Submitted by Deja Vu on
Image by Karin Henseler from http://Pixabay.com
Many people seem to have this idea but it is a very strange and mistaken idea and a serious misunderstanding of the subject.
Karma is not fatalism but is quite the opposite! The Law of Karma can be described as the law of self-created destiny, for it is the law of cause and effect, action and reaction, sequence and consequence. If I put my hand in the fire, my hand will get burnt. But it will not be “fate” and nor will it be “God” that caused my hand to become burnt. The burning of the hand is simply the inevitable and natural effect of the cause that I will have set in motion.
No-one can deny the omnipresent existence of the law of cause and effect on the physical, objective plane of life. It is plainly – and often painfully – there for all to see. This teaching about Karma simply carries this same law of cause and effect onto all levels of being, subjective as well as objective.
Since it often takes time for the right opportunities and circumstances to arise in which a Karmic effect can come to proper or full fruition, it is often not until the next lifetime or even several lifetimes in the future that a soul encounters and experiences the force of those particular Karmic results.
This is one of the main reasons why reincarnation occurs. Karma and reincarnation are inextricably linked. The soul must receive its just deserts, whether bad, good, or a mixture of both. This is the way, the means, and the method whereby the Universe maintains its harmony, balance, and equilibrium.
It is because of this knowledge that LAW rules and reigns throughout all of Nature that the great Masters and the Teachers of Theosophy declare that contrary to all appearances there is never actually any injustice anywhere. In “The Voice of the Silence” we are advised to “Chafe not at Karma … Rigid Justice rules the world.” In the past we created our present and in the present we are creating our future. Now, does this still sound like fatalism?