Monday, November 2, 2020

Karma

A wizened Indian swami I knew wasn’t a fan of western culture, much less its spirituality, but he did eagerly love one Christian homily:
“Let Go; let God.”
He considered this phrase the high water mark for evangelical Christians. He beamed ecstatically as he repeated it.

If you want to make an Indian filibuster - talk themselves into circles so intently that you can pretty much walk away without their even noticing your departure - ask them to explain “karma” (fwiw the way the term’s used in the West is ludicrous).

It can be complicated to explain. But here’s a concise and apt shortcut, courtesy of corn-fed megachurches:
Karma is what compiles as you choose not to let go and let God. It’s the cost of holding on.

Karma is all that weighs you down and oppresses. It’s your immense unconscious burden. And it can dissipate effortlessly, by merely reframing. “Let go; let God” is just a framing choice, and it doesn’t even require God. Make it “The Universe” or “Nature” or some dead ancestor or the memory of your childhood teddy bear or any other cherished entity, real or imagined, that you can pass it all off to (because, as Atlas, poor shmuck, failed to realize, none of us actually needs to hold up the World).


Further Reading:
The Toddler and The Steering Wheel
Jnani Train (also linked above).
A Surprisingly Uplifting Examination of Suicide


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