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Is there such a thing as karma?

Drop a pebble in a pond. Plop.

Then the ripples spread out… and out… and out.

That, in a nutshell, is karma.

An old medicine bottle labelled 'Karma Oil: Banishes past sins, wrong deeds, careless words, thoughtless actions, selfish behaviour, damage and hurt to other living organisms. Next life guaranteed to be blameless. For man and beast. Price 60 cents.'

What karma actually means

Karma is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning “action” or “deed”. It's the idea that what you do, and why you do it, sends ripples into your future. Cause, then effect. Simple as that.

But somewhere along the way, karma got tangled up with guilt and punishment. Now people talk about it like a cosmic traffic warden, writing you a ticket every time you're rude to a waiter. Someone pushes in the queue, then trips over? “Ha! Karma!”

Which brings us to this handy bottle of Karma Oil. Banishes past sins! Next life guaranteed blameless! Only 60 cents!

If karma were a punishment handed out by a judge, a bottle like this might make sense. You could just bribe your way out. But there's no judge. Karma works more like gravity: drop a plate and it falls. Not because the universe is cross with you. That's just what happens.

The only person judging you is you.

So where do the ripples start?

With you, and what you believe about yourself.

If you're full of fear, or can't bring yourself to like who you are, those feelings ripple out into how you think, how you treat people, and how you feel in your own skin. That's karma in action. It isn't a punishment. It's just cause and effect.

The good news? Ripples work both ways. Drop in a kinder belief, and that spreads too.

Nobody's keeping score

There's no god with a clipboard waiting to judge you.

Consciousness, the ground of everything, is yours free of charge, with no small print. It's creative, it says yes to life, and it asks nothing in return.

People who touch it, in meditation, in nature or in moments of deep stillness, all describe it the same way: as limitless love.

Which makes Karma Oil the worst deal in history. You already had the real thing for free.

Next: How your beliefs shape your life  |  Is there a God?  |  Back to Mind

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