The Law of Karma

Throughout all evolution, suffering has formed an integral part of human experience. Time and again, the question is raised: Why does suffering exist in a world created by an almighty and all-loving God? This article gives some answers.

Introduction to karma

Throughout all evolution , suffering has formed an integral part of human experience. Time and again, the question is raised: Why does suffering exist in a world created by an almighty and all-loving God? Allowing suffering he cannot be all loving. If suffering is outside his domain, he cannot be almighty. The question seems insoluble, but only as long as we maintain that suffering is bad. Could it be that suffering has a purpose, maybe even a loving purpose?

This question is also known as the problem of Theodicy in the Christian literature. Christians have always spoken of God’s incomprehensible will and believed that behind injustice there was a higher meaning which we simply couldn’t comprehend. But in the Old Testament there is a very clear assumption that suffering was caused by God’s punishment of sinners. The Neo-Platonists regarded this world as relatively imperfect because we live far from the first divine cause from which everything emanates. But through self-realisation we could rise above the imperfections and sufferings of this world. According to Plotin it is our longing back to this divine cause, which gives evidence of the everlasting existence of good.

People from the East have long had an explanation for the cause of suffering and how to terminate it. Even Buddha keeps returning to this crucial problem. In his four truths and teachings about the noble eightfold path, he emphasises that suffering is caused by earthly desires and that suffering only stops when a person has achieved complete awareness and has no desires at all. These thoughts seem odd to most Westerners. Let us therefore begin by describing the law that causes all this suffering. The initiates of the East call it the Law of Karma . In the West people call it the Law of Cause and Effect.

What is karma?

Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning "action". According to the Law of Karma, you shall reap in this life or the next as you have sown in this and previous lives.

Platon , who also believed in reincarnation, emphasizes the law of karma in his "Republic": "Your daimon will not be allotted to you, but you choose your daimon; and let him who draws the first lot have the first choice, and the life which he chooses shall be his destiny. Virtue is free, and as a man honours or dishonours her he will have more or less of her; the responsibility is with the chooser -- the god is blameless.". (X, 617e)

Every thought, feeling and deed impels a corresponding reaction. However, it is more the motive and intent behind a deed that impels a reaction rather than the deed itself. This is why a child only creates very little karma through his actions. This is also why deeds seeming good, but with an egoistic motive behind, only have a small positive effect. On the other hand, a police officer killing a potential evildoer to save a victim's life will only face little karma. Krishna tells us in the Bhagavad Gita: "One who acts by dedicating all activities to the Ultimate Truth, giving up attachment; is not affected by sin; just as a lotus leaf in water." ( 5,10).

The Law of Karma is also called the Law of Retribution. It is an all in all just law ensuring that all living creatures inescapably experience the result of their actions. The law applies to individuals, groups and nations. The organisation of our present life circumstances and personal talents is from a karmic viewpoint the result of seeds we ourselves have sown in previous lives along with seeds brought into our lives through our family and national inheritance.

Ignorance is to a far greater extent than malice the cause of human suffering. As long as we are attached to transient earthly things, we shall experience suffering when we lose them. Therefore, all great and enlightened souls, who have taught us humans about eternal values, first told us to seek the kingdom of God; then we shall be given all that we need. Still, we have a free will to choose and learn through our choices.

Patanjali was a great spiritual teacher from India. He lived about three centuries before Christ. In his famous Yoga Sutras, he describes three types of karma:

1. Latent karma. the seeds (causes) that are undeveloped and have to work their way to fruition in this or following lives.

2. Active karma. the seeds that are about to bear fruit and for the fruition of which this present life must generate the soil required.

3. New karma. the seeds that are laid in this life and which inevitably will determine the conditions of future lives.

It is important to emphasise that karma not only involves all the positive effects we have brought about through our many lives, but also the painful circumstances we have had to deal with and learn from. Bad karma results in suffering and the purpose is to help man get back on the right path. Good karma on the other hand opens up for possibilities, and the aim here is for man to use his good experience and qualities to help others. Thus he will help himself.

