Part of this article is based on Sal Rachele’s channelling.
Eastern religions believe in Karma (or “cause and effect”). Western religions do not place much emphasis on it other than to mention cause and effect. Even then, they would say “cause and effect” is different to karma. New Age philosophies emphasize more on Free Will. With such differing school of thoughts is it any wonder that we get all confused as to which is right or wrong?
Well, to start with, I wouldn’t say that any school of thought is right or wrong. I prefer to say that they are all somewhat right because they all place different emphasis on each of the above. You see, truth is not the exclusivity of any one culture, religion or part of the world.
Karma IS “Cause and effect” but without the over emphasis that eastern religions place on the subject. And there is Free Will that “reigns” surpreme. I say “reigns” in inverted commas because at a higher plane of existence (dimension) your free will equals God’s Will. You will choose no other but the one that gives you the highest bliss and at that level it is none other than God’s Will.
We will look at both Free Will and Karma separately
Free Will
This is a greatly misunderstood subject. When I say Free Will, I do not mean the free will to change universal laws. Free Will only means that you can choose what to take on at a given time. Eg: a soul’s lessons (karma) can be a long, slow and painful journey for most ordinary folks. However, it can also be short and dispelled rather quickly by learning the lesson fast and through forgiveness, letting go, embracing the present etc. However, for most people this would be next to impossible as they are too caught up with “life” that they do not stop to take stock on where they are. All motivational speakers and personal development trainers advocate the need for us to take stock on where we are. But not many of us who attended those trainings take it with us outside the training room (or seminar hall). Dispelling karma is only possible with awareness and the willingness to understand the traps and detours of the ego. The more aware we become, the higher we climb on the spiritual ladder (or dimensional scale).
There are limitations to Free Will too. Within a given dimension, there is a certain amount of free choice. Why? When we enter a certain vibrational density (or dimension), we automatically abide by the laws that govern that density or dimension. The exception is that you come from a higher dimension with the sole purpose of guiding those in the lower dimension into higher realms. Even then, you will still be somewhat limited or governed by laws of the lower realms. For example: Jesus, Buddha and the other great Avatars of our time were able to perform so-called miracles because they used the laws of higher dimensions to supersede the laws of 3rd dimension. I will take the opportunity to state here that we are all, at present on Earth, in the 3rd dimension. New Agers will tell you that we are all in the process of shifting to a higher dimension at present. Some say 4th dimension. Some say all the way to 5th dimension. Hence all the upheaval on this planet today as old structures are being dismantled and deconstructed in order for new ones to be put in place. But that’s another story for another time.
Generally, most people confuse free will with their own ego-based decision making. Eg: Say a couple is going through a bad patch in their relationship. Say the husband attends a personal development seminar. After completing the seminar, he decides to terminate the relationship with the spouse claiming his free will. But the problem with the relationship could actually be him and not her. In a situation like this, it is quite obvious its the man’s ego making the decision and not true free will.
Free Will and Ego based decision making are not the same. It really depends on what level of awareness we are coming from. One way to look at this is to consider that very few of us actually have free will. This is due to our own habits, belief system, conditioning and programming. From higher dimensional points of view (6th or higher), it is all free will. At some point (pre-incarnation etc) we made a decision to have a veil put over our awareness in order to experience “life”. This subjected us to the laws and deceptions inherent in the 3rd dimension without remembering the knowledge of how to transcend them. While this may seem strange that we would do that to ourselves, it actually isn’t. Our soul chooses to learn certain lessons and hence experience its creation. The veil serves to enrich our experience as we re-discover and learn the lessons that our soul desires to learn. However, being stuck in 3rd dimension illusions, we then made decisions based on fear, scarcity, need for approval, etc. Many motivational and personal development speakers have taught about our need to feel accepted and gain approval etc so I will not go into that further. Anyway, once we realize this and then consciously choose to step out of the routine i.e. use our free will to choose awareness over ignorance, then our future decisions are not dominated by fear and 3rd dimension illusions.
