So, let’s talk about karma. I’m not referring to the 10-cent
concept of karma which suggests that the universe will ‘get you’ in the end.
That’s like saying that the concept of ‘grace’ refers to words mumbled before a
meal. I mean real Karma!
Please bear with me for a paragraph.
The word ‘karma’ is from ancient Sanskrit and in its
everyday meaning is ‘action.’ In Hinduism there is a strong connection
between one’s actions and the cycle of rebirth. Good actions lead to being
reborn in a better state than your present life and evil actions lead to an
appropriate demotion. Buddhism, an offshoot of Hinduism, adopted the word and
developed the term further. While Buddhists who held to most of their religious
Hindu beliefs used the word in much the same way, other incarnations of
Buddhism started to use it in reference to a principle which has an effect
within the limits of one’s own lifetime.
It is this later use of the word karma which has led to its
misuse as synonymous of ‘revenge.’
No, the universe will not ‘get you back.’ The idea
that there is ‘something’ or ‘someone’ out there coordinating the universe in
such a way is actually fairly narcissistic and flies in the face of the central
teachings of Buddhism. If you spend time daydreaming about how karma is going
to ‘get’ another person, you may have bigger issues...
Karma is one’s actions. That’s it.
But, what is the source of this misunderstanding?
Oversimplification of some of the most subtle and important
teachings in Buddhism.
Hang in there, I have a good reason for this theological
journey. You’ve read this far...
One’s actions are integral to one’s relationship to the
world around us. I do this action because I believe that it will have this
effect in the world and, by extension will affect me in this
way.
The problem with this relationship is its complexity. How I
see and act in the world is intertwined with how everyone else sees and
acts.
Here is karma. When I act in such a way as to bring more
strife in the world, I bring more strife into the world. This act has added to
strife and, in some small or large way, this strife is now part of my
understanding of the world and other’s experiences.
The same goes for when I choose to act in a way that brings
compassion. Through compassionate acts one actually creates more
compassion.
And here’s why this is important.
The most tangible example of Karma at work in today’s world
is through social media.
If I post (or repost) something hateful, spiteful, or untrue
to social media, I increase the hateful, spiteful, and untrue experiences and
attitudes in this shared, augmented reality.
Comments and half-truths we would never express verbally are
easily shared and multiplied on social media. We would seldom dare to make such
comments in conversations because of how it might hurt another person or
because someone will probably call us on our, well, crap!
The most troubling aspect of this new field of action
(karma) is that there are no ‘firewalls’ to protect our lived reality from this
augmented one. The misogyny, racism, homophobia, and elitism which multiply
like viruses through social media spill back into our daily lives. Karma
- our virtual acts are moulding our shared reality into a place where evil and
ignorance are tolerated and even encouraged.
And, to be fair, this will ‘get us’ in the end.
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