Maybe Karma Is Bunk, But Human Psychology Works Wonders

How our concept of Karma does not match reality of work and home

Karma is not really a b****

Every once in a while, we hear that someone who is selfish, rude, or oppressive, gets their comeuppance. Let’s say the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, who was supposed to look out for his citizens — but instead downplayed public health measures — gets Covid-19.

That is an example last week, but it will be another one tomorrow.

Or, an injustice occurs and we sigh, “Well, Karma will get them in the end.”

This is also frequently summarized in the shallow saying: “Karma is a bitch.”

This is a cop out. Karma, or spiritual consequences thought of in this way do nothing to teach us about finding compassion, ending injustice, solving tremendous crises, or even gaining life lessons.

Taking the idea of karma to work with us presents particular problems.

In real life, we must all wish one another well. A non-oiled machine won’t work right. Professionally, we have certain policies to live with, and these are slow to change. This does not mean we have no personal power to act.

At home, and at work, we summarize simple ideas such as karma. This is most especially the case when at work we feel over-looked, under-appreciated, or undermined at a project.

When we shrug it away with the thought that “karma” will fix it, we ignore our own powers. We can create more recognition with communication. We can build more trust by seeking integrated understanding. But how?

Action is everything

It was about 2,000 years BC that the idea of Karma, in ancient Sanskrit writings originated. It was conceived as being about volitional action, a sort of cause and effect as nature unfolds.

But in the Western world, we more often think of Karma as a kind of cosmic payback. This conception of Karma is bunk. Popular bunk.

It’s popular because it provides people with a cheap, easy dismissal that is both fatalistic, and often self-righteous.

Our greatest gifts for action employ courage, practiced articulate thought, and offering a true insight of bridging, rather than distancing, others. This type of volitional action can also include simply asking: What do you think I could do to achieve more ______?(fill in the blank).

People are more than happy to feel listened to, give advice, and to be appreciated themselves. This works professionally, but also at home.

Science to the rescue?

Are we better off thinking in terms of Newtonian physics than with the idea of karma? Newton’s third law is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

That is pretty straightforward in the world of moving objects, but what about moving hearts and minds?

It would appear that as true as it is that every action has a reaction, it doesn’t go nearly far enough into acknowledging the human piece of the puzzle. The human piece is about intention. It is about entitlement. It is about our reality.

In human reality, whether or not reincarnation, or Buddhist non-attachment, is real, does not always influence whether or not a selfish despot gets his due. That is, in human cultures, we sometimes reward the guilty with riches, power, or fame. Just as often, we shame the powerless, or find that their “acts” are somehow blameworthy because if they didn’t do anything wrong, why then are they being punished?

This displays a bit of corruption of western thought upon eastern ideas.

When we zoom out to look at the big picture, say the people who died this week due to our climate crisis, it is much more complicated. Reality — in this earthly plane — requires that we find the personal, and collective power about all of our human actions, or “acts.”

Reality therapy for the world

In psychology there is one type of therapy known as “Reality Therapy.” It is the idea popularized by William Glasser, that our human behaviors have natural consequences.

For a simple example: If you go out in the rain without proper gear, you will get wet.

Writ larger, the climate crisis, and even oppression, racism and sexism, all display that human behaviors have consequences. And although Reality Therapy as envisioned by Glasser is far too limited, using the basic premise that our intentional actions make a difference is quite powerful.

Try it at home or work and see if it doesn’t make a real difference.

In the case of human beings burning of fossil fuels, for example, consequences are far from straight-forward. They are myriad, multiplied, and a mess. However, in a practical way, we can think of each act we do, and even every company, or civic policy we accept, as an act, too.

Speaking up with suggestions that don’t criticize, but just propose, or suggest new ideas, is much more effective than complaining.

Our personal acts and our collective acts form a basis for true ethics. There is nothing wrong with stating “I believe this is in accordance to the ethics of our organization.”

Perhaps what we accept as reasonable is most problematic with our modern world. We live, breathe, shop, work, and move through our routines whether the world is melting or not. We get angry and self-righteous about many things, CRT, mask mandates, leftist agendas, or right-wing populism.

Check your attitudes and verbal remarks. If you are simply being critical, or shrugging it off for karma to take care of, you are not living up to your full power and potential.

Three paths to enlightenment

Newton’s laws describe very well that if you slam your head against a steel wall it will hurt. The wall itself is a force, under control of gravity and mass.

Just as with Reality Therapy, what you do has natural consequences. Although Glasser has been largely forgotten because he did not agree with traditional Freudian attachment issues, nor pharmacological interventions, his basic idea about learning from our behaviors, both good and bad, is sound.

Karma, as it was originally conceived, also displays that any behavior will have an effect. However, we can’t accept Karma so fatalistically that we come to assume our behaviors will have rewards or punishments in and of themselves.

The existence of injustice is proof that we need to constantly adjust our ethical standards.

For a full potential in our work and home spheres, we need to consider each and every scrap of wisdom concerning reality rather than waiting for Karma, science, psychology, or any other misrepresented fatalism to step in and do the job for us.