“The law of karma is the law of causation: whatever we do comes back to us.”

—Sogyal Rinpoche

Introduction

We are the sum of our past negative actions and habits until we have learned to overcome them.

We are likewise the sum of our past positive tendencies accumulated over the aeons.

This is the law of cause and effect. Every intended action leads to a manifested physical or behavioral outcome in the cosmos. This then directly reinforces our current tendency to repeat the act unless we decide to break this cycle.

The ancient sages, prophets, and rishis call this ‘karma’, that everything has a repercussion, be it positive or negative, based on the merits or demerits of one’s actions.

I, however, do not like to use the term ‘karma’ because of its religious connotations, which have led to many misunderstandings, such as how one would burn in the eighteenth story of Buddhist hell if one commits horrendous acts. It also leads to superstitions of being reborn as cockroaches for one’s vile deeds.

The law of cause and effect implies that time flows linearly, which perhaps holds for this physical universe and its higher layers, such as the astral, causal, or mental planes.

It may not necessarily be true in other universes with different laws of physics. An infinite number of universes may truly exist, per the latest findings in cosmology, per the works of Mark Tegmark, Sean Carroll, and Roger Penrose.

Per some channeled spiritual teachings, such as the Kryon, Michael, or Bashar channelings, time is subject to existence, but existence is not subject to time.

Therefore, it is possible that within the greater, infinite cosmos, there could be universes with temporal physics so different that the laws of causation may not apply there.

Regardless, within the parameters of the known physical, observable universe, the law of cause and effect holds somewhat and mostly true.

Tetris as an Analogy

Of all the spiritual laws in this book, I have found that Tetris is the ideal metaphor for the law of cause and effect. Here is an illustration below:

Diagram Set 7-1
1	2

Starting field.

An S skim, producing one garbage line output.

3

4

The player upstacks a bit.

Then, he makes a double line clear with a T piece, producing only one garbage line’s output.

5

6

He upstacks a bit again, breaking the downstack combo.

He skims again with minimal garbage output.

Here, the player commits a common mid-game error.

They skim, upstack a bit, skim, and repeat this tragic cycle. This cycle is atrocious because the player generates minimal garbage while maximizing line clear delays. This results in extreme wasted movement.

Many beginners repeatedly commit this error, which often leads them to lose many games. The cycle is finally broken by learning the following beneficial habit:

Diagram Set 7-2
1	2

The player upstacks a bit. This is an alternative move from set 7-1’s step 1.

This minimizes excessive skimming and line clear penalties.

Here, the player upstacks significantly before downstacking to minimize skimming and line clear delay penalties.

Hence, one carries one’s negative habits into future games and reduces one’s win rate until one breaks this habit.

This law can be illustrated in the following concrete terms, in relation to real life:

1. A person copes with their lack of self-esteem by constantly smoking or taking drugs. This leads to a destructive cycle in which one is more compelled to repeat this tendency. The result is emaciation and spiritual deprivation.
2. A person believes that material existence is all that there is. He continues to accumulate vast wealth and lives like the Joneses, offering no solace or aid to those in need. This person is destined to continue this superficial existence focused solely on external things until he breaks the cycle.
3. A person threatens suicide and gets into destructive habits of self-harm every time she is met with a difficulty in life. She does not broaden her horizon or develop resilience, ultimately increasing her chances of ending her life with each passing life trial.
4. A person is used to carrying out intimidation against others to induct people into his cult, all for the purposes of controlling others. He believes that his religious dogmas are gospel and massacres everyone who does not believe in them. If this continues, his worldview will become his prison.

The law of cause and effect can also be a positive one, such as:

1. A person performs many benevolent and charitable deeds throughout his life. He never judges others and accepts them for who they are. He donates generously to help people experiencing homelessness. A person like this would slowly transcend his ego and see the bigger picture of life.
2. A soul has had many past lives on Earth and other planets, during which it has developed intellectual abilities to their fullest potential. In this current Earth life, he inherits and manifests this gift, becoming a scientific prodigy who contributes to humanity’s well-being.
3. A soul has had many past lives in other realms, where she developed profound psychic intuition. She applies this gift in this life to channel spiritual teachings to help enlarge others’ perspectives.

Positive actions and merits in past lives, if done intentionally, can confer merits in the current one by transcending the limits of one’s ego. Likewise, a destructive, intentional habit can shrink one’s worldview and inflate one’s ego.

We can now look at the applications.

Personal Applications

To apply this chapter’s lessons to one’s personal life, one only needs to first introspect and reflect.

What problems and grievances does one have in this current life? Of this, there are two categories:

1. External issues that are not the fault of one’s inner state.
2. Manifested problems that are a reflection of one’s inner state.

The former involves vicissitudes in life over which one has little or no control, such as a natural disaster or illness.

These events are not karmic in nature. However, how one reacts to them can be. For instance, if a person continuously avoids dealing with difficult issues in a positive light, as shown in this chapter’s earlier gambling and drinking examples, they may become less and less inclined to cope with courage.

Matters of the latter are karmic in nature. For instance, a person who develops kleptomania as a result of her inner insecurities may be compelled to keep pilfering until she breaks the cycle. This could arise from insecurities about her looks, affecting her self-esteem.

The cycle will continue until the person breaks out of it.

Life is an agglomeration of many similar karmic cycles.

According to Michael Newton, many souls may incarnate over a thousand lives over 30,000 years. However, they may still be a beginner soul.

This is because they did not cultivate the awareness to gaze into their inner states. Without identifying them, no action can halt or reverse such karmic cycles.

This is why journaling or deep reflections during lone walks are critical. When we are aware of the problems, we can trace their root causes and effects.

Then, we can break down the problems and outgrow them.

It all begins with self-awareness.

Have you looked within yet?

Social and Global Applications

I will reserve the content for this section for the following chapters, because they are an extension of this law:

1. The Law of Connectivity
2. The Law of Perspective
3. The Law of Manifestation
4. The Law of Eternal Reflection