective the good that we put in move
ment by thought and deed In physics it
is an axiom that any force can be counter
acted by an equal and opposite force, and
evil karma can be modified by good kar-
ma how the past may be retrieved by the
can escape karma. Only that we can &C
cept the evil that comes to us from our
m nut t to good. suffering. pa patiently and
nobly endured in the understanding that
what cannot be avoided should not be re-
sisted, becomes a strengthening and puri-
flying agent that develops and enamel
pates the divine element of our being. The
injury We do to our fellow vbrates. be-
cause OF the unity, to the utmost bOun-
diaries OF every plane OF substance, and the
reaction returns a hindrance in the path
of the advance, rot of ourselves alone, but
because of the unity of the world. The
good we confer upon another goes forth in
source as an uplifting aid on the upward
way. So each man becomes his brothers
through free will we can arise. Deliber-
ately careless, grossly absorbed in selfish
ness. humanity has sunk by degrees into a
torpor of materialtsm that like poisonous
vapor subtiley and surely paralyzes the
faculties OF the soul until they can no
inspiration from the impersonal spirit that
is the higher self of man. clogged in its
finer perceptions. falls a prey to the en-
and it's destiny. both of which are found
in the promise and the fuliliment of infinite
attainment.
kARMA NOT FATALISM
ut is clear that karma is not fatalism
I'm any sense. Though man is bound by it's
quences of his past acts. he is free from
the moment he arises 10 re occasion, and |
acknowledging the present TO be of his own
creation, makes himself master OF the sit
uation by conquering his personal inclina-
tions and delivering himself up 10 the uni |
versal will, aiding in the restoration of the |
equilibrium he has disturbed. Willingness |
TO suffer is a mere matter of common hon |
esty after all. The only escape from
karma is through that spiritual develop |
ment which lifts us above the spheres of |
its operation.
All reaction is proportioned exactly to |
the act. Therefore il is evident that We |
can never beco ne karmif agents in the |
strict sense OF the term. When we unwit- |
ungly become instruments OF infilction 10 |
another II Is not that we have been made |
helpless tools by the universal power |
WAT placed one person i'm the position of /
chastiser and another in that Of the chas- |
USED but the former acts OF both? To-
sether they have incurred the debt against /
nature together they must pay it, When |
We Intentionally choose 10 take upon our |
serves the punishment of another respon- |
slo!e being. however much he may seem
10 deserve IL. we practically impeach the |
divine law as inefficient. and also invoke |
upon our head the reaction that cannot be |
other IMAM disastrous. Free will makes IL |
Impossible for man TO be a karnic agent /
unless he chooses to lend himself 10 the