The idea of karma lingers in my soul like the scent of a blooming rose. What would life be like without the beauty of roses? It would be as desolate as life without karma. Yet, this is not how human beings on the earth understand karma. I knew this while I lived on the earth and I know it even more intensely as I dwell in the spiritual worlds.
The purpose of karma is to give birth to ourselves while we live on the earth. This is the purpose of living on the earth. As every birth is accompanied by pain so this self-birthing also needs pain, the pain of karma. As the plant gently pushes through the seed pod, deep within the earth, and begins reaching for the sky, so it is with karma dwelling quietly in the soul of every human being.
Each soul will meet their karma and this meeting depends on how conscious the soul has become. The lower the consciousness of a person the more instinctive will be their response to their karma, and in this case the response usually involves lashing out at the perceived cause of the pain. This would be like a mother blaming her baby for causing the pain she experiences as she gives birth.
This response to karma will not result in self-birthing. To be self-born is to use the pain to give birth to something new - a new level of awareness. In this way pain is a gift. If the pain is centralized in the physical body it will be felt in all its intensity. If each human being places the focus of the pain in their soul, and experiences the birth of the Higher Self in the soul, the pain will be experienced with purpose. Being able to do this reduces the intensity of the pain because it is accompanied by the joy of the birth.
What isn’t always understood is that these inner births bring about separations. The change in the person who is self-born separates them from the way they have been living their life and the people in their life may be uncomfortable with the change.
Therefore, each person who manages to be self-born in this way then faces death. The death of the life they had been living up until this point. The only way I can explain this is to use the example of plant growth. The rose begins life as a seed until it flowers, then the flower dies producing a new seed. This new seed will eventually rise again and it will grow in a different place under different conditions.
If we place this within the consciousness of a human being, we see the soul’s activity of thinking, feeling, and will, change - they work from a different perspective. They no longer work from instinctive memory, now they work under the direction of the Higher Self. As I think this through it seems too simple but as I look back on my life with my friends I see how challenging it was for them. They had to leave some of their childhood friends behind because their relationship with them changed. In fact what really changed was the karma between them.
Karma is not very well understood. One person’s karma can be resolved from their point of view while the intensity of that karma can still exist for the other person. The one whose karma is resolved need not turn their back on their friend, they can hold them with deep compassion as they continue to work with that karma, hopefully to give birth to a their Higher Self. It is for this reason that every human being is called to be compassionate for the difficulties that every human being goes through.
The importance of pausing to consider the struggle of other human beings actually gives strength and resilience to them as they face their challenges. This takes place silently; it is a spiritual embrace to uphold the efforts of the other person. There is no fanfare, no egotistical “look what I did.” If the person experiencing the pain steadies themselves and, in quiet reflection, feels the warmth of love surrounding them, their passage will be more gentle and courageous. An image stands before me of the peaceful lion lying down with the lamb.