A scientific approach to karma

According to the "Introduction", Western scientists also see a relation between deeds and either well being or suffering. Current researchers of psychological and social issues are trying to uncover this relation. It is actually widely accepted that traumas may be traced back to childhood and early adolescence. It is further recognised that unfortunate decisions made by decision-makers of previous generations contribute to social problems in later generations. All in all, it is acknowledged that suffering is an interaction between individual psychological dispositions, hereditary genetic factors and social circumstances. In short, individual problems are the result of both inner and outer circumstances having root in the past.

The core issue separating Western belief from Eastern belief is whether the causes of suffering only may be ascribed to this life or whether they may also be ascribed to past lives. The latter belief is not accepted in academic circles today, even though the idea was widespread in ancient Greece, the cradle of modern science.

Western criticism of karma

The Western world has raised several objections to the Law of Karma. Some of these objections are as follows:

The Law of Karma justifies wrongs of this world by making weak people responsible for their own suffering: The idea that suffering in this life should be the consequence of actions in past lives is a very problematic issue for many thinkers of our time. The reason is that it raises a lot of questions as to who is responsible for all the suffering in this world. The most apparent objection to this thought is probably that one can make the inference that the poor and sick of the Western world themselves are to blame for all their problems. Or put in an ultra liberal way: "Every man is the architect of his own fortune". This reasoning conflicts with the fundamental ideas of socialism, as it claims that the causes of all suffering in the world may be ascribed to the injustices of society.

According to the previous paragraph, there is both individual and collective karma intervening in the life of each individual. And as every human being develops a collective karma when being together with his fellow men, the life of each individual cannot be separated from that of society. Thus, it is difficult to make a correct estimate of individual guilt.

It can be added that people who don’t participate in relieving misery when they see it, will meet the consequences of that action. Alice A. Bailey state: "Such is human integration today that it is not possible for any person or groups of people to isolate themselves away from human activities and human welfare. Nor is a negative attitude adequate to the solution of the present world crisis. Those who refuse to share in the world karma and pain will find their entire progress inevitably slowed down, for they will have put themselves outside the great tide of spiritual force now sweeping in regenerating streams throughout the world of men. ". (Discipelship in the new age I, p. 771)

Poverty is mainly caused by collective karma, by what we could call national selfishness, that hits the weakest members of the society. The responsibility of poor people is to fight for the same social and political rights that Western society has achieved. And we – the people of the Western societies - have an obligation to help them in that struggle.

The Law of Karma is without mercy. There is no possibility of forgiveness.
The Law of Karma is not a doctrine of "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". When a man regrets his actions and takes effective measures to reform himself, his painful karma is resolved.

The gospels are full of statements by Jesus , that indicates that karma was a reality for him: "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." Joh. 5,1-9 His disease was caused by sin that demanded repentance, if not something worse was to happen. This is a clear example of the activity of karma.

According to the Tibetan: "no man is ever put into circumstances which are insurmountable, once he has reached the point where he has intelligently put himself on the side of evolution , or of God. Prior to that he may, and will, be driven by the gales of circumstance; the press of group and racial karma will force him into situations necessary for the process of awakening him to his own innate possibilities." (Alice A. Bailey, Cosmic Fire. 946)

The Law of Karma is determinism; man cannot do anything to change his destiny. The Law of Karma is often interpreted as being deterministic and subject to fate in the sense that all things happening in the world are the results of past actions against which man can do nothing. However, the Law of Karma is not deterministic. On the contrary, it stimulates the development of the free will. It is also true that it decides such circumstances and situations that the individual and nations must relate to, but it does not decide how we as human beings react to these circumstances.

Misinterpretations

It is no wonder that this lawfulness is so heavily criticised, because there may not be any other ideas as misinterpreted as karma .

