The End of Karma

Karma is a concept that shows up in all thought systems all over history. There are different names for it, but in the end, it’s about „what you saw, you shall reap“.
So the different versions of Karma are only apparent in the „who“ or „what“ is punishing you for your wrongdoings in the end - is it God or is it yourself?
And the other question is: When? Is it in this life? Another life? Or in Heaven/Hell?
That’s basically it. It’s all about reward or punishment.

In this thought system we are like a laboratory rat, that has to choose between two levers and it either gets delicious food or an electric shock as a result.
What makes this challenge worse is, that the two levers act in opposite ways at random times and that the rat has amnesia - it can’t remember the results of its last action!
To spice this impossible mission up a bit, the inventor of the experiment (who was that again?) has added another rule: Our rat may get the result of the action of another rat, in a cage nearby!
Now that’s what I call a „randomized blind study“! Perfect setup for the Karma game!
So how do you solve this mystery puzzle called Karma?

How to resolve Karma according to world religions

Now, first let me say, that it’s let’s say „questionable“, that the solution for a problem is suggested by the same instance, that introduced the rules of the problem. This is always something to be suspicious about. Happens in every good dictatorship. So let’s be aware of that…
In most religions, you basically get an endless catalog of things, that are considered „good“ and things that are considered „bad“.
So first we get introduced to a thought system of punishment and then the „solution“ of how to avoid that said punishment.
Now since this concept may be too easily to detect, these thought systems came up with an ingenious idea: They told us, that these rules weren’t made up by them, but by some higher being (=God)!
Now this makes sense! They are innocent. Don’t shoot the messenger…

You may now say, that at least there is a thought system like Buddhism, that promises to free us from the Wheel of Karma. The thing is, that even in Buddhism you are given many rules, how to plant „good Karma seeds“ to reap them in a future life. All this does, is keep us in the hamster wheel - or shall we say „rat race“.
The moment there is the dualistic system of reward and punishment in place in any way, you are already trapped in the endless ways of trying to achieve or avoid them.

The driving force behind Karma

On a very basic human level, we try to avoid pain (punishment) and we seek pleasure (reward). It’s written in our genes on a physical level.
Also our mind works in 0s and 1s, much like a computer - good vs bad.
That’s the game called duality.
There is a deeply rooted emotion that is hidden inside this and that our human mind tries to avoid at any cost.
I will introduce you to this emotion in the next section - it’s the final layer.
This emotion is at the core of nearly all dualistic thought systems and is buried so deeply into our being, that once I tell you what it is, you may even shake your head and say, that this has nothing to do with any of this.

The reason is simply, because there are endless defense mechanisms in place, that try to prevent its discovery.
It’s covered with many other emotions, but the two primary ones that are used as a distraction, are worry and fear.
Worry, that I may have done something wrong in the past, and the fear, that I will get punished for it in the future.
In a way you could say, that these 2 emotions are the engine behind the idea of Karma.

Countless books and thought systems are very busy to resolve these 2 basic emotions - one of them being psychology in the west, that tries to find out the reason why we feel this way and even gets deeper lost in the rabbit hole.
Since the introduction of Zen and especially Eckhart Tolle in the late 90ies (yes, the west ist slowly catching up!), we have heard about the idea of „Being in the Now“ and Mindfulness as a solution.
Yes, it may sound reasonable to find the place between the worry of the past and fear of the future. The issue with this is, that the moment you „leave the Now“ (and I know this is not possible, but many people experience it like this), you are back in the land of worry and fear.
Your search for psychological wellbeing and spiritual redemption continue.
The marketplace is huge, so once you leave the Now, you will have endless possibilities to get lost.

So let’s say, that you have become a perfect Zen master and the reincarnation of Eckhart Tolle (even as he is still alive, which makes this an even more exceptional achievement!), you still haven’t touched the primary root of the dualistic system of Karma!
As long as you haven’t resolved this root issue, you will always flip out of the Now and be in Karma again. You can’t stay in the Now, because it will drag you out of it and your staying in the Now will just be another technique, how to avoid to face the root cause of duality itself.

The final layer and the root cause of duality

So before we can now face the root cause, let’s have a look at the final layer and the emotion, that all systems of Karma are build on.
It is called guilt.
We feel guilty for having done something wrong in the past and only afterwards we feel worry and fear. You can see, that worry and fear are coming secondary (and there are endless emotions that follow these two too).
Of course the opposite of guilt is hope (for a reward in any form „later“), which is only guilt in disguise.
There is lots of talk about guilt - especially in Christianity, but this feeling is not tied to one religion - it runs through all of our society and our legal systems.
Sin and Guilt are the building blocks and at the core of every thought system and especially the one of Karma.
Doesn’t matter if you believe in a reward/punishment later in this life, the afterlife or the next life.
Even if you believe, that what you are experiencing right now is the result of past Karma, it is projected guilt - e.g. „What have I done wrong??!!“ or masqueraded as „I must have done a lot of good things in the past, to deserve this situation!“ in the case of reward.

Guilt is the way duality feels like

The root cause for any Karma is the belief in duality.
It’s the imagined separation from God and the way we feel this, is through guilt (and its many children: fear, worry etc)
Let me put it in a more direct way:
As long as you think you are separated from God, you will feel guilty. Since you are not, guilt is the primary illusion!

Of course the good news is, that this separation from God never happened!
It’s a dream in your mind. You just imagine to be separated from God/the Divine.
It’s this single, tiny thought, that carries the whole Universe!
Everything is created out of it. It’s the Big Bang.

Whatever you do - on any level: physical, emotional, mental, psychological or spiritual - you are still caught in the endless playing field of duality.
The reason for this is, that you can’t experience Oneness inside of duality.
We try to experience this Oneness on a physical level through sex - for a few seconds, we experience the bliss and ecstasy of Oneness in the form of orgasm. This is just a tiny „teaser“ of what it means to become One with the Divine!
Shortly afterwards guilt shows up again. It has to, because it’s job is not done yet.
You see, guilt is your friend in the end. It’s the bridge into Oneness.
Guilt is written on the exit and entrance into the Garden Eden/Heaven.

The End of Karma is the End of the World

So to bring an end to Karma, we have to end the belief in separation from God - that never happened.
Now it won’t help to just replace the insane thought of „I am separate“ with the thought „I am Oneness“. You can’t just replace thoughts, since everything you did until now, is based on the belief, that you are a separated human being in a physical body.
If you could replace this thought in an instant, the whole Universe would disappear! Puff, gone….

So chances are, that it will take some time. Time is the illusion created, that there is cause and effect. Time is the fabric of the illusion - it’s the twin brother of guilt and basis of Karma.
As long as you see a world and believe, that you are a human body you are playing by the rules of time.
So why not use this time to be aware, that what you are seeing as the world and feeling as guilt, is a constant reminder of your passion to reunite with God/The Divine?
This is in fact the only purpose of the Dream. To remind us, that we never left Home.

What is the name for „becoming One again“? Love!
Love is to look at Duality and only see Oneness.
Love is to look at the World and only see God

Let the imaginary guilt be your reminder and Love be your answer.

All Love and Blessings,
Atmos

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