I have come to a stage in life where it is difficult for me to doubt the Law of Karma. It has been emphasized in Gurbani, Hinduism, Buddhism, and probably other religions as well. The Law of Karma, as probably everyone knows, is
As you sow so shall you reap
It means that we sow “thoughts” and accordingly, reap “circumstances”. So, if we think good thoughts, we attract good things/circumstances/people in life, and if we think bad thoughts, we attract bad things in life.
The law is also stated as
Like attracts like.
It means that our thoughts attract similar quality (like) circumstances.
So, if we think angry, vengeful thoughts, we’ll attract similar circumstances.
On the other hand, if we think benevolent, forgiving, positive thoughts, we’ll attract positive circumstances.
The above part seems quite clear to me. However, what is not clear is, how exactly do these thoughts translate into circumstances. Is there a one to one correspondence of thoughts with circumstances?
I don’t think so.
I believe a collection of thoughts (and not a single thought) should lead to a given circumstance since any circumstance affects us in multiple ways, and thus, should be the result of multiple thoughts. But then, a question arises: how is it decided that which all thoughts combine at a given time and thus produce a circumstance?
I believe the answer to this question lies in a statement I read somewhere:
Every moment, the universe presents you a perfect opportunity for your growth.
I think that’s how different thoughts combine together. They combine together in a fashion to produce a circumstance that would help us the best in our growth.
So, while every circumstance is a result of our past actions, it also provides us the best opportunity to grow.