Today's Pondering...Karma

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each person’s life, sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.”


Everyone is suffering in one way or another. Some suffering is obvious; some is subtle. The fact is that few people in the world have found true permanent happiness. Most others suffer in their constant striving for approval, for pleasure, for respite from all kinds of hungers, for freedom from all kinds of thoughts and entanglements.

I fit in the last category. I have looked deep within and see that my own anger, restlessness, and abruptness have hardened the shell, shielding pain and anger. I’ve said it before, that I am no good at confrontation. It doesn’t mean that I am not compassionate or that I’m not aware of the suffering of another, coupled with the sincere wish to relieve it. It also doesn’t mean I am not willing to be compassionate before I have allowed myself to come to know what is inside me, before I feel my own outrage or fear. There is a cycle of healing, to experience, release, and transform, and we often have to live through the full cycle to heal.

I don’t feel I want to obscure the emotions I feel…the anger, fear or resentment, but I am working towards a more expanded understanding, that first by experiencing those things, I can move to other stages of self fulfillment, including the compassion I feel for myself. Eventually, I will come to see that everyone who makes another one suffer is also suffering greatly, and more than likely, has suffered at the hands of another.

I had a recent conversation with my son about karma and destiny. You know “what goes around comes around”…and “karma’s a bitch.” There is a great deal written about karma, which asserts that your suffering is preordained as a result of previous actions that you’ve taken in other times. I also think karma is stemmed from our roots, physical issues, illness, pain, hunger, and poverty creating states of human suffering and misidentifying ourselves as a being separate of those things. I relate what I just said the Hank Williams song, ‘Family Tradition.’

Okay, I’m getting off the path I started on, my mind wanders, and some days I wonder if I’m a prime candidate for ADD. Who know, maybe I am. I’m looking out the window, I see the sun is shining, the temperatures are rising, flowers blooming, and yes, my mind is wandering. With a broad smile on my face, I know it’s a good day to be alive!

If you’ve followed my journey this past year, you’ll see I ride a rather large wave. I’ve never been surfing, but I have experienced being in a boat in a storm. First, you’re looking up to the dark ominous sky, then in the blink of an eye, you’re staring at the water, all the while wondering if your little boat will plummet towards the bottom of the ocean. Not all my emotions are on the surface, but you have an understanding how I strive for contentment!

Peace…