In May of 2001, I wrote an article on the Three-Fold Law which described the attributes of cause and effect. I wanted to take a closer look at this in order to debunk many ideas about karma, reincarnation and the nature of God. Wiccans have been misinformed about the Laws of Karma and they pass this "misinformation" on and on and on. The basic law of Karma states that for every action, there will follow an event (or series of events) initiated by that action.
Now here's my insight into this law. The belief in destiny plays a major part. If the Buddhist teaching is correct then one action will have a reaction followed by a re-reaction followed by a re-re-reaction. With this understanding freewill does not exist. I can't believe that. Let's assume that the first man kicked a pebble which rolled over the cliff and struck another man in the head. Out of anger that man falsely accused his neighbor's child of throwing the pebble. That neighbor breaks his friendship and speaks poorly of the man who accused his child of throwing the pebble. The first man hears rumors about the man struck by the pebble told from the neighbor's mouth and becomes suspicious of the neighbor for telling such lies. Where does it end? This can go on for generation of one act causing another and then another. Most people believe that one Cause will have one Effect. This isn't true. I would not have written this "anti-karmic" article if people had not focused so much on Karmic Law. People would not focus so much on Karmic law if the Hippies did not exist. The hippies would not exist if the war in Vietnam did not happen. The war in Vietnam would not have happened if we didn't get involved in another countries problems. As you can see, I was meant to ultimately write this article. This can be seen as my destiny. Not because it was planned but because cause and effect always flows from one generation to the next.
So does freewill exist? If we are to believe
in the laws of Karma then it does not. Karma is
shaped from every experience we've had in life. From the
above example the man who experienced getting hit in the head
with a pebble was part of a series of actions and counter
reaction. Now if experience is the key to understanding
Karma then it cannot be assumed that destiny is a means to
achieve the ends. Next month we'll see how people's ideas
of Karma affect reincarnation.