Voice of the Spirit

When someone hurts us and wrongs us, it triggers a series of internal emotions: starting with the initial shock, to confusion and disillusionment as to why it happened, eventually leading to the feeling of victimization.  Once we identify with being a victim, though, that progresses to even worse feelings such as long term resentment and rage, which can potentially settle into chronic bitterness.  Once we’ve become a bitter person, it is quite hard for us to be at peace, not only with what we’ve been through, but with our lives on any level.  The bitterness serves as a form of ever growing negative bacteria throughout our systems. 

It’s always hardest when we have been close to the person who has wronged us.  We all can pretty much conceive of strangers doing bad things to people; but it is difficult for us to accept that someone who is connected to us – a person we may have even loved, hurting us so badly.  Our personal connection to them presumably makes us feel as if they wouldn’t do something terrible to us.  So when it does, the pain is so much more egregious, because of the depth of our feelings we have for that individual.  We all like to believe that those we love will also care for us in return and when they seriously harm and even destroy our lives, it can be just devastating. 

Then when we look at this person, we notice that perhaps they seem to be doing ok, even though our lives are in shambles – in fact, they always appear to be moving along just fine with their own life – they are not hurting at all like we are!  And we ask ourselves, “How come nothing bad ever happens to them and why don’t they ever get back what they’ve done to others?”  Clarifying these issues from a spiritual perspective is the point of this writing.

As we look at the process of the actions which have been done toward us and how they affect us, we must also look at the same cause and effect relationship spiritually.  According to the law of karma, whatever is done by a person (to us), comes back to that individual.  As you may remember in a previous newsletter, the word karma comes from a Sanskrit root that means “to do.” This refers to the consequences of our actions from past lives and this lifetime, too.  Also, karma can mean “comeback.” All we have done before comes back to us, as in what we have done prior.  In the short of it, from a spiritual point of view, whatever someone has done to you, in time will come back to them.  Since karma is neutral and can either be “good” or “bad,” for the purpose of this writing, all of the karma referred to below will be negative or “bad” karma.

Something I hear frequently from clients is how they are disillusioned and frustrated with the concept of “karma,” as they have not yet seen any negative repercussions come back to the person who has harmed them.  It’s as if they believe that if they were victimized, let’s say in January 2008, that sometime shortly after, weeks or maybe months, that the person who harmed them would and should receive a pay back.  However, this hardly ever happens in such short time frames after the initial hurtful act was done.

This can be one of the most confusing aspects of the law of karma. Especially when someone is feeling hurt by another, it is hard to grasp that it just may take quite a long time for the repercussions to come back to the perpetrator.  Simply stated, there is no strict time frame as to when karma will comeback.  Meaning, we may not see the repercussions occur to the person who has hurt us in the time period that we are emotionally expecting at all.

The exact time when karma comes back to an individual is dependent on when God and the lords of karma (the spiritual forces who govern and oversee karma in the physical world), decide that the time period is correct.  It can be today, tomorrow, years, decades and even lifetimes before karma comes back to an individual. Yes, it can even take lifetimes for it to come back!

You might ask, “Why is the time so variable?”  In part, it depends on how spiritually evolved one is.  The less evolved they are, the more likely karma will come back to them slowly.  In a sense, they may not “know any better.”  However, for someone who does indeed know better and understands the consequences for his or her actions, it is more likely that karma will come back far more rapidly as they, on the other hand, are more spiritually evolved.

Often, God will give an individual many chances to learn their lesson before karma comes back, with the hope that they can spiritually grow and begin atoning for their negative past deeds.  It is sort of like someone being on probation for a crime they committed; with probation, it is hoped that this individual will come to terms with their bad acts and make a change for the better.

Another noteworthy thought is that some people have “instant karma” karma in this lifetime.  Everything seems to come back to them immediately.  That is not random or by accident.  It is part of their spiritual plan.  Whatever they do is supposed to come back immediately, as it forces them to deal with and take notice of the repercussions for their actions.  With instant karma, it becomes less likely to avoid acknowledging their karmic consequences – as those consequences are right in front of them.

In addition, karma needs to come back at the correct time. That time may need to be in line with when someone is supposed to (from a spiritual point of view) from their consequences.  Also, the physical settings and circumstances need to be able to facilitate when the karma occurs.  Since the physical world changes every day, there is the specific time when things need to occur.  It is the same as when there is a specific time for a plane to take off for a destination.

There may also be past life situations and circumstances that cannot be humanly perceived.  What occurred in prior lifetimes also has a huge impact on when karma may come back in this lifetime.  We may not see these time frames as human beings, as there is no way we can prove what happened in prior lifetimes between the individuals involved. For example, Susan may have left her husband Tom in another lifetime for his best friend, which devastated Tom.  In this lifetime, Susan and Tom agreed (before this incarnation) that in this lifetime, Tom would indeed leave his wife Susan.  If we didn’t know the back-story, it could seem wrong, however, there is always more than meets our physical eyes.

