Karma II
From the explanations in Karma I, the whole world should now appear to you – with all its phenomena – as immeasurable tangles of effects, and thus of further new causes and connections. And perhaps that is indeed the case. Everything we perceive – as long as we are in the mode of distinction – consists of vast amounts of interrelations and entanglements.
In a society still largely shaped by theistic (or at least humourless and seriousness-driven) tendencies, allow me, to avoid at this point misunderstandings, a simple note: there is no devil (but yes, there is a lot of serious and humorless). The origins of such theistic notions lie in fear. In truth, everything originally emerges from vastness, playfulness, goodness, and dazzling radiance. The problem for some people may be precisely this dazzling – the incomprehensible, the ungraspable, the bottomlessness – which lets fear transform into something rigid and horrifying.
Now, when holy warriors (warriors, among other things, because of their fearlessness) have seen through these tangles of confusion and agitation, they lean back and relax more and more and gaze at the entanglements with deep compassion, vulnerability, and openness. The question then is: “How can I be of help?” – and specifically: how can I help straight from the base of emptiness and of fundamental goodness? Every time a karmic tangle is seen through, it loses its intensity and grip and even neutralize in high quantities just by itself. They are transcended. Even “important things and circumstances” become meaningless and vanish.
So, for example, if the Dalai Lama comes to Wuppertal, then simply because he – the holy one – is present there in space and time, sitting in his hotel room, countless karmic tangles are transcended. Precisely because the Dalai Lama is so famous, many people turn their gaze toward him, and in doing so, metaphorically burn their fingers on him – in the positive sense: karmic knots get burned away. And one can perceive this quite clearly – if one is open to it. Puff! Paff! Sobriety and lightness. And it happens just by itself, with no effort needed.
I have personally witnessed this many times, how even extremely obsessed people – especially those obsessed with themselves and their projects – were suddenly able to let go effortlessly. The more extreme people are in their obsession with themselves and driven by powerful karmas, the more clearly others can see when everything falls apart for them. And then, suddenly, they are blissful, radiant – bursting into laughter or tears in an instant.
Karma holds things together. Karma condenses. Karma creates narrowness. Karma drives.
The chains of karmic consequences usually function with unshakable persistence, spinning themselves ever further. Yet when touched by the glaring brightness of fundamental goodness, whole masses of knots of fate and debts simply dissolve – with time, space, and “reality,” insofar as we assigned them to major roles in our lives.
Many artists are extremely skilled in dancing and flirting with the madness of these colorful and fascinating karmic worlds. The result is often aesthetic, impressive, deeply moving – often beautiful, and sometimes even untangling karma or example by mirroring it. Other powerful karma-unravellers and neutralizers work more imperceptibly – in simpler and deeper ways. That, of course, is sobering. It seems to make live boring, since we are so used to the karmic entertainments. But right now you will hardly find any ego-less art in the museums out there. But in monasteries and meditation centers, such phenomena can easily be found. Unfortunately, large parts of the living, dynamic worlds – even the stages of beauty and enchantment – are dominated by egomaniacs. And this is true not only for wars and horrors, but also for the arts and creative realms. Even romantic lovers these days awaken fear incredibly quickly, and flames out in possessiveness.
But we must be careful not to declare the ego as the devil itself – for that only makes ego-delusions even denser, instead of giving them the chance to become more transparent, and as I said to gradually dissolve out of themselves. Be warned of the dangers of demonization!
Demonization and Indignation always bring more karma and more harm. They never transcend!
So the spiritual path is about boredom and dancing at the same time? But how can they go together?
Yours,
Winfried the Quijote