Is Karma a Punishment?
A lot is said about karma, much of it mistaken. We mistakenly think karma works on the principle of reward and punishment. We expect the hardships of our current life to be a punishment for something we did in the past. That's not how it works at all!
Good and Evil Are Relative
In the universe — and even in our own reality — the notions of good and evil are highly relative. One doesn't exist without the other; if one were missing, we'd lose the backdrop that lets us tell them apart.
Our vision of good and evil is often shaped by the culture and morality we absorbed with our mother's milk. And culture and morality differ greatly across the world.
“Upstairs” Doesn't Judge
For energy, for the universe — or, as I call it, “upstairs” — there are shades, or vibrations. The things we do have different colors, different sounds, and that's simply how they differ. “Upstairs” doesn't judge.
If we thought of karma as a system of rewards and punishments, we'd have to assume some universal morality — which simply doesn't exist. Everything that happens in the universe serves some purpose; it's a process or an experience — even if, at the moment we live through it, it seems hard, horrific and unbearable.
“Upstairs” doesn't judge.
Emotions and Intention Are the Key
So why do we sometimes feel we're being punished for something that happened, say, 300 years ago? The key to understanding karmic processes is emotions. Just as here and now we overvalue the facts of our lives and forget our emotions, the same happens in karmic processes.
It may be that in a past life we helped people — so surely we'll be rewarded in the next one, you might think. Not necessarily. If we helped people in order to feel important or needed, then even though our deeds were good, we may bear the consequences. Because it's intention that reincarnation holds us accountable for.
Karma Teaches, It Doesn't Punish
Karma and karmic processes absolutely do not punish us. They teach us and motivate us to change, transform and grow. Karma speaks of the consequences of our intentions, because intentions are what create reality.
Every soul longs to be lighter and purer. That's why reality sometimes buries us in difficult events and coincidences. It's the voice of our soul, our hidden strength, wanting to free itself from what weighs on it — so that we remember that bad things end too, and that when they end is up to us.
Happiness Is Here and Now
To face our karmic past, we don't need to wrestle or box with it at all. If we can keep a cheerful spirit and peace in our heart even in the worst storms, whatever we carried over from a past incarnation will work itself out practically on its own.
When we come into this world, we have within us, from the very beginning, everything we need to be happy. Usually we simply forget it, weighed down by various events.
Let's start by realizing that nothing lasts forever, problems end too, and after the storm comes the sun. Once we understand that, we're just one small step away from finding peace of mind and a strange smile in our heart.