THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE SOUL #4
FREE WILL AND KARMA
Karma, Free Will and Impermanence are created as a default around the soul.
IMPERMANENCE
”The day we die, the wind comes to take away out footprints. The wind makes dust to cover up the marks left while walking. For otherwise it would seem as if we were still living. Therefore, the wind is he who comes to blow away our footprints.” Southern Bushman Proverb
Impermanence is the seminal challenge we need to recognize when negotiating Free Will and our Karma. All we take with us when we die and cross the veil between the worlds are our experiences and our karma. Some live irresponsibly as if there is no tomorrow, fully believing that we only live once. They immerse themselves in sensory pleasures and the material pursuits required to fulfill them, imagining that there is no reckoning when they get to the other side of the veil between the worlds or even if there is another side.
The three deadly sins of karma - Ego (the self-cherishing of the persona,) Desirous Attachment and Judgment have no hold over them. Judgment of others who have more than they do gives them impetus for gaining more "stuff," power, prestige, fame and the material favors that accompany these attributes. Some wear greed as a badge of honor.
"Know not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you." John Donne
Once we cross over the veil we will all face a spiritual tribunal who judge our skillfulness or unskillfulness navigating samsara (the relentless cycle of birth and rebirth) and the challenges as well as the gifts of being in a sensory body. The consequences of disobeying the laws of spirit are immutable. Karma is not negotiable - one's lawyer cannot help us there. Spiritual laws differ and are stricter than those on the earth plane. They are binding whether we know about them, believe in them, understand them or not. Being ignorant of them is no excuse. That is one of the reasons why the Ancestors teach ... With all your strength get knowledge.
Everyone can ultimately achieve the spiritual perfection for which we are created. This can take many life times because of free will.
However
Free will is always neutral, motivated and catalyzed by desire.
You cannot say, the devil made me do it.
Free will is the cosmic law. We are free to screw up our karma as much as we choose - or take heed of ancient wisdoms.
Merit on a judgmental level is the balancing of evil and good deeds. Merit is the credit we receive on the side of good.
Consequences are neither reward nor punishment, they are simply consequences - natural cause and effect - always inescapable.
Karmic laws are similar to the laws of gravity. If you jump out of a building you are going down, not up.
The results of cause and effect are often not immediate because that would influence free will. God wants us to do things for the right reasons, not out of fear or shame and because of what may result but out of love and justice.
The Creator does not want us to do things because of the fear of hell and damnation. We must have right intention. Fear driven, good intentions are better than negative intentions but may still have a karmic consequence or be karmically neutral. Acts of kindness must be done for their own sake.
Disobeying karmic laws will earn us yet another life time. If we operate karmically at a higher level we have the potential of inheriting a Causal vibration where we no longer our bound to the cycle of death and rebirth.
Everything is foreseen but free will is given.
Because of free will nothing is preordained but it is foreseen by the Creator.
"A net is spread out for the living, free will is given, everything is on loan (impermanent) and all is preparation for a grand celebration." Rev. Akiva
The net is the net of samsara, cause and effect and being bound to the cycle of reincarnation that challenge us being in a sentient body.
If we prevail there will be a great celebration.
We are always free to change course. If we were not, there would be none of the tension required for our victory and fulfillment. There can be no growth without conflict and everything is a test. The light or dark, good or bad, sacred or profane, positive and negative are all necessary and part of the conundrum of life. We are meant to coexist but not assimilate the dark. The only way to overcome evil is with good.
Remember that good prevails by being what it is, not by dispossessing, defeating or winning but simply being more and more of what it is.
If you would dispel the darkness, seek the sacred.
What you resist with persist, what you defeat, defeats you, what you destroy destroys you, what you sanctify, sanctifies you.
The myriad of polarities facing us in life are a template for spiritual perfection. The Supreme Being does not micromanage and does not judge. S/He loves us all - karma is the judge and everyone is capable of being redeemed.
With right understanding and action we can create the conditions for transgressions to become merits.
Those that have reached rock bottom can still emerge like the Phoenix out of the fire and will be regarded very favorably from above. They will usually be more powerful spiritually than others that may have had lesser challenges.
"...what counts is to restrain the blaze in the hours of desire and let it flow into the hours of prayer and service." The Talmud
We can think of this journey as enlisting in the "spiritual" special forces. Our karma is at stake - not our life - but certainly, future life times. It usually gets harder rather than easier as we progress. Everyone is welcome to enlist and each of us has the potential to succeed. The rules are simple but difficult.
Once we pass over, most of us will go to one of the multiple vibrations in the Astral realm where we lose free will. Our karma is cut in stone but can be redeemed in certain circumstance by forgiveness by the living. Unfinished business is best resolved with forgiveness before someone departs. However, skeletons in the closet can still be released after death by those skilled in spiritual work through special rituals. Forgiveness, if sincere, will erase that particular karmic sin and make for a better reincarnation.
Below is a summary of the basic karmic requirements which is a subject for a future blog. There is no judgment day as such on the other side. The process is done lovingly, where we are shown the errors of our ways, but the consequences are immutable.
To correct injustice and help heal the planet.
To do no harm.
To fulfill one’s destiny.
To subordinate Ego to the Higher Self, Monkey Mind to Spacious Mind, our Evil Inclination to our Good Inclination (Shadow.)
To love all Four of the Beings of Nature, not only the Talking Beings.
To be in joy and have gratitude.
The figure below summarizes the polarities that have to be balanced. We could add to this the challenge of subordinating our tricksters to our spirit guides as well as the subconscious imprints of our bad karma from past lives to the good karma of the same. Being subconscious, the only way to do this is with spiritual knowledge and a diligent spiritual practice. Past life regressions could be helpful or startling and unsupportive to our inner being - we have all done bad things before and have already paid the karmic price. Sometimes it's best to look ahead - guilt inhibits our spiritual transformation.
