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Karma: the great equalizer

Samsara. This is the repetitious cycle of reincarnation, of birth, life, and death. It is governed by karma in that one’s actions in the past result in consequences that serve as spiritual educational opportunities. It is a foundational tenet in Hinduism, Buddhism, Bon, Jainism, Taoism and Sikhism, and is woven into the very tapestry of many world cultures.

Karma is real. And not only is it real, it is the governing law of life. Of existence. No one is or was exempt.

Karma is not unique to humans. It pertains to all living beings. But contrary to some belief, there is no inter-being incarnation. We, as humans, will not reincarnate as, say, as a mosquito or a cow (or any other non-human being) in the next life if we are bad… or good for that matter, even if we really, really want to be a mosquito or a cow (or another non-human being).

Karma is key. To dismiss it is to choose not to accept a fundamental truth. We are all subject to karma. And we all reincarnate until we have achieved, until we have personally earned, the karma of love. This takes lifetimes. It takes thousands of years. And it, admittedly, takes some souls far longer than others. But once we do earn our personal karma of love or of light, we can be free of embodiment. We then continue our work as a soul in the spirit realm.

Souls are energy and they are eternal. Call them souls or spirits or selves, no matter, but understand that they are eternal. However, we don’t live just once and then rest easy in the perpetual retirement community of heaven. No. We live and die and live again and die again and live again and die again, for as long as it takes, until we get it right, and then we live on in the spirit realm doing our work as part of the whole, The Source. Our incarnations as humans are just the beginning of our lives as souls, and we continue to grow and love intensely for the rest of forever. Once we achieve this true karmic balance of love and light and die as a human for the last time, only then are we free of karma.

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Everyone is divine.

We are Source. We are love. We are everyone. Everyone is us.

It is important to recognize the divine within ourselves. Recognizing it in ourselves empowers us to love, forgive, and be the best versions of ourselves. Recognizing it in others makes it harder for us to hurt them, to disrespect them, to disregard them. When we live by this philosophy, we can realize love, the karmic balance.

Karma, the great equalizer, applies to all of us. No one is immune. The balance, and our goal, is the state and the act of love. Living as deity will bring us love and earn us peace.

What many of us do not understand, or perhaps what we forget, is that to free ourselves — to find the love balance in life and to, ultimately, free our souls of incarnation, we need to accept and understand karma. This means that we must take personal responsibility for our own actions. Our soul’s growth is in no one else’s hands but our own.

I recently drove to South Dakota from my home in Utah. Along I-80 and 90 and the state highways in between, I was surprised at how many “Jesus saves” billboards there were, planted like missionary outposts along the gravelly shoulders of tarred Macadam. And I couldn’t help but think that these well-intentioned PSAs were perhaps more disservice to than encouragement for the 85 mile-per-hour passers by. Each placard was a peeling reminder of the disempowerment of the soul — the rule of otherness that extends personal responsibility only so far as the choice to believe that someone else who lived more than 2,000 years ago already did all the heavy lifting for you.

No matter religion or faith or inclination, it actually does all come down to you. Each person is on an individual path of karmic learning. We all must take personal responsibility to love, to forgive, to own our transgressions, to be our best selves. No one else can “save” you. No one else can advance and free your soul.

Love, accompanied or not by faith or dogma, is still love. And it is love that is important.

Everyone is divine. There is divinity in all of us. We are all part of Source. In living true to this simple theme, and in understanding karma, we can realize true peace together.