Capricious Karma?
A Powerful Indian Tale, For When Karma Feels Like a Bitch Again!
“The unworthy have it better!”, is an emotionally loaded statement attributed to frustrated human experience, across times. It’s more common in an era of accelerated living, used to increasingly instant fixes, & deals.
Sure enough, the world of reward & retribution does often seem to work in very whimsical ways; defying all logic, reasoning, & good sense.
Of course, & thank God, I too experience scorn, anger, & cynicism at this whole just rewards for right theory, which seems so contrary at times that it’s baffling!
However, as my journey of moving beyond the mind, & into the self deepens, such bursts have often led to unexpectedly coherent revelations into the truth, that leave me speechless; & grateful. I have to say, I’ve gotten to observe such insanely perfect microcosms of deed & deliverance that they amaze me at just how beyond flawless & neutral nature actually seems!
But, what stays with me is the folk tale; narrated casually, just about twice to me, by dadi; my beloved, vivacious, paternal grandmother. Its simplicity remains, a most surprisingly powerful analogy demystifying karmic pricks. It repeatedly strikes me with its refreshingly deep wisdom encapsulated in childlike narrative.
You might smile; you might call it stupid. The point is, the next time you feel thrown overboard by random caprices of life, this tale, from somewhere in ancient India, just might supply courage; & a reminder that there might be way more than meets our shortsighted eye, in the whimsical seeming Karmic justice. It has mathematically precise calculation. Sometimes, it also has its own, sense of humor :)…
So, two childhood ‘friends’, unlike each other as could be, are nearing completion of their long journey, through a wild jungle, towards a town of abundant opportunity. For simplicity’s sake, let’s call the first one Evilheart. He is the personification of everything wrong with the world — greed, selfishness, deceit…
Throughout most of his life, Evilheart’s fortune seemed unusually favorable (like bad guys’ luck often seems). His friend, Goodheart, seemed stuck with goodness, & with endeavoring to keep his spirit above his many trials.
Suddenly, Evilheart bumps against what turns out to be a chest of gold, buried in thick foliage. Even as he celebrates boisterously, Goodheart’s right foot gets bloodied by a long, sharp thorn. His lifelong resilience & faith faltering under pain, tiredness, & injustice; Goodheart angrily berates God for an unjust, unaccountable world.
As Goodheart sleeps sorrowfully that night, he sees God’s light before him, & hears words spoken with infinite love, “Your friend, through meritorious actions of many past births, was to receive a kingdom today! But, owning to continuing misdeeds in this life, it dwindled down to a mere chest of gold, soon to be wasted away.”
“You, on the other hand, were originally destined to have faced your biggest bad fortune — death by hanging. Your worthy actions eroded it down to the mere prick of a thorn!”
