Instant Karma?

In 1970, John Lennon recorded and released the single Instant Karma. John based the song on speculating how we would live if karma was immediate rather than across lifetimes.  In keeping with the concept, John wrote, recorded and released the song within a ten day period.

Karma is generally viewed to occur over several, or even many lifetimes, but from my limited understanding, this is a simplistic view.  Karma simply means 'action', and as we know, actions have consequences, which could be across lifetimes, or maybe more quickly than that.

During the past six months I have seen three different people, in three different situations, all have "karma" return on them. Some might simply call it comeuppance, and some would suggest, if they new their earlier actions, that it was just. In each situation there was an obvious correlation between the types of their behaviour and the situations they later found themselves in.  And in each situation they were visibly upset and complained loudly about what had occurred to them.

I take no delight in this. And I'm not saying that the Hindu or Buddhist concept of karma was at play here. I just hope that living your life in a positive way, with integrity, results in positive karma.

Hopefully instant.

Beer and Skittles?

It has been an interesting year so far. There have been some incredible positives, and some dreadful negatives. "Yin and yang, heads and tails, yes and no." (and bonus points if you recognise that quote)

It all balances out and counteracts each other.  What we have to do is learn to overcome the negatives and to focus on the positives.  Which, in my case, I have managed to do. And so I find myself in a really good place.

But things never go according to plan, do they?  I had set several goals for the first half of this year, and due to other things (life), they simply could not happen. But we need to be agile, to be flexible, to adapt and change and meet the challenges. And then we have to wonder where karma fits into it all.

And so here we are, almost 6 months into the year, and all is well.

No skittles around here, but there is beer. Pass me a pint!

Converge Now!

For the Chinese New Year I wrote about how this was a year of change. And I mentioned how it certainly felt like it was. Little did I know that change was happening sooner than I expected - both positive and negative.

Some interesting times. A couple of most synchronicitous events all lining up, and my life has taken a drastic turn for the better, despite a couple of real disappointments in the past month.  Feelings of hurt and betrayal by people I trusted and respected. Or thought I did. (No, not you. I know it's not you if you're reading this!) And yet I've been able to shrug it off in ways I never could have in January.

I was speaking to a new-found friend a couple of days ago. Cause and conditions, he said - which is completely true. Much has converged at this point. And there are signs and wonders which lead me to believe more is on its way. Positive things. Fruitful things. Good things.

Do you believe in karma?

I recently had a message from someone who hurt me a few years ago. And now, here they were, asking for my help. I wasn't in a position to do so, so I couldn't. A few years ago I had a friend who went out of his way to help someone who had deeply hurt him. I asked him why he did so. He simply said, "Because it's the right thing to do."  Would I have been so gracious? I guess I'll never know.

So where is this all leading? Goodness knows.  But I can't help but thinking something positive is coming. Something wonderful. I hope it's real. I hope it's true. I hope it's not just a misplaced optimism.

Time will tell.

Converge away! Om Mani Padme Hum.

Can You Dig It?

It's been a busy week at Chateau Cameron. I've been kept busy by circumstances. It hasn't been a bad week, although nothing positive seems to have occured. A few rejections, a few plans that didn't come to fruition, a lottery ticket that didn't win.

Still, I have hopes for some of these negatives to turn around in the near future.

I'm a great believer in karma. The people who tend to abuse or cheat others will get caught out one day. And those of us who try to do the right thing? Well, I think good things await us.

Sounds like I've had a terrible week, huh?  No - just some ideas that have entered my consciousness, plans commenced and a spot of people watching.

And, of course, gardening.  Last year our vegetable harvest was fantastic. And I have high expectations for this coming season.

Karma. You really do reap what you sow.

To Forgive Is Divine, But Revenge Is More Creative.

I've been thinking about karma again this week.

I know I wrote about it a couple of months ago, but certain things stay the same and certain people are rewarded for their lack of integrity. Is it fair? Absolutely not. Can I do anything about it?  Very little. Should I play the game others are playing?  I can't.

You see, something happened to me that I didn't deserve - and I found out later it was done deliberately by someone I knew.  And this someone is a person who is always friendly to me, smiles at me and chats to me.

OK, so I had moments where I had evil thoughts about this person and a large vat of boiling oil, but that's not healthy for me.  Instead I'm trying to let it go. My parents believe in the Bible, and they believe in forgiveness, and that's how they raised me. But they also believe that you reap what you sow. I'm pretty sure there's also something in that book about repaying good with good, and you'll be repaid fourfold by doing right. And if it ain't in there, it sounds like the sort of thing that should be.

Don't presume that forgiveness means forgetting.  Once bitten, twice shy and a bunch of other cliches.

Am I annoyed?  You bet.  But that's something I've got to get over - and at least I have some good people around me that think like I do.

Maybe my reward for this will come - maybe not.  But either way I know I can sleep at night, and I suspect I know a few people who can't.

It Comes Back To Bite Ya.

I’ve been a bit confused recently. I had thought my life and its surrounds were back in balance, and that all was well with the world.

You see, I’m a great believer in karma. I don’t necessarily mean some kind of mystical energy thing, but certainly I think that people reap what they sow. Do unto others and all that. Treat someone badly, and at some point it will come back to haunt you. Or, as a friend puts it, “Be careful how you deal with others. It’ll always come back to bite ya on the bum.”

Recently, someone was particularly nasty and vengeful to me, and it impacted on me. They were rather manipulative, underhanded, dishonest and it hurt me. I wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t going to lower myself to their standard, so I let it go.

And then I heard that someone else had done the same thing to this person. I won’t say I was happy about it, as I don’t like to see anyone being like that, but there was a certain amount of satisfaction that karma was still operating.

But then only a few days later I learned that this person came out on top. And it really annoyed me. What happened to karma? Justice? Where’s the lesson for those that were looking on?

When students complain to me about other students getting away with something, I always remind them that they were lucky this once, but if it’s regular behaviour they’ll get caught out at some point.

With this person I’m starting to hear it’s regular behaviour. And so I must say I have my hopes up. At some point I feel it will all come a cropper for this person. If you act like that, it’ll catch up with you. We never expect it, but we always should.

Which means somewhere along the line something will happen to this person. Or maybe they’ll reincarnate as something lowly – maybe a gnat, or a member of a boyband.