You Don't Have to Win the Race to Succeed!

Walls - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

"Some days are diamonds,

Some days are rocks

Some doors are open 

Some roads are blocked"

Karma is just an excuse people use to not exact revenge on their enemies themselves. I am not a believer in the notion of Karma as people portray it today. It seems more of a convenience. The idea of the forces of nature serving punishment for misdeeds just doesn't seem to wash most of the time.  Just once, I would like to see the a-hole who nearly runs me off the road pulled over by the cops or better still his cheek smushed up against the trunk of his car as the handcuffs are fastened and seeing me laugh as I pass him. It hasn't happened yet. Is that Karma?

If I believed in this notion of Karma then I would have to believe that a 10 year old girl did something so awful in her life that she was killed. I have to believe that a 12 year old girl did something so heinous that not only was she disfigured but her entire family was ripped from her life forever. The boy who battled cancer from the age of 9 to his untimely death at 21 was also fighting the forces of Karma. He got what he deserved? I don't think so. Karma has nothing to do with bad things happening to good people. I could write an encyclopedia of personal accounts proving this notion however. Bad things happen and it is not fair or just!

But then look at the other side of the coin and you see the bully that not only carries on with their life seemingly unscathed while at the same time thriving. Meanwhile, their victim is suffering traumatic effects of the abuse and living in fear. Karma my ass! Jeffrey Dahlmer, Ted Bundy, Clifford Olsen, Jack the Ripper. The names are familiar to us but how many of us can name one or more of their victims. Is this Karma? The beast goes on to infamy while the innocent are forgotten. Maybe some of these serial killers are thrown in jail for the rest of their lives but they still have a life (unlike their victims) and by all accounts it's pretty damn cushy. In North America anyways, all the amenities we wish for and then some that the working poor can't afford. Access to higher education, TV, clean clothes, nutritious meals, warm and safe lodgings (yes it may be a solitary existence but it is comfortable). I have known people who were incarcerated repeatedly for petty crimes just so they could rest, eat and wash free. While at the same time, law abiding citizens work two or three jobs just to make ends meet without the luxuries or free time afforded the convicts. Justice? Karma?  

A Little Food For Thought 

She says, "I know, I think I understand. Some people walk protected safe from trouble they never understand and no matter how I try, feel like sinking sand."

"I wish I was a river. A river running free, runnin' wild. I'd wrap my waves around her and carry her off long into the night."

With gratitude to the mastery and talent of Jim Cuddy - Slide Through Your Hands.

The Origins of Karma from Buddha

Buddhas law of cause and effect is called Karma and in its' simplistic form it is about the nature of our intentions. To have good Karma you must have good intentions as we are the architects of our own fate. If we do good we get good back. Buddha actually identified six intentions that drive our actions - 3 positive (kindness, compassion, generosity) and 3 negative (anger, cruelty, greed). If our intention is positive we are said to be doing karma meaning we become what we do. In spreading kindness we are kind. Similarly in acting with anger, we perpetuate anger around us. That would be bad karma.  However to create an atmosphere of understanding we want to be understood but to fully appreciate the concept, we must be misunderstood at some point. To create love we must know and understand hate and feeling of being unloved. To appreciate peace we have to understand the horror of war. To appreciate a smile we must have experienced sadness. 



In the quest to achieve good Karma, we are desiring and seeking Perfection. As nothing is truly perfect in an imperfect world, at some point we must become accepting. The goal of finding perfection for ourselves over the imperfection of humanity can easily cross the fine line over to greed and cruelty. When we seek to become better - we have to compare. Better than what? Better than whom? To be perfect ourselves we must ascribe the label of imperfect to others. That is NOT a positive intentions for our actions. 

In our hope for something better, we may not see when we already have become the best that we can achieve. Ironically, I always said something very similar to the "special" students that I worked with. All you really need to be is the best that YOU can be. You don't have to go to University or be and English scholar to be the best YOU possible. And sadly I have run into more than one university educated teacher who put themselves up on a pedestal over their students. Book learners and hands on learners are two different type of people but not one is smarter than the other. Sometime the attitude of superiority can make a person seem very stupid indeed. If you are in a wheelchair and can't run a marathon, you are not less of a person. You don't have to win the race to succeed. Don't look at the job in the fast food industry as a failure because even the University professor may "want fries with that". Think for a moment what the world would be like in no-one worked at the burger joint, if no-one dug the ditches or collected the garbage. And before we throw all the teachers under the bus - what if there were no educators? I for one, have tremendous respect for anyone who has found their calling in life and does what they do best with the attitude that says I am proud of me. 

Karma be damned. Rather than looking upon it to exact revenge upon those who have wronged us, lets use it to be accepting of our own selves and strive to be the best we can be without the comparisons. If I like and respect you for who you are, it is much harder to be cruel. If I accept you and me, I have no need to belittle you to raise myself up.

The Bottom Line     

If you do good you get good but purely in a spiritual sense. A feeling deep within ourselves, but you have to have a conscience to know this. I live my life in the consideration of the good intentions because I can look myself in the mirror and like myself for the effort. If that was the goal of Buddha when the law of Cause and Effect was conceived than I have attained Karma. Certainly I see myself 10 steps behind perfection because I know my flaws, but I would prefer not to focus on your flaws for they are your own issues. 

As for the people who do me a disservice, I may briefly consider the notion of Karma exacting its revenge but I can't dwell on that for it may never come to fruition in my sight. They have to live with their own intentions without the devil me sitting on their shoulder. These though become the people I don't have the time for. I walk away from the bad vibes and negativity.  

Contrary to the teachings of Buddha however, I do not believe that we alone are the architects of our own fate. We may have a hand in it based on our actions. For example, if we commit a crime, we are likely to end up in jail. We have chosen our own fate. But the child that suffers a disease or ailment has not chosen their fate, they have not perpetrated a crime against humanity to deserve such Karma. There are other powers that be at work here. I can't explain them, I just have more and more questions. 

The good die young - but why? And if I live to be 50 or 90 when the rest of my family has passed before the age of 35 - does that mean I am bad? I can't believe in that notion or I can't live without the fear of the wrath of a supreme being raining down on me. God, Buddha, Karma or the devil himself.

"When life throws lemons at you, make Lemonade! Unless the lemons are rotten...then turn around and walk away. For there is a better orchard around the corner if you take the time to look..."