Karma Comeuppance

A Buddhist explained it to me like this:  In the west, we tend to think of karma as social justice. If someone robs a little old lady, karma, in our view, would turn around and smack the robber where he lives--like having his own mother getting mugged.  But karma is 'like throwing a fistful of dirt into the wind', this Buddhist said.  It comes back instantaneously and is manifested internally.  Every action has a consequence. So even if the robber took his money and went to live in the Virgin Islands, and everyone would think he got away with it, he would always be looking over his shoulder for the tap.  He has to live with it. The stress. The guilt.

Evil actions, Buddhists say, come from concern with the ego.  As a westerner it's hard to say that ego is evil.  Doesn't all achievement come from ego? I think yes, but ego also says, "I don't have enough." Never enough to feel secure certainly.  Look at the Koch brothers. They never seem to have enough, when their just-getting-by is enough to support a million lesser egos.  None of those rich guys seem happy, you notice that?  Their expressions are pained and twisted.

I think a lot of Republicans come from a place of 'never-enough'.  Insecure egos manifest themselves as fear.  And Republicans are a fearful lot. Afraid of other people especially.

This isn't to say Democrats get off Scott-free. Ego is also giving charity so you feel good about yourself. On a more readily recognizable level, ego is using your position to get large fees for speaking or writing about your experiences doing good so those of us who identify with them feel good by extension.

Countries have karma too.  What happens when we betray our allies? When we betray our ideals? I think we're dealing with that karma comeuppance now.

We betrayed our very essence. We see everyone as our enemy--the very definition of bad karma. We no longer speak of human rights violations. We talk about people running for their lives and seeking sanctuary here as "breaking the law" ergo deserving whatever indignities we chose to impose on them. We talk about KKK members, who are scared of everyone not named Bubba, as "very fine people"

Trump sees everyone as his enemy. That's really bad karma.  But look at what he has, you may say. Okay, he is president (a job he, by all accounts, didn't really want), is rich (the source of said wealth may very well prove to be his undoing), has a loyal and beautiful wife (whose worth he has compulsively degraded), and loyal sycophants (who are willing to put the shiv in when he deserts them.)  He can't sleep and he's afraid of being poisoned. He's afraid. He's tainted the national narrative with his fear.

But you know what? Maybe it started before Trump.  Maybe our bad karma started when we said/say torture is okay.

Hell, maybe it goes back even further.  DeToqueville in Democracy in America said we were never going to be able to live down the legacy of slavery and-- as long as black men get shot in the back fleeing law enforcement who are in a rage because a vehicle is missing a brake light--he's right.

Maybe it goes back even further. We had to slay a lot of Indians to get to Thanksgiving, probably the most fraught-with-bad karma holiday on the US calendar.  Read advice columns that time of year.  "I have to go home for Thanksgiving and my father/mother/brother/sister/aunt doesn't blah blah blah love me."

By now you're panting, waiting for the answer to get rid of bad karma, right?

It's simple and not-so-simple.  Simple in that all you have to do is be aware that your ego is fearful and insatiable and that actions have consequences.  I mean really aware though.  Not just put up a meme on FB that says, "actions have consequences"....Sitting Bull.  You have to know it in your gut and there's nothing stopping you from knowing it now.  It's impossible to be perfect so just be aware of when you're acting out of ego and know that whatever you're doing has consequences.

Just stop, take a breath, and know it.  Simple. And not-so-simple.