But, it always does come back, and that is not meant as a punitive statement.  It is just a natural law of the universe.  Just because we may not witness the comeback, doesn’t mean that it won’t happen.  It always does happen in due time. 

Besides the question of “when” karma comes back, there is also the question of “who” will indeed bring the repercussions to bear.  You might question, “If someone hurt me, wouldn’t I have to be the person who does the same thing to them in return?  After all, it was done to me.”   Not necessarily so.  Often, it is a person entirely different than the person who was originally hurt.  For example:  If a woman’s husband cheated on her and left her for another woman, the other woman may end up being the one who in turn, cheats on him.  Here, it wasn’t his ex wife who paid him back, but it was the other woman.

Often, the person originally wronged is not in a position in the physical world to be the one to facilitate the consequence.  Let’s say, a man robbed a woman in Seattle (who herself continued to reside in Seattle). The robber then moved to New York, so the victim of the robbery would not be anywhere near the robber to potentially pay him back.  If the lords of karma were to bring the karmic repercussion to bear on the robber while the victim was still living in Seattle, another person could be the vehicle for the karma to bear; someone who would be in the vicinity of the robber.

If the original “victim” transitioned into spirit before the time period of the karma to come back to the perpetrator, that “victim” wouldn’t be present in the human form to be a part of that karmic payback; so another person would need to be the catalyst for the karmic consequence.

Also, a person originally wronged may have grown in such a way that he or she wouldn’t be able to act in a punitive way toward the person who once hurt them.  If a man physically attacked another man and seriously injured him (and that man grew to forgive his attacker and had come to a place of peace), he may not be the person who brings the repercussions into being.  He was beyond that energy in consciousness – (one that would have felt compelled to attack back), therefore, through his spiritual growth, he had transcended the negative energy of what happened before.

Besides the “when” and the “who” of karma’s come back, there is also the question of “how.”  How does karma come back?  Let’s look at a situation:  Wouldn’t it make sense that if John ruined the career of Valerie on purpose, that at some point (and even perhaps by a different person other than Valerie), John would have his career ruined in exactly the same way he once did to Valerie? 

Again, not necessarily so.  John’s career actually ended up doing fine in this lifetime, even though he destroyed Valerie’s.  So you might ask, “Why wouldn’t John’s career end up getting ruined, as he did to Valerie’s?  Doesn’t what goes around, come around?”  Often, karma comes back to a person in an entirely different way or in a different area of their life than which the original karma was created.  Karma is not always a mirror of what originally occurred.

Regarding John, even though his career remained intact, his house burned down, plus he had two serious accidents that involved slipping and falling.  All of these problems would have not happened had he not ruined Valerie’s career, as the negative energy he created came back to him, albeit in a different way. 

Let’s say, a man named Joe cheated on several women and wreaked havoc in their lives.  None of these women ever cheated on Joe in return, and in addition, no other new women cheated on him in the future either as a form of payback.  It might seem like Joe “got away with it,” as if he had his fun, deceived multiple women, and just rode off into the sunset.  However, Joe developed serious and life debilitating health problems, ones that wouldn’t have manifested had he not hurt so many of these women and created so much negativity.  It all did come back to him, but in a completely different way than what Joe originally did.  On top of that, Joe may have to work all of this out with these women in subsequent lifetimes, as it was not circumstantially possible to do so in everyone’s current incarnation.

With Joe’s situation, along with all of the above-mentioned examples, karmic repercussions can be quite difficult for us to understand.  So as we look at the “when,” “who,” and “how” karma comes back, it is so much more intricate, multi faceted and complicated in its applications that we may have ever thought prior.

The same frustrations we have all felt regarding it seeming like nothing bad ever happens to those who have hurt us, doesn’t just apply to our daily lives, but also to our court system.  Our courts are supposed to provide justice and repercussions for those who have wronged us – in the same way we believe that karma will come back to those who have hurt us in day to day life.  However, that is not how it always appears to be.

Certainly all of us have seen or experienced court verdicts that were (from a human point of view) unjust.  Murderers walk away seemingly scott free and people get falsely convicted everyday.  You could say, “Where is the karmic justice in that?”  Again, never lose sight of the fact that: 

We don’t know the past life ramifications involved, which means that there may be more complicated lessons and past occurrences between the parties involved that we could ever perceive.

 Karma may not come back in the way, time or fashion we feel is humanly right, meaning that karmic justice may be served subsequent to an “unfair” court verdict: later in this lifetime or in future incarnations.

Only God knows for sure what the karma actually is, therefore, we can’t judge things merely based on current appearances and circumstances. 

