Because human beings are both energy beings and physical beings, they participate in both the duality of physical reality and the complementarity of opposites in the energy realm. In other words, if humans experience one extreme at one point in their many lives, they will necessarily experience the opposite at another point. These two opposite extremes then complement each other by bringing wisdom and compassion. Only through these experiences of absolute opposition can an individual come to a center point where he or she has experienced both and is thus able to make a clear choice about which is preferred.
Clear choice is only possible when you have experience with what you are choosing. If you are offered two different foods, one that you know and one that you don’t know, you will probably choose the one you know, even if you don’t like it much. You simply don’t have the information you need to make an informed choice.
The Law of Karma is NOT punishment. Karma allows human beings to experience polar extremes so they have the experience and the knowledge to make informed choices. Choices can’t be informed if one choice is clouded with inexperience.
The Law of Karma is a spiritual necessity because it enables the evolution of both consciousness and compassionate understanding. It is much easier to feel compassion and understanding for those walking on paths we have also walked, because only then do we know what it is like. Only then can we choose with true wisdom and knowledge.
If I have been a drug addict either in this life or another, or I have a loved one who is a drug addict, I have the experience to make informed choices about addiction. If I have been an addict I know that being thrown in jail with other addicts and violent criminals makes the problem worse, not better. If I have been an addict, I do not seek punishment or retribution for the drug offender, but rather the best means of rehabilitation. If I have a loved one who is an addict, I can easily see that providing good therapy is far more cost effective and productive than prison time.
But if I have never been a drug addict myself, or known loved ones who have been addicted, I am afraid of their irrational behavior and inclined to vilify them and see them as “other” or “not like me”. It is then easy to justify punishing them with cruel and inhumane treatment and hide them away in prisons and jails. It is only by having direct experience with drug addiction that our perceptions change. Only then can our choices about how to think and how to act be truly well informed.
Once we have experienced enough of life’s polarities to develop compassion and understanding about life and our fellow humans, we no longer need to experience extremes, and can step out of the cycle of Karma. We don’t need extremes in our lives anymore.
The Law of Reaction is a corollary to the Law of Karma but acts on a national or cultural level. The Law of Reaction allows cultures the experiences needed to make informed choices in the same way the Law of Karma works for individuals.
What makes things darkest just before the dawn? The law of Reaction insures that extremes will never fly completely apart. Instead, when one extreme reaches its absolute pole, reaction will send the momentum back the other way. The darkest point always precedes the light.
Homosexuality, for example, was long condemned by American culture. Gays and lesbians hid in their closets, afraid to expose themselves to ridicule, condemnation and violence, so no one knew how many there were, or that your family member or neighbor or even you, yourself might be gay. People condemned gays because they didn’t have a chance to know them. They even condemned themselves when they thought they might be gay.
Then gays started to get AIDS and couldn’t hide anymore. Some people saw AIDS as God’s judgment of gay people, and violence against gays grew. But as a result, the gay population seemed to grow too. This was because gays who had AIDS couldn’t hide anymore and their gay friends and lovers who didn’t have AIDS felt they couldn’t hide anymore either. The suffering inflicted by AIDS and anti-gay violence created a backlash of support (a reaction). People recognized their gay family members and neighbors as the same people they had loved before. It was hard to abandon them just because they were gay.
In 2013 there are still those who condemn homosexuality, but many people have now embraced their gay friends and family members, with a majority of Americans now supporting gay marriage. We have experienced both sides of the issue and we now have the experience to make an informed choice. For most of us, that informed choice is for compassion, acceptance and love.
And so it goes. The Law of Reaction leads us as a culture or nation through the extremes of one side in order to facilitate a reaction that moves us to the light on the other side. Once we have experienced both polarities, we can make informed choices. Homosexuality was hidden and therefore inexperienced by most of us. But now we have experienced it, and we know we don’t need to be afraid anymore. We now see gays not as “other”, but rather as human beings just like us who bring a unique perspective into our lives.
Once we have experienced both sides of an issue and can make informed choices, extreme swings are no longer needed. But even if our culture is still in need of polarities of experience, we, as individuals, need not be affected if we are already seeing the world with acceptance and understanding. We will, of course, still feel tremendous compassion for those affected by extremes, but through our own wisdom and trust we need not suffer ourselves even though our environment may seem chaotic and irrational.
So as you see our culture descend into the depths of one extreme position after the other, just remember the Law of Reaction. Every action has a reaction. Every extreme will cause a counter movement. It is only through experiencing the extremes of both polarities that we, as a species, gain the wisdom to make informed choices. And it is these informed choices that guide the evolution of humanity.
For more on the energy realm, see my book “It’s All About Energy: Adventures in Expanded Reality”, available on Amazon, at local bookstores and on my website, www.transformationalexpansion.com