Dear Daughter: Karma & Fate, and The Universe—Whose Karma Are We Really Talking About?

Karma and Fate

And so, my dear daughter, perhaps one of the most interesting questions to me of all time has always been the attempt to understand (as best we can), the correlation(s) between Karma, or Fate, and the Universe that we all inhabit.

At what point does one say that a certain occurrence of events, actions, or even thoughts, for that matter, are attributable, primarily (or maybe even principally) to one’s own Karma, or Fate, and, to what extent, are such events, actions, and even thoughts, attributable to something else?

Are we Masters of our Own Universe?

In attempting to ponder this question, I must say, that for me, I have to start by admitting to two certain very strong intrinsic preconceived notions, or biases, if you will, with respect to this overwhelming (at times) conundrum.

First, I absolutely, in the deepest recesses of my soul, do not, and cannot, believe (as some, apparently, do) that all that we think, act and realize is a function of our Karma, or Fate, the destiny that we are born into for this particular life orientation.

For me, such a belief pattern does not ring true, for, then, I ask myself, what, then, would be the particular point of actually doing anything, making those hard decisions to (attempt, at least) act responsibly?

How would the often painful lessons that we endeavour to teach ourselves (so often in the format of the simple trial and error of life decisions); how would such lessons retain the critical importance that I, for one, believe they do have, if, in fact, everything was already predetermined?

Thus, for me, a completely determinative Karma/Fate analysis simply does not measure up.

So, if all isn’t predetermined — then what?

My second preconceived notion, or bias, is to similarly note, however, that I, also, cannot find comfort in the thought, or belief, that everything that occurs, is somehow, conversely fully attributable to all those

multitudes of thoughts, actions and decisions that we all ponder and make (by the thousands daily, perhaps) in each of our own everyday lives.

To me, this analysis seems equally as unsatisfactory, in its attempt to be a full and complete explanation of how the Universe seems to, apparently, unfold, since, to me, at least, there are far too many patterns of order, of generosity, of symmetry, if you will, that one also does, in fact, find in the Universe.

So, then, why for example does the Sun rise?

At its most simplistic level, for example, how does one explain why, without fail,

the Sun will rise every day,

the Moon will come out and appear to us every night,

that all beings will live and die,

that Souls will continue to permeate the Universe (in both seen and unseen formats),

that children will one day become adults (hopefully, at least in the aging chronological sense, if not always in the mode of psychological growth..),

and yes, even that there will always appear to be questions and thoughts that not one of us, no matter how scholarly or learned that he or she may be, is simply able to answer?

Thus, the world and our Universe, again, to me, at least, do not seem to be fully explainable by our actions, thoughts and decisions alone, either.

Where do we go from here?

So, what do we make of all of this?

For me, what I attempt to make of it is to establish a starting point, that, surely, the Universe must function, partially, based on our own free will (our thoughts, decisions, emotions, etc.),

but also, symbiotically, in connection with some Greater Order or Mystery (that remains, for the most part, relatively hidden or unknowable to us).

Whether one chooses to call that Greater Force “God,” as I so choose, for myself, but, most importantly,

fully believing that each of us is, and must be, fully able to define for ourselves what that “Force” might mean to us—be it a Male deity figure, Female deity figure, no deity figure, a Concept, an Idea, a Truth, Love or Goodness, what have you.

It is my own personal most “fundamental” belief that this is, clearly, a decision that each of us is, and should be, entitled to make for our own selves (or not make at all), as we see fit.

It still is a pretty complex scenario

So thus, having established my own personal parameter of initial “biases”/preconceived notions—that causation is principally caused by the symbiotic relationship of Man and Woman’s free will—in conjunction with some Greater Order—let us now attempt to examine a very simple example to see the underlying fundamental complexit(ies) still inherent in such analyses.

Why bother?

