Let’s admit it: we like punishment. We like to think that the guy who cut us off in traffic came down with a bad case of four flat tires as soon as he got out of our sight. That the guy who stole our car radio dropped it and broke his foot with it. That the person who wouldn’t take that late fee off of our credit card account is going home tonight to discover a large, unexpected, and highly distressing bill. That the jerk who we watched kick his dog at the park is going to fall down an escalator tomorrow and break both of his legs.
We also like to think that good is rewarded. Mostly in terms of the good we do. Hey, I put a buck in the jar for Jerry’s Kids, when does my winning lottery ticket show up? But much more than we think of that, in general, we think of punishment for the bad that goes on in the world. Because, let’s face it, there’s a lot of it. It’s bad enough that it’s happening, but the thought that people are getting away with some of this stuff? Intolerable.
We call it god(s), karma*, what goes around comes around, what ye reap so shall ye sow.
And it bugs the crap out of us… out of ME… when it doesn’t look like it’s working. All too often, the dog-kicker goes home to kick his dog some more