Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-10
KARMA, WHAT 1T is.
cTheosophical correspondence.l

(Theosophical CorrespondenceD
The word karma, unfamiliar to west
ern ears, is an old Sanskrit one, literally
meaning action" 1t is action and the
result Of action. 1t is ceaseless in its
operation and bears alike upon universe,
planets, races. nations, families and in
diViduals Applied to mans moral life,
it is the cause of ethical causation, the
cause of birth and rebirth, yet also the
means of escape from reincarnation.
No spot in the universe is free from its
action. In the words of st. Paul,
Brethren, be not deceived. God is not
Knocked, for whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap" Our old habits
of thought make US look upon it as pun
ishment and reward for the evil and
good of our past lives. As matter OF
fact, however this law is part OF the
very being of the one God, and is Of
necessity more than merely a result 1t
is also in itself a cause. Being divine
law, it must tend to progress and eVolu-
ton. If it were but a punishment for
evil, then, like most of our poor human
laws, once the crime had been followed
by the punishment, the matter Would
end and the man or world be no better
off than before. But the whole object
OF the existence of the universe is the
gradual development of the human soul
and then Its further growth into divi-
nifty. Such divinity as we see ex-
ampled in the Christ
Every punishment result is a better
word) is then Of such a nature that
through it the soul recognizes the hide
BUSINESS of it's former wrongdoing, and in
another life shrinks instinctively from
the same evil. A little reflection will
show US that the only way man can be
made to feel this so strongly as to have
it become thus part of his own being,
is to have suffered from the same thing
himself. And that Is, says theosophy,
the explanation of the words quoted by
st. Paul and of the same idea so forci-
bly, put forth by Christ himself.
Roughly speaking, we may divide
karma under three heads-individual,
family and race
The individual evil karma is that
which comes directly to the individual
| as a result of its individual past. All
suffering which is distinctly our own,
all wrong done directly to US, is of this
class. But all individuals find them
selves parts of a larger individual which
we call a family Each family has
character Of its own, at once the COM
posite result of the character of its sep
arate members, and a distinct thing diff
fering from that of any one member. A
| family as family will often do what no
one of it's individuals would do. An over
| fond mother will often permit to her
child a laxity which she will not allow
in herself, In this case, therefore, 1t is
evident that the result of a wrong done
by such a child is largely the fault OF It's
parents and family This being so, all
must suffer together for 1t. In the next
earth-life, therefore, this family which
is in time again drawn together reaps
the crop which it has sown. The child
| that has actually committed the evil
deed or held the evil thought, by the
| law of reaction must actually suffer for
| it in the same manner. Are the rest
then exempt? No, for some of our acut-
est pain is because of the sufferings OF
those dear to us. In the mother, the
same love which was formerly the part
| ial cause Of the child's fall, now brings
| to her It's punishment in the suffering
she endures through sympathy with heI
| child. She has no need to suffer directly
| And in the next life each will have
! learned it's lesson.
The same thing applies on greater
| scale to the race, and acts largely
through feeling known 9s patriotism
| There is one more tbreefold Suh-d1YlSlor
of karma which has to be made.
list. That which Ias not begun to pro
duce any effect in our lives owing t
! the operation on us of some other kar
mic causes.
This is under a law well known t
physicists, that two opposing force!
tend to nutrality, and that one forc'
4 may be strong enough to temporarily
! prevent the operation of another one.
| I'd That karma which has begun Il
produce results.
1t is the operating, now, in this life
on US, of causes set up in previous lives
in common with other egoes. And 1t is
! in operation, because, being most adap
| ted to the family stock, the individua
| body, the astral body and race tenden-
cies of the present incarnation, 1t ex-
| hibits itself plainly, while other unex-
pended karma awaits it's regular turn
| Sd. That karrna which we are now
making or storing up by our thoughts
and acts, and which will operate in the
| future when the appropriate body, mind
and environment are taken up by the
| incarnating eye in some other life, or
whenever obstructive karma is re-
moved
And all that has been said of evil ap-
plies equally to virtue and goodness.
Virtue is indeed its own reward. Rarely,
however, does full reward come in one
life, and to understand fully the doc
trine of karrna, it must always be
thought of in connection with what has
been called its twin doctrine, re-incar-
nation.
This latter will be dealt with in our
next article.
Margaret L. Guild.