Western critics state that the concept of karma in the East has been used to legitimise the social position of the priestly class (the Brahmin caste) and to justify the terrible suffering by which the poor and sick have had to live. However, it is not uncommon for the ruling classes to use religion as a means of oppression. Throughout the ages, the Western church has interpreted sufferings of the poor as God's punishment of human sinful behaviour. There are even examples where the clergy of the church - just like higher castes of the East - have interpreted their social position as a divine order instituted by God. In other words, the rich and the poor were given a position in society, which God found suitable for each individual! Yet do these interpretations mean that Christianity and the Law of Karma are wrong? No, on the contrary, they emphasise human weakness. It is difficult to think of any idea, which has not been twisted at some point in time to serve another purpose than its original one.

No other philosophy than the Law of Cause and Effect knows how to provide a more intelligent and just answer to the suffering in the world. We ourselves are collectively and individually responsible for our own destiny and we shall meet the consequences of our choices on our path. This message has been simplified, but will be explained in detail later on.

The alternative to the Law of Karma is a world defended by Darwinism: A godforsaken desert and a battlefield where the strongest will survive and the weakest will die. Or, it is a world in which God punishes the evil and gives presents to the just even though this idea may probably not live up to a closer analysis.

The Divine Purpose

The Law of Karma should be seen in a greater perspective before its purpose can stand out clearly. In other words, we must ask ourselves this question: What is our Creator's purpose with creation?

According to Alice Bailey , God created this world to express his perfect love in the physical world. One could then ask rhetorically why did our Creator not create a paradise on Earth at once, for to our Creator nothing should be impossible?

But our Creator wanted his sons and daughters created in his own image to recognise their own divine nature. They had to understand their Father's love consciously by getting insight into their own related nature. If God had created everything in perfect harmony, man would forever find himself in a state of innocent child without the ability to defray darkness from light. One has to know darkness to recognise light, and this is why God created man.

At this point it is important to stress that good things and bad things are relative terms. Seen in an evolutionary perspective, selfishness and egoism can be positive traits helping man to integrate his personality and build a strong and independent identity. In the long run, however, egoism will become a hindrance for him to attain his purpose - i.e. to get in touch with his soul and become a creative member of society where interests of the collective become more important than his own interests. No man can, however, contribute with anything if he has got no personal identity upon which to base any creation.

Since the days of creation and through his many past lives, man has left the divine planes to acquire knowledge through discrimination on planet earth. We humans live one life after another to gain experiences based on our choices. From a state of immense ignorance about our divine nature and purpose, we have slowly - through our uncountable civilisations on planet earth - fought our way to acquire a larger and more perfect realisation or knowledge of the meaning of life: the continuous dissemination of love all over the world. Throughout history the many enlightened souls - who have succeeded in being liberated from their egoistic and materialistic nature, thus realising a divine nature - have told us about the path to God. The two greatest figures are Buddha and Christ.

Where Buddha showed us the path of wisdom, Christ showed us that of Love. Besides their teachings of light and love, these great souls also brought us the Law of Cause and Effect, which is a way to ensure that all human beings will be taken to the light in time. The law is the pledge of God saying that all souls will find their way to the home of their Father in time, and that nobody will be left in darkness. He has made sure that everything will be saved through the enfoldment of divine qualities in man and through the lawfulness of man always being faced with the consequences of his actions.

Karma in the Gospels

It is a fact that the Law of Karma is of Eastern origin and a well-known aspect of Hinduism and Buddhism. However, it is not common knowledge that it is also an integral part of the Gospel, which may be illustrated by the following examples:

In the Gospel there are a great many scriptural passages where Christ teaches us the Law of Karma.

Christ says for example "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets ..." (Math. 7, 12). He also says "Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you ..." (Luke 6, 37). ".. for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Math. 26,52). These passages among many others show that Christ of course knew that the Law of Cause and Effect was lawfulness by which we all have to obey.

The Gospel is imbued with this principle of consequences ensuring that we all meet the effects of our actions and that there is a cause behind every effect.

