here is another way to 'swallow' the concept of karma, in a way that one moves past *concept* and this may be easier to see, in action: to learn from, which is the only reason for karma's existence...

imagine as a young girl (or boy!) your best friend suffers some sort of setback--very minor, let's say, but upsetting: imagine that it is directly related to an action of yours--maybe a "white" lie...maybe something you harmlessly pocketed, never thinking of it as stealing...whatever it is..

Sometime later when you see the effects: the string of 'beads' of cause and effect and effect..

you feel you would do *anything * to undo that small thing you did that contributed to some outcome--- that's karma. Any of what you might call 'negative' action builds "negative" karma. (There is also storing up so-called "good" karma: what you clearly see "saintly" people doing, for example--and you may see some people "spending". This latter may be hard to understand if someone's actions seem negative, yet they seem to be 'rewarded.)

No matter what the physical "I" thinks is "me" ...there is a string of action
bigger than this "I" -- or any other : of cause and effect...for good,
for 'ill', or, shall we say 'un-luck'.


The odd part (*to us linear thinkers) is that there is no telling when (!)
the "bill" that "you" would dearly love to "pay"
comes due. This is crucial to remember.

Churches have it mostly wrong--There IS,
remember, for us all, a private, intimate 'church'.
That thing you do with your fingers- a "personal" church.
Remember? There's good teaching in that:

"Here is the church, here is the steeple,
open the doors: see all the people."
SEE ALL.

You, in your deepest self WANT to make amends
for anything that may have caused another any pain,
since "you" at your deepest know
that we are all ONE. Indivisible.


This is not about "guilt" and "punishment".
It's about coming to Light. The reverse of "time"
(and blindly accumulating karma) is "emit".

(No praise. No blame) lots of blessings.


hope that clarifies things.


OX