How many times have you heard the expression “this feels like karma in my life”?
The meaning of the term karma varies according to religion, but basically it has to do with destiny and, in some cases, it has a connection with past lives. Before we were born, some situations in our lives would already be predetermined. The question is whether or not we are responsible for these events.
In a way, some popular sayings express the concept of karma with the Law of Cause and Effect, that is, you will receive according to your actions. If they are good deeds, you will receive good things, just as you will be penalized if you commit bad deeds. "Who sows wind, reaps storm", "whoever with iron hurts, with iron will be hurt", "disease is the inheritance of sin", "a stick that hits Chico, hits Francisco" and so on.
Although it does not exactly use this term, Christianity itself uses the idea of karma as a basis when it attributes the thought that those with a good heart will be welcome to the kingdom of heaven. Inspired by a divine mission, many people did benevolent works that helped change the world for the better, such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Sister Dulce.
At the same time, Christians themselves have used this type of idea to try to justify the unjustifiable. The Catholic Church justified slavery based on the story of Ham, one of Noah's sons. According to the Bible, Ham would have seen his father naked and punished by God to serve his brothers eternally (Genesis 9:22). The Church said that Ham represented people of black origin, that is, his descendants would be doomed to serve the brothers of other races forever. Currently, especially after the events of the Counter-Reformation and the spread of Liberation Theology, the Catholic Church has abandoned this thought and has been largely responsible for the defense that all men are equal before God.
In any case, there are two key questions: is there destiny? If so, to what extent do we have autonomy to form our own destiny? Doing good or bad is a choice. As the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda so well pointed out, we are free to make our choices, but we are hostages to their consequences.
Whether karma exists or not, the answer lies within each of us. More important to where our destiny or our choices take us is certainly what we learn along the way to the end of the path.
- Text written by Diego Rennan from the Eu Sem Fronteiras Team.