Regarding the justice system, here is a question worth asking:  Does a guilty verdict and punishment (prison, execution) by the state constitute a karmic consequence?  It may be part of the karmic consequence, although there is still the issue of the “victim” and / or “victims” involved and what happened to their lives from the negative deeds both internally and externally.  In addition to negative actions, the emotions we feel as “victims” has a tremendous amount to do with how karma is created.  As emotions do create karma, the intensity of such feelings as: hurt, anger, rage, vindictiveness, self-pity and bitterness, function as handcuffs between the parties involved.  With these negative emotions engaged, not only is karma set into motion, but it binds everyone involved to have to come face to face with it all again.  You might say ask, “What for?  Hasn’t the “victim” suffered enough?”  It has to be dealt with again so that complete peace and resolution will ultimately be achieved.

It is most important to differentiate here between God’s eternal karmic justice and justice here on earth, which of course, appears flawed to us.  But in cosmic terms, is it really?   We are all so familiar with the Bible phrase: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”  With that old mainstay, we tend to think of karma as bringing about justice; justice in very literal terms – as if to say that if you punched me on Monday, therefore I will punch you soon afterwards. 

Even though it may take a lot of time, and not be perceived in ways that make sense to us, karmic justice is always ultimately and perfectly served from a spiritual perspective.  In reality, God is ultimately not unfair; even though we all have felt those utterly painful emotions that cause us to yell out, “Life just isn’t fair!”

With the nagging question of “How come nothing bad ever happens to them,” we become imprisoned by feelings of hurt, resentment and worst of all, bitterness.  However, we must understand that regarding karma, God and the lords of karma are in charge, not us – and they do know what to do.  We cannot hold onto the feeling that somehow we know and have the right to declare what is right, just, and ultimately, what is supposed to occur once we’ve been wronged.  In our emotional subjectivity, we lose any and all sight of looking at our experiences from a point of spiritual overview.  And it’s not to say that our feelings are wrong; however, emotions may not represent cosmic truth, but rather, simply what we feel as people. 

People want to feel avenged and revenged…. Sometimes, they feel revenge is absolutely necessary to even the score and move on.  However, these needs are not always based on a vindictive need to get even.  A person may simply feel that they really must be vindicated and have closure to put what happened behind them.  However, we must try to let go of these needs, so we can begin putting out lives back together, as there is no guarantee that we will feel avenged, revenged and vindicated regarding what has occurred.

We may have gone through these experiences to learn, and what we are supposed to learn from being wronged, may be different that what we want.  Wanting to get even with others based on being hurt is like drinking poison – and thinking that it will somehow poison the other person.  The more we desire to see it all come back to another, the more we suffer, through indulging in repeated doses of emotional negativity – equivalent to literally poisoning ourselves – a little at a time.

I remember a female client of mine who had dated a male co-worker who had a history of non-commitment to the women he dated.  However, she stubbornly held onto the idea that this “relationship” would evolve into something much more, even though I repeatedly told her that this man would never love or care for her.  So when things didn’t go the way she intended and it all fell apart, she tried to “get even,” by trying to get him to lose his job.  Here, she was trying to take the place of the lords of karma by bringing the karma to bear on this man in the way she felt was right and justified.

What happened however, is that through her negative act, it all came back to her – and everyone in the office turned against her.  Even though she may have been hurt, indulging in this negativity came back to harm her.  It would have served her better to work on releasing this man, and praying for forgiveness.

So instead of waiting and hoping for someone to “get theirs,” it is our job to begin forgiving.  We must work on forgiving those who have wronged, hurt us, or even destroyed our lives.  Without forgiveness, we will never be free, or happy at all.  Also, if we hold onto negative emotions, we are handcuffing ourselves to the person and what they have done to us – and putting ourselves in a prison.  If we are internally “locked up,” most assuredly, we will become imprisoned externally in our lives as well, whether through illness, poverty, accidents, or restrictions that bind us. 

I completely understand how you feel if you keep coming back to that nagging question, “How come nothing bad ever happens to them?”  Inside, you feel that they did these horrible things and simply got away with it.  Instead, we need to replace that question by affirming, “God blesses this situation and all is resolved for the highest peace and highest good.”  Also, one could day, “I wish this person well and affirm that all is peaceful between us.”  I know how hard it is to let go – but we must all try our best to do so. 

By releasing the burden of all that has happened to divine love, we give it all up to God Almighty, who DOES know what’s best for all parties concerned.  And if we can wish well upon all who have harmed us, we become free – free like a bird.  It is the heaviness of negative emotions that weigh us down, even to the point of crippling us:  emotionally, physically, financially and in all ways.  By blessing those who have hurt us, we will bring good back to us.  Why?  Because we tend to attract what we vibrate to.  And with perfect peace, we will see wondrous miracles come to us.

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