If one, truly, believes (as I do) that intellectual curiosity (to simply try and “understand”), is a good thing, in order to,

first, attempt to realize our own true potential,

but, second, to also simply try to learn certain lessons in life in order to make ourselves better persons (with respect to both our own future actions, thoughts and desires), then, I cannot believe that such an examination is without merit.

As to the argument that such analyses are ultimately, fruitless—again, I do not believe so. If only for the simple reason that trying to do something better in life, to me, seems a good thing, whether or not, one actually realizes the result of such trying or not—so, how can this be a bad thing?

A not very pleasant example

So, having established some ground rules here, let us look at a simple, but horrifically poignant example.

Let us say that one’s beloved child sets out one morning for school, and as he or she sets foot out in the street to catch his or her bus, perhaps not looking as carefully as he or she might, a drunken driver comes whizzing through the cross-section and deeply injures the poor child right on the spot.

There is incredible pain, unconsolable sadness, outright anger.

Once we (attempt to) remove ourselves from the situation in time (candidly, admitting, however, that we might actually never be able to do so, in reality), and ask what happened here on a more “macro”/Universal level, depending on one’s own belief system and thought orientation, several questions might arise…

So, what really happened here?

First off, was it the child’s Karma, to be brutally injured at such an age, tragic and horrific as it may seem?

Was it the driver’s Karma to commit such a horrible and mindless transgression at this juncture?

Was there some element of free will, clearly, apparent in the driver’s choice to indulge himself/herself in an alcoholic stupor (in turn, perhaps an earlier manifestation of his or her Karma, or his or her parent’s inabilities, or Karma)?

Possibly even in the child’s decision to not look as carefully as he or she might have, this one time?

Karma or Free Will?

Who knows?

So, a first level of inquiry might be, Karma or Free Will?

And whose Karma or Free Will?

Karma of those directly affected

The second level, clearly, delineated above, also, is whose Karma or Free Will are we talking about?

The child’s?

The driver’s?

Maybe it was the karma of the parent to suffer such a tragic loss?

Or maybe the driver’s parents’ Karma?

Karma of those indirectly affected

Maybe, to some extent, it was the Karma of the bystander onlooker who, totally anguished by witnessing such a horrific event, then went on to found a major school to help those suffering from alcoholic addictions?

Or, maybe, it was the Karma of another bystander who, witnessing such an event, then completely found himself or herself totally lost in the sheer stupidity and meaningless of such a tragedy, and later found himself or herself moved ever more deeply into a life of despair and physical and mental illnesses?

Maybe it was any or all of such persons involved?

I really don’t know.

And, again, whose Karma or Free Will?

So, again, a second possible level question of whose Karma, or Free Will, applies is, also, not, always, readily, answerable either, it appears.

Since I have often thought about questions like these in the past (as, I am sure, many others have as well), I asked, in my own personal meditations, which of these possible alternatives more meaningfully can be said to apply?

The Juxtaposition of the Combination℠

The answers, that a very true and trusted old wise friend told me, were, simply that, really, to some extent, all of them actually apply.

In other words, yes,

the Universe, does indeed, partially (and cogently) exist as a function of every person’s own free will, entrusted to his or her own thoughts, actions, desires and learning.

But, yes, of course, there is also, clearly, some Greater Order here, that is present as well.

Whether we can all see it (which many often can), or whether we cannot and, indeed, of course, whether or not we even choose to believe that such a force so exists (which, we are, and should be, completely free to choose to believe, or not), these are all part and parcel of what makes the Universe such a wonderful and diverse (and often unfathomable) place.

The friend also said, always remember that, even over and above all such inquiry and analysis, there is also present in the Universe a “Random Factor of Causality℠” (maybe 10–15 percent), such that, sometimes, things that happen really are not necessarily about the actual persons involved, nor, even, necessarily, about any observers present or not present.

No, sometimes, such events, thoughts or actions are not about any of us, at all.

I share this with you, my Dear Daughter, wondering what are your perceptions — and what do you think the answer(s) might be?

Love,

© 2017 Ashton Williams. All Rights Reserved.