1-Karma is the Ultimate Law
The Theosophical world
view places a primordial importance on the concept of Karma, considering it the
ultimate law, the one law which is pervasive throughout the manifested world:
As I have said,
we consider it as the Ultimate Law of the Universe, the source, origin
and fount of all other laws which exist throughout Nature. Karma is the
unerring law which adjusts effect to cause, on the physical, mental and
spiritual planes of being. As no cause remains without its due effect from
greatest to least, from a cosmic disturbance down to the movement of your hand,
and as like produces like, Karma is that unseen and unknown law which
adjusts wisely, intelligently and equitably each effect to its
cause, tracing the latter back to its producer. Though itself unknowable, its
action is perceivable. (Key to Theosophy, 201)
2- Karma functions on several different levelsWilliam Q. Judge gives the following succinct definition, presenting the two basic notions of Karma as a moral law and Karma as the general law of cause and effect.:
Applied to
man's moral life it is the law of ethical causation, justice, reward and
punishment; the cause for birth and rebirth, yet equally the means for escape
from incarnation. Viewed from another point it is merely effect flowing from
cause, action and reaction, exact result for every thought and act. It is act
and the result of act; for the word's literal meaning is action. Theosophy
views the Universe as an intelligent whole, hence every motion in the Universe
is an action of that whole leading to results, which themselves become causes
for further results. Viewing it thus broadly, the ancient Hindus said that
every being up to Brahma was under the rule of Karma. (Ocean of Theosophy, 89)
3- Karma is the essential principle of Harmony
Although ascertaining
the specific nature of the cause and effects of Karma is difficult, it can be
basically understood as one of harmony:
For the only decree of Karma — an eternal and
immutable decree — is absolute Harmony in the world of matter as it is in the
world of Spirit. It is not, therefore, Karma that rewards or punishes, but it
is we, who reward or punish ourselves according to whether we work with,
through and along with nature, abiding by the laws on which that Harmony
depends, or — break them.(Secret Doctrine I, 643)4-Karma is the Law of Universal Justice
Therefore, on the human plane, Karmic law is one of justice which punishes the wrongdoers and rewards the virtuous with complete impartiality:
But if you ask me to define its effects and tell you what these
are in our belief, I may say that the experience of thousands of ages has shown
us that they are absolute and unerring equity, wisdom, and intelligence.
For Karma in its effects is an unfailing redresser of human injustice, and
of all the failures of nature; a stern adjuster of wrongs; a retributive law
which rewards and punishes with equal impartiality. It is, in the strictest
sense, "no respecter of persons," though, on the other hand, it can
neither be propitiated, nor turned aside by prayer. This is a belief common to
Hindus and Buddhists, who both believe in Karma. (Key 198)
5-Karma is aTranscendent and Impartial PowerIt can be considered to be governed by a higher spiritual power:
What we believe
in, is strict and impartial justice. Our idea of the unknown Universal Deity,
represented by Karma, is that it is a Power which cannot fail, and can,
therefore, have neither wrath nor mercy, only absolute Equity, which leaves
every cause, great or small, to work out its inevitable effects. The saying of
Jesus: "With what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again"
(Matth. vii., 2), neither by expression nor implication points to any hope of
future mercy or salvation by proxy. This is why, recognising as we do in our
philosophy the justice of this statement, we cannot recommend too strongly
mercy, charity, and forgiveness of mutual offences. (Key 199-200)
6- The notion of Karma is the foundation of
ethicsThe doctrine of Karma has pre-eminently served as a basis for ethics and the Theosophical approach likewise proposes the notion of Karma as a key to ethics based on responsibility and peace:
We cut these numerous windings in our destinies
daily with our own hands, while we imagine that we are pursuing a track on the
royal high road of respectability and duty, and then complain of those ways
being so intricate and so dark. We stand bewildered before the mystery of our
own making, and the riddles of life that we will not solve, and then
accuse the great Sphinx of devouring us. But verily there is not an accident in
our lives, not a misshapen day, or a misfortune, that could not be traced back
to our own doings in this or in another life. If one breaks the laws of
Harmony, or, as a theosophical writer expresses it, “the laws of life,” one
must be prepared to fall into the chaos one has oneself produced. For,
according to the same writer, “the only conclusion one can come to is that
these laws of life are their own avengers; and consequently that every avenging
Angel is only a typified representation of their re-action.” (Secret Doctrine I, 643)
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