How [i think] Karma works
One of the books that has been instrumental in changing my perspective towards life is called ‘Conversation with God’. The book has 4 parts, each one unique in it’s own way and what this book offers you — is to open your mind about various things.
One of the most important things to grow in life, I believe — is the ability to keep an open mind about various concepts. You could believe a certain way to be true, but if you can keep an open mind, you start to truly learn.
So, all of this GYAAN aside — there’s something that was written in that book, that stuck with me, a particular sentence which made me question (and change) my behaviour towards others.
It goes — ‘What you give to others, you give to yourself’
Basically, the law of Karma. What goes around comes around. You should treat others with kindness. You shouldn’t wish bad on others. Or, it will catch up with you. We all know this, but this doesn’t really help to change our behaviour.
We shout at our loved ones. We want that successful friend to fail. We get jealous of the celebrities on the internet. We do NOT stop to help people who need us. Humans keep killing humans. The knowledge of the law of karma, it doesn’t help. It doesn’t alter our behaviour in any significant way — because we don’t see any immediate effects of it.
What if, there was a way to visualize this — a more interesting way that could actually stop you in your tracks and make you re-think all your actions going forward?
I spent some time thinking and I have developed an interesting hypothesis.
Everything is happening instantaneously
The universe is a mysterious place. In the past few centuries, our understanding of the universe has greatly increased but what we have also understood is how much we DON’T know about the universe.
As per estimates by the scientific community — 95% of our universe consists of dark matter and dark energy (which we know nothing about, because we can’t even see it and we haven’t been able to detect it) and only 5% consists of ordinary matter (what we can actually see)
A lot of talk has also happened that we have multiple universes a.k.a the multi-verse. Obviously, the movies were the first to catch on this concept. And although there’s no way to prove that multiple-universes exist — it makes for one interesting thought experiment.
So, here’s how I think Karma works.
THE HYPOTHESIS
Let’s say that you’re in a burger joint called PapaDonalds’. You order a jumbo sized burger (because you’re quite hangry for some reason) and some fries on the side.
Your arch enemy — Kevin — is sitting two tables away from you. Forgot to tell you, but you’ve made some enemies in your college. You’re very famous. You’re gifted academically. People are jealous of how good you look. But Kevin — he tries to provoke you. He tries to pull you down. And you’ve ignored him for so long, but the truth is, he gets on your nerves.
But today, Kevin took things a little too far. And you fell for his prank. He had planted a shit filled baloon under your seat waiting to explode as soon as you sit on your chair. Unaware, as you sat down with your delicious looking burger — shit went down, literally. And your pants and your shoes were the victims of this prank.
This was it. This was the moment you lost your composure. You really wanted to eat your burger with peace. And Kevin, didn’t let you. So, you did the unexpected. You surprised everyone in the college canteen.
You took the burger and you wiped it with the shit lying on the floor. You’ve got a great aim and you looked for Kevin’s face. And boom, you threw that burger across the tables and you hit the bulls eye. The fate of that burger was sealed. Kevin wouldn’t dare play a prank on you again OR you would make him eat his own shit. Mission accomplished.
Now, obviously Kevin paid for his misdeeds — rather instantaneously. But what about you? You threw a shit filled burger at someone’s face & your aim was absolutely spot on. Surely, karma will get to you at some point?
Here’s what I think happened — that you couldn’t comprehend when you threw that burger.
In an alternative universe, you switched places. You’re the Kevin in that universe. And, as you begin to throw that burger in your current reality — a burger is also flying towards you in that alternative universe. And, it’s happening instantaneously.
In that way, the next time you slap someone — you’re also getting slapped in some other universe. When you help someone, you’re also getting help at the same time. When you save someone’s life, someone is also savings yours. When you inspire others, you’re also getting inspired.
It’s all happening at the same time. Your soul is broken into countless pieces and you’re living countless lives in countless universes. Our consciousness isn’t developed enough to see all those other lives all at once. But if we could, maybe we’d act differently?
It is all connected in a mysterious way that we can’t yet fathom.
And so, what you give to others — you give to yourself.
Obviously, this is just an imagination cooked up by my mind. I have no idea if multiple universes exist. Or if we live countless lives. Or if soul exists. But, it is a thought experiment designed with a sole objective — to change the way you behave. To be more kind. More compassionate. And it has helped me rewire my subconscious to certain extent.
Maybe — me writing this article means that I am getting this knowledge from someone else in another universe. Who knows? But wouldn’t it be something if it were true?