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Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism318
and painful, are good because they teach us that we do not want the thing
we had sought, and we will not make the same mistake again. Moreover,
once we have had our eyes opened so that we understand the nature of our
trouble, the smart of the burns decreases and the hurt fades away.
This spiritual law of cause and effect is known in the East as “Karma.” When
the Eastern students speak of one’s “Karma,” they mean that which has come
to the person in pursuance of that law, or that which is attached to him by
its operations. Everyone has generated Karma, the effects of which are
manifesting constantly. There is no reason why we should feel frightened or
disturbed at this knowledge. A realization of the truth enables us to live out
our Karma with the minimum degree of pain and trouble, and also prevents
us from acquiring new undesirable Karma. Our Karma may be pleasant, or
unpleasant, according to the causes we have set into operation, or they may
be made pleasant or unpleasant by our mental attitude toward them. The
philosopher may transmute “bad” Karma into “good” by refusing to see the
“bad” in it, and the ignorant person may find fault with the best of Karma.
Many students of the Eastern philosophies seem to regard this law of
Spiritual Cause and Effect—Karma—as a system of punishment decreed,
regulated and administered by the spiritual powers that be. This is
erroneous. While Karma often does act as a punishment—that is, as an
equalizing and deterring factor—yet there is no element of revenge in it—
no plan of Divine “getting even.” It is simply cause and effect. It is difficult to
explain just what we mean, without giving specific examples, which plan is
almost impossible in a work of this kind. We may say, however, that one who
is possessed with a desire for power, which desire he constantly nourishes
and feeds with selfish thoughts, is sure to become involved in a sequence
of causes and effects which may cause him the greatest pain and suffering,
physical or mental. He may attain his desire, sooner or later, if his desire be
sufficiently strong and persistent, but he is very apt to suffer from unsatisfied
longings which have been smothered out by the over-ruling passion. He
may gain his prize at the cost of all else dear to him. Or, his desire not being