There is a certain amount of pre-destiny inherent in the Divine Plan. Eventually, all of us will ascend into higher realms. We have within our DNA the blueprint for ascension. However, we can by exercising our free will, delay the perfect unfoldment of that DNA blueprint. In a temporary sense, we can override it with negative beliefs and stuck emotions. In actuality, if we let go of our judgments, guilt, fear and constant worry and strife, the program unfolds more easily. Let it go and let it flow -- and it DOES just magically happen. But the paradox is, we must work hard to unlearn all the lies and distortions we have been taught for millennia that says the path to enlightenment is a struggle -- you know, "no pain, no gain" and all that.
Our exercise of free will is dependent on what aspect of the self we identify with. We may seem to be bound by the laws of the physical world, but only if we are attached to that perception. For example, once we let go of our identification with the body, we are no longer at the mercy of the medical profession. We are then free to let our spiritual awareness decide what is best for our bodies.
In summary, I believe free will is what one has when one is free of all illusions. Probably none of us on planet Earth have true free will because our wills are imprisoned by limiting thoughts and beliefs. But then, when we are free of all illusions, the concept of free will becomes meaningless anyway because there is only God's Will, which is the creative force. And as stated earlier, at higher levels of existence, your free will equals God’s Will as that gives you the highest bliss.
Law of Karma
Coming back to Karma; Karma is basically the soul’s lessons. You as a soul have elected to learn certain lessons to enrich the soul’s creation (or separation from the Divine). Basically your soul is experiencing its own creation to enrich the One Source.
The law of karma (or cause and effect) is a 4th dimensional principle. That means it operates in the 1st to 4th dimensions, but not the higher ones. The common perception of karma involves the idea that what goes around comes around. And for Eastern religions, karma is a big thing. This is partly true, but only if one is stuck in the lower four dimensions. Once we fully understand our actions, behaviours, thoughts, feelings and perceptions, we can then use our free will to consciously create a different path of karma. By aligning our heart, mind and body (or all your etheric bodies to put it simply), we can make a decision with our whole being, thereby avoiding what is called “residual karma.” The idea of residual karma involves incomplete decisions, or decisions that leave a lot of unfinished business. If we come to a closure with our relationships, and keep to our agreements, we do not create additional karma. When we forgive ourselves, we actually erase karma.
To repeat a major idea, a stumbling block in understanding karma and free will involves the “all is illusion” viewpoint of eastern religion that people use to escape responsibility for everyday life and to avoid looking at issues.
If you consciously let another person choose a life fish to be cooked thinking that the other person is the one creating karma and that you are not, but you also look forward to eating the deliciously cooked fresh fish when it is served, then you are greatly mistaken.
What these arrogant I-am-mightier-than-thou detached souls fail to realize is that love (or compassion) is a higher law, and love will respond to suffering. It may not necessarily involve preaching to the other person on the virtues of being kind to animals and that we should go vegan. But it will most certainly not involve going into denial about the suffering of others nor the hypocrisy that it is not your karma. Having compassion towards the suffering is not the same thing as sitting detached in intellectual supremacy, while rationalizing about the suffering.
Thankfully the 5th Dimension Law of Love (or unconditional love or compassion) supersedes the 4th Dimension Law of Karma. No one can attain the 5th Dimension without letting go of intellectual superiority and embracing God’s Unconditional Love and Compassion. So God’s Love transcends karma.
5th dimensional consciousness is love and unity, and love always finds some way to respond to a call for help. Millions of our brothers and sisters are calling out for help, and the Love Within will respond if we open to it. Love's help may or may not appear as outer action, but closing our hearts to suffering is definitely not a 5th Dimension response. The response can be in many ways: physically, energetically etc.
The famous Marriage/family Counselor, Virginia Satir said, “Communication is to a Relationship what Breathing is to Living.” In other words, for any relationship to work, the pre-requisite is to have open communication channels. Where the lines of communication are not open, the relationship is as good as doomed to failure.
