subject: Karmic Misconception [print this page] Often encountered is a much disseminated misconception of the theory of karma. The karmic "law of cause and effect" is frequently misinterpreted as a "law of return," popularized by the unknowingly uninformed. According to this error, if one's volitional actions are charged with a spiritual virtuousness, then a credit is amassed in the cosmic repository of good luck, which will be payed back in full, triple, or any other attractive number. If one's motives are negative, then a payment must be made to neutralize the debit.
Karma's influence is suggested to be of a cause and effect nature, albeit not of such a fantastical character. It is not an externally inherent feature of the universe as implied above. It is an internal function of the human psyche. The mind houses an accumulation of memories of experiences consciously and subconsciously. The subconscious is the psychic field which the seeds (samskaras) of karma incubate until the external conditions surrounding an individual activates them. At this moment the person experiences a burning of the karma as the subconscious cause (seed) bursts forth into the conscious as an effect (fruit). This effect will influence the person's emotions, thoughts, and actions at the time. (Does this theory correlate with that of Jung's syncronicity's, where an external event meaningfully coincides with an internal event for a person in an oftentimes life-altering manner?) It is also important to mention that the karmic seed also motivates an individual's behavior in a much more subtle way as it lingers, excreting a lesser influence before fully fruiting.
A child is once abused by his father in his early youth. The seed is planted and continues to influence the child into experiencing fear surrounding his father and other father-figures as he grows into a young man. His father again attempts to abuse the young man, causing the seed to fruit. The young man either cowers in fear, or confronts his father and burns his karma only to find that he no longer fears his father or other menacing father-figures in his life.
No cosmic forces are at work. Only routine psychological functioning.
