The Great Law of Karma – Aka the law of Cause and Effect

In Buddhism, there are a set of observations that are timeless and universally true for all people. Many people confuse the concept of Karma with idea of Justice and decide karma does not exist. Karma has more to do with intentions than outcomes. The laws of karma describe a set of formulas anyone can search within themselves and see the truth in. Becoming willing to see these truths helps teach the human mind acceptance and return us to peace. The first law of Karma is called the Great Law and is also know as the law of cause and effect. It states that anything we that we put into the universe will come back to us. When the things that come back to us are upsetting and difficult to accept, it is human nature to search for something outside of ourselves to blame. The Ego will look at this statement of truth and argue it, it will say "no not always, it does not always work like that". Sadly, it does work like that and always has and will forever until all humans no longer exist. Then, the universe will know peace and there will be no more suffering. Life is not kind fair or just and our best intentions do not guarantee positive outcomes, they simply guarantee outcomes. Things are happening perfectly and perfectly outside of our control and we are granted the illusion of control when things work out in our favor. When they do not work out, we feel punished, abused, a victim and cheated. That is the nature of Ego, it holds all our suffering. In my teens I obsessed about the concept of cause and effect just based on the expression. I continue to see life in those terms today, that absolutely everything is a synchronicity and the less we are thinking about life, the more we are experiencing it. The practical application for this understanding is learning how to accept ourselves and traumas of our past with grace. Understand that everything that disturbs us has been caused by a trauma and humans pass on their traumas though exposure. Step out of the world of Good and Evil and look at things in terms of cause and effect. People who do horrible and sick things have experienced horrible and sick things by some means. They may have been loved at home and beaten at school, they may have been abused by simply being ignored. Each of the traumas in our lives takes us from peace and has a Butterfly Effect that ripples across the universe until someone in the chain heals and reaches acceptance. If you have past regrets, remember you are a product of billions of waves of energy and have been since birth. Even at our sickest, we are all doing our best. If you have past resentments remember every person we have had conflict with is fighting their own battle and in many cases, they have no idea about it themselves. Everyone is in denial about something, even Jesus held anger towards greed. To be attached is to have an emotion. Outside of emotion, everything is perfect and the universe makes complete sense. Let go of everything and be an example of peace. Thank you, bless you and Namaste. Rev. Jeff Rounds