As we have seen in the above and according to the Ageless Wisdom, it is God's will that all men must reach perfection by expressing their will in action, also called love. We are the co-workers of God on the physical plane. Therefore, he will say through Christ: "You must be perfect - just as your Father in heaven is perfect!" (Math. 5,43).

We can also look at the Law of Karma by using an image. God's will is love, and this love can be compared with a wind blowing over a landscape. A group of travellers walking against the wind may curse it for the dust stirred up and blinding them. However, another group of travellers walking with the wind may bless it for its support and for leading them towards their goal.

The image shows us that we have got a free will to harm ourselves or to harm others if we so want. But if we do so, we shall travel against the wind and encounter a lot of suffering. We can also turn around and do good things. Thus we shall meet the positive consequences of this action.

Individual and collective causes

It is now time to go deeper into the way the problem presents itself with regard to the distinction between collective and individual karma . We therefore define the different types of karma as follows: individual, family, national and planetary karma.

1. Individual karma. The virtues and vices of a man are primarily the result of experiences made in this life and previous lives. When a person dies, his soul will release itself from the physical body and sum up all the lessons and experiences it has learned through its lifetime. The positive experiences will be changed into good qualities, which the soul will bring into a following incarnation to be further developed. The actions and desires causing other people to suffer, including oneself, will be changed into negative qualities, which will then be transferred to a subsequent incarnation.

The vices for example will take the person through the same kind of suffering as he inflicted upon others in order to awaken his understanding of the effects of loveless actions. A man having gained profound knowledge of being mobbed and excluded from the group will later in life have a deep sympathy for people in a similar situation. This, however, may be contradicted by analyses made by psychologists, the result of which seems to indicate that criminals having been exposed to crime often inflict the same kind of crime on others. Violent criminals, for example, have often experienced a lot of violence when growing up. Yet these violent criminals are still in a state of unconsciousness. They are victims themselves of their own violent emotions and must learn by suffering or by love until they have recognised the consequences of a violent behaviour. In order to end the negative karmic spiral, where the violent criminal will meet even stronger consequences of his actions, he must recognise that his actions are wrong and that he has to start changing his behaviour. This can happen in two ways and often it will be a combination of both.

a. Through love. The violent criminal may have the good fortune of meeting a person who feels compassion for him because of his suffering. It may be a psychologist, a minister of religion or a social worker trying to make him change his behaviour through teaching or by appealing to his better self. It may also be that he learns to forgive himself for the harmful things he has done to other people and so realises that the outside world and God will also forgive him. Naturally, God will always love a human being no matter how this being may behave. However, often we cannot experience this forgiveness and accept it before we are able to forgive ourselves. Or, as Mathew says: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again". (Math. 7, 1). Of course this quotation is not just another confirmation that the Law of Karma exists, but also an indication of us becoming victims of our own assumptions and verdicts. And we may think that because we cannot forgive ourselves, nor can God.

Once the violent criminal has become aware of his own faults and begins to change his behaviour and do good actions to balance evil ones he has saved himself through the help of others. In fact he has stopped a long spiral of violent behaviour and consequences, and may later choose a life in which he helps his victims in order to balance his old debts.

b. Through suffering. It can be extremely difficult for man to open his heart if it is closed. Therefore, he will have to live through one painful situation after another until he turns around and chooses another path. History tells us that not even the most perfect love like the one embodied in Christ was enough for man to change his temper. As Christ was not able to, one may doubt whether we shall be able to, no matter how good we are. This is why suffering is God's only instrument when all others fail to make his children walk in the right direction. God does not inflict suffering on each individual, for the Law of Karma is not some kind of punishment; it is simply a mere lawfulness ensuring that we shall meet the effects of our actions. Nobody will claim, to be sure, that it is God's punishment when a person gets stomach-ache because of having eaten too much. It is a suffering we humans inflict upon ourselves when we are being ignorant and cannot control our desires. Ignorance and uncontrolled desires are, indeed, in most cases the main cause of human suffering. It is extremely seldom that we meet people who do evil things on purpose.

Consequently, individual virtues and vices are the results of experiences made in this life and previous ones. The fact that Mozart was able to write his first concert at the age of four shows us that it was the result of a previous life put into practice.

2. Family and Group Karma

No man is only the result of his own actions. This is what we are told today by science of psychology. Therefore, the individual nature of man is also influenced by the results of group interactions experienced in previous lives. According to the Ageless Wisdom, we incarnate in groups of people with whom we have karmic ties. Each time we love or hate another person, we attach ourselves to him or her. Because of the attachments we shall meet these persons again to reap the fruits of our good relationships or to pay back what we owe them, i.e. when we treated them badly. As time goes on, we may manage to cut the ties we have with other people by no longer hating them and by changing our personal, selfish love into unselfish love. We thus bring the group together and serve God.

A modern term for group karma is social inheritance. We know that each family functions in its own way. As individuals we must be aware of these family patterns, which form and model each individual, and terminate them when they are no longer useful. We know that family dynamics have a tendency to make an individual repeat his family's way of solving problems. This is how violent behaviour, for example, is often passed on from one generation to the next, until someone finally breaks the pattern. For generations families may have consisted of both victims and executioners at the same time. Until such group members change their way of socialising with one another, they will be doomed to meet time and again, as the individual soul chooses its own family members prior to a new incarnation where it gains the desired experience. The same applies to the positive family patterns, of course.

Through family policies, educational activities, psychological and social initiatives implemented by a nation to help families in distress we collectively try to be the servants of God and show the kind of love that breaks the hearts of stone.

3. National karma

The same kind of group interaction also takes place for a nation as a whole. The culture and national identity are the result of decision processes and behaviour of earlier generations. Yet we should not forget that we do not incarnate in the same country only, as national states have not existed for that many years, historically speaking. However, if we were able to follow incarnations of large soul groups, we would see that they would follow a pattern where the same nations would consist of the same groups of incarnating souls and form a bond with them over and over again.

The conditions of society according to which the population of every nation lives are the consequences of choices made by previous generations. Politics represent the type of science we implement today to mitigate the effects that inexpedient choices of earlier incarnations have on us. This is why there is certain truth to the saying that a nation is responsible for the type of government it has. The national consciousness is of great importance to the individual and holds decisive influence on his life circumstances. It is therefore within this framework that one should ask the following question: Who is responsible for the poverty in the world? God did not decide to let poverty be the life conditions of man just because he was cruel in a previous incarnation.

This is a gross twist of the teaching of karma. God created an abundance of everything on this planet, but the problem was and continues to be that a human minority has taken the abundance away from a majority. Such selfish souls will, of course, meet the consequences of their unkind actions. They may lose all their means in one life in order that they themselves may feel the pain of poverty. However, not all poor people were selfish landlords in earlier lives. There were simply not that many landowners.

Consequently, there is a secondary cause of poverty, namely the ignorance of the poor. Poor people in the developing countries must learn to fight in order to free themselves from the usurpation of the rich, just as labour movements in the rich countries gained their victories. They must be helped to fight this battle through education and money provided by their well-off brothers and sisters from the rich countries. We cannot fight their battles. They must find their own strength through unity and professional struggle. What we can do, however, is to put pressure on selfish leaders who enslave compatriots by pressing them economically and politically.

4. Planetary karma

Each individual is subject to the effects of planetary karma. This is particularly true in terms of natural catastrophes. Somebody dying in an earthquake or in a volcano eruption does not necessarily die because of the effects of a previous life. Natural phenomena are important processes for the planet. A tempest oxides the waters, and volcanic eruptions will pour out new minerals and substances into nature. There are, of course, also global effects created by man such as the ever-increasing environmental pollution. People dying in consequence hereof are also subject to the effects of human ignorance and greed.

We must remember that dying is not just a tragedy from a soul's point of view. There is no death. Only life incarnating again and again. People dying from collective effects will soon be given a new chance of growing awareness. Environmental consequences are of course serious signals to everyone to do something about the ruthless exploitation of our natural resources. It is certainly no wonder that so many people must suffer when we do not treat our environment better.

