Retribution

The Principle of reflection is all about Being meeting itself. We discussed this before: that all of man’s thoughts, emotions and actions are reflected or mirrored back by manifestation, and that the reflection is accelerated so that the picture is made abundantly clear. We also mentioned that the reflection is delayed in Time for a purpose (see our earlier discussions on Time).

This nature of the reflective process has resulted in religious notions of sin and the retribution of God (“vengeance is mine”), or of karma. The former arises when the laws of reflection are understood in association and inseparable from a personal Deity, whereas the latter takes a purely mechanistic view of the process of reflection. A more correct view lies in between, for while there is the mechanistic workings of the laws of reflection, there is also conscious direction and intervention in the workings of these forces - one that provides real meaning to the concept of prayer. We will come back to this point at a later time (see also chapters ‘War’ and ‘Web’ in our book “The God Principle”).

In this section we will discuss the mechanistic view, which is known in the east as karma. Many of the religions practiced in the West or the Middle East hold that Being is created at physical conception, and is from then on eternal. Many Eastern religions hold that eternity is what it is, and there is no beginning or end to Being. The latter therefore have notions of reincarnation and karma.

While there are some philosophical merits to the eastern view, the western theistic view is a more practical one for everyday living. This is because of certain mistaken and unproductive notions about karma and reincarnation that rose in the east, which introduced a kind of fatalism and seriously stifled the creative efforts of large populations. There arose a view of karma that one must inevitably suffer one’s lot, which gave little incentive to alleviate the misery of fellow human beings, for after all, it is their karma. There also arose views of endless cycles of birth and death and the need to escape from such a cycle by turning away from society and human endeavor. These negative effects are precisely why such notions were expelled from western theology (which then proceeded to incorporate negativity in other forms).

The eastern notion of karma (the word simply means work) has also been grossly misunderstood to the point it is considered the very antithesis of free will. This has very often resulted in fatalistic notions about events, of destiny, and a subsequent resignation to fate. Nothing could be further from a true understanding of ‘karma’. Karma is simply reflection at work. This principle or law is the very essence of free will, for it states that actions out of free will have consequences that must be faced. If there were no free will, there would be no karma. And the karmic impact is only an influence, not the main determining factor of an outcome. It may be compared to a feedback loop in a system or circuit where the result is fed back to its origins and can result in positive amplification or negative attenuation. This feedback can be mistakenly viewed as the primary cause, resulting in a fatalistic notion of endless cycles. The trick here is to see that the circuit element is really oneself, and all it takes to fix the situation is to modify the element (which is oneself), by virtue of free will, and change the output. An important purpose of the karmic feedback is to amplify and make the inner eye discern a problem (if there were a problem).

Thus the most significant determining factor of an outcome, as implied by this principle, is the ability of Being to exercise its own will. To imply or believe that karma determines everything that one goes through, is to place the cart before the horse. Karma is truly about free will and the power to change reality through amplification. It is a great gift of action, of change, and of understanding oneself.

Negative reflection, retribution, or ‘bad karma’ as it is called, enables Being to meet itself by shedding light on its darker aspects. Aside from being absolutely fair, this reflection is the first and foremost compulsion that drives Being to evolve higher toward the Godhead - resulting in humanity’s eventual return to the ONE. Without the workings of the karmic principle, the Great Return will be far more difficult.

In the next section we will look into the concept of vibrations in various expressions of Being. Dynamics of vibrations are key to understanding many perplexing manifestations in the world around.