Karma as a necessity for the growth of love

As will appear from the above, there are many things, primary as well as secondary, influencing the life of an individual. The belief that each individual is the lord and master of his own destiny is true and false at the same time. No human being can evolve without help from his brothers and sisters and sharing his destiny with them. On the other hand it is also up to each individual to free himself from the consequences of problems created by he himself. This is done, first and foremost, by taking responsibility for his own life and development. Or we could say that he finishes with personal egoism. Later when we are more mature, we shall evolve by engaging ourselves in the problems of society. He who does not want to take part in these problems or share the collective burdens will exclude himself from the love God sends into the world of mankind. He who is self-sufficient will experience such situations in which he will be denied help. The Law of Karma pushes each individual, without mercy, to the narrow path of love.

We often hear that the Law of Karma is unjust and merciless because it justifies crimes and poverty. They who are victims of injustice have brought it on themselves, and this also applies to the poor. But as was mentioned above, we do realise that there are many causes for human suffering - collectively and individually.

Basically, it is not at all interesting to know whether suffering has arisen for this or that reason as we are all obliged to relieve what suffering we may come across. We must replace the question of guilt with that of responsibility. We are all responsible for developing our divine potential and we do so by expressing this quality and taking actively part in society.

They say that we provoke in others what is dormant in ourselves. He who hates will meet hatred. He who loves will meet love. This is a truth ruling the Law of Karma - and yet it is more complicated than that.

The creation of new karma by free will

As we know now, the Law of Karma is not a blind law in accordance with the morale "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". When a man changes his mind, temper and behaviour what is then attracting the balancing of karma also changes. We have also seen that not all the influences to which an individual is exposed are his fault alone?

In spite of this, it is a tumbling block for many people that karmic balancing often causes injustice. Be it sexual assaults, violence or murder, we humans find it hard to accept that all this injustice may be ascribed to injustice done by the victim himself in previous lives. Some creeds claim that there will always be a karmic balancing, and if this is true life is a well-regulated machine that will see to it? Whatever happens is subject to fate or predetermined. However, this opinion does not leave room for the free will to work. If we have a free will to do good things and bad things, then new karma or effects will be created continuously. These new effects may have an effect on victims who have no karmic relation to the violator.

Let us envisage a mentally disturbed man who fires his gun into a group of people. It is not very likely for the bullet to change its course all of a sudden just because an innocent man was in the way. In a world where men are entitled to exercise their free will it will of course be a dangerous to live. It is also dangerous to drive a car because of the traffic. Yet suppose that all traffic accidents were a consequence of actions in previous lives and that they were closely ruled by karmic laws, then this would mean that man was a robot with no free will of his own.

H.P. Blavatsky explains this principle of unmerited sufferings in The Key to Theosophy: "Our philosophy teaches that karmic punishment reaches the Ego only in its next incarnation. After death it receives only the reward for the unmerited sufferings endured during its past incarnation." In a footnote she stated:

"Some Theosophists have taken exception to this phrase, but the words are those of Master, and the meaning attached to the word "unmerited" is that given above. In the T. P. S. pamphlet No. 6, a phrase, criticised subsequently in LUCIFER , was used which was intended to convey the same idea. In form, however, it was awkward and open to the criticism directed against it; but the essential idea was that men often suffer from the effects of the actions done by others, effects which thus do not strictly belong to their own Karma -- and for these sufferings they of course deserve compensation".

Consequently, the soul governing the karmic balancing together with the Lords of Karma (please see explanation below), will be credited with any effects that may arise, but which were not meant for this incarnation. We have all been responsible for much suffering throughout history and some of it has been written off.

Karmic administrators

According to esoteric teachings, a soul planning its next incarnation will do so together with some great beings called the Lords of Karma . They are beings like arch angels and assist with the balancing of karma in the order considered most expedient.

The Law of Karma is not a big machine in which you put an action at one end resulting in an automatic effect at the other. The Law of Karma is the law in existence that is governed and regulated the most. Its clear intention is to purify and develop the conscience of humans. Therefore, it has to be regulated intelligently, as say a man should be killed a thousand times because he had killed a thousand people. Then he would never be able to progress. Consequently, the effects will stop when a change of mind has taken place and good actions have balanced bad ones. It is also in the power of the Lords of Karma to hold back any karma until the good opportunity is there to facilitate karmic balancing.

The intervention of God

God did not leave the world to man's own discretion and free will. For even though man has his own free will, God will see to it that humans are continuously stimulated in order to choose what is good, true and beautiful.

God stimulates man primarily through his individual soul working in the heart of man. The growing conscience and feeling of responsibility are the first responses that we as humans get from our divine soul.

But God also emits ideas via the enlightened souls whom the Gospels call the kingdom of God and esoteric literature calls the Lords of Wisdom. These ideas flow evenly into the human mind and are the reason behind many new inventions and cultural orientations in the world.

God may also let enlightened souls incarnate to give man messages that will lead him out of darkness. These incarnated souls are known through history as being those who changed the thought process and emotional make-up of mankind. Christ and Buddha are probably the two souls who up to date have had greatest influence on the evolution of mankind.

Resolution of personal karma

When man consciously identifies himself with his divine self, he has no longer got a free will of his own. He is then exclusively ruled by the will of God. At that point we can pronounce the same words as Christ in Gethsemane: "My Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering from me! Yet not what I want, but what you want" (Math. 26, 39).

When our motives only concentrate on serving God and our fellow men, all individual karma will stop and we shall only return to earth to be a light on the path for our brothers and sisters who have not yet found their way back to their Father's home.

Christianity and karma

Karma is one of the issues where Eastern and Western religions differ greatly. It all amounts to the question whether there is really a universal principle ensuring that we will inescapably experience the effects of our actions, or in other words that we reap as we harvest. The church has always emphasised forgiveness of sins and Christ's atonement for our sins through his death on the cross. As salvation is dispensed through faith in Christ and not through personal evolution , there is no need for karma.

It is a big question, the extent to which the bible bears evidence to the doctrine of atonement. Christ never mentions it. The doctrine is based on interpretations of the words of Christ. Against these interpretations there are many passages in the bible that point in the direction of karma.
These passages have been assembled in the following to show that on this point there is also agreement between the teachings of the East and West. Karma emerges directly in those passages expressing the principle of consequence, i.e. that any action, good or bad, evokes a corresponding response. Karma emerges indirectly where Christ speaks of diseases as a result of sins.

Theological objections

A common objection against these interpretations is that the passages refer to a settlement that takes place after death, and not in a following reincarnation. To this it may be stated that, regardless of whether the settlement takes place in this world or the world after death, there is at least a principle of consequence affecting salvation.

Further, reincarnation does not necessarily exclude resurrection. The esoteric teaching states that every time a human dies, he undergoes resurrection and judgement. This resurrection is also called the light of the soul, and the judgement is called the review. It is a phase of life between death and rebirth during which the individual reviews all the content of his past life in the light of his soul and contemplates what the consequences for his next life should be.

According to books by Alice Bailey , the Day of Judgement refers to a time in the far-out future, when humans particularly attached to material values no longer will incarnate together with the bulk of mankind. These materialists will live in a new world where they will be allowed a slower pace of development.

The gospels, however, speak of two kinds of resurrection: A future Day of Judgement and a time immediately after death. The remorseful thief, who died on the cross next to Jesus Christ, was resurrected in Paradise on the same day as he.

"And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Luke. 23,42-43

Bible quotations in which karma emerges directly

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.". Matthew 7,1-2

"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." Luke: 6:37

"And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." Mark. 4,24 25

Comment: He, who gives much, is given much in return. He, who gives nothing, gets everything taken away from him. In that way, one learns to give everything and receive everything.

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew. 7,12 23

Comment: The law is the Law of Karma.

"Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matthew. 18,18

Comment: What we resolve on earth is also resolved in heaven, and vice versa.

"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." Matt. 16,27

Judgement Day. Matthew. 25,31-46

Comment: This parable tells us that it is for our deeds that we are salvaged, not for our faith.

"But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.*. Matthew. 12,36 37

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew. 5,7

"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Matthew. 26,52

"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matthew 6,14-15

Comment: It is not sufficient to have faith in God. We must forgive others their sins in order to be forgiven ourselves (Mark 11, 25). It is told here that the Father cannot forgive us unless we ourselves forgive. That does not mean that the Father will withhold His forgiveness, as He is always forgiving; but to experience and partake in the forgiveness, we must open our hearts to this quality. Unconditioned forgiveness does not exist. Therefore it is said in the Lord's Prayer: "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us."

"Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." Luke. 7,47

Comment: It is the change of heart that resolves karma.

The parable about the indebted servant. Matthew.18,23 35

Comment: This parable shows that Jesus Christ forgives us all if also we forgive. If not, this forgiveness shall be taken away from us again. Just like the Law of Karma where there is no unconditional forgiveness. Forgiveness always requires a change of heart.

The parable about the entrusted talents. Matt. 25,14 30. Luke. 19,11 27

Comment: We shall all be rewarded according to the fruits that we give to other people. Those, who carry large fruits, shall be handsomely rewarded and those, who carry small fruits, shall be lightly rewarded. Those, who carry no fruits at all, shall give away what they do have. Consequently, those, who have, to those shall things be given and from those, who do not have, things that they do have shall be taken away from them.

"And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke. 24,46-47

Comment: We shall be forgiven our sins if we change our heart. This is fully in line with the Law of Karma. His message is about the resolution of karma.

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Matthew.10,32-33

"For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels". Luke. 9,26

"He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward". Matt. 10,41

"And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more". Luke.12,47

Comment: This lesson is in accordance with the Law of Karma, which seems stricter to those who have deliberately committed sins.

A Bible quotation in which karma emerges indirectly

"After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: ... Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." Joh. 5,1-9

Comment: The man's paralysis is due to his sins. After his healing, a continuation of sinning would bring upon him even worse things. This is a clear example of the workings of the Law of Karma.

Bible quotations that are used to counter karma

Comment: This quotation would appear to disprove the Law of Karma, as karma prescribes that all misfortunes are due to sins (bad deeds). But it is told in the quotation that the victims were not more sinful than the other Galileans. Isn't their ill fate then due to something else than the workings of karma?

Not necessarily, as this case can also be explained in the perspectives of karma. The mistake lies in interpreting all misfortunes as "bad karma". If seen from the perspective that we should have only one life, death is a catastrophe. But if seen from the perspective of reincarnation, death gives us a new start. When the soul no longer sees any possibilities for further development, it terminates the incarnation so that we can prepare for a new incarnation.

The quoted case could be explained by new possibilities arising in another area, and a whole group being reborn there. Thus the case by no means disproves of karma, but on the contrary, shows how karma can give rise to new possibilities for evolution .
It is also a common misinterpretation of karma that if a person is severely handicapped, this is necessarily due to great sinfulness in previous lives. Sinfulness is certainly a factor, but handicaps set limits and can thereby give possibilities for growth in very special directions. Handicaps are not indicators of a person's moral status, and they should not be seen as misfortunes. Handicapped persons have the same opportunities to live rich and meaningful lives as so-called healthy persons, if they accept the limits that their handicaps set. There is no general proportionality between health and happiness, as all entirely healthy persons should then be mirthful, which is not the case.

"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." Joh. 9,1-3

Comment: This quotation does not either necessarily disprove the Law of Karma. This man has a very special fate that serves a higher purpose. Further, when the disciples ask, "Who did sin, this man, ...", this could indicate that they believe in reincarnation and karma.

"And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitude saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.." Matt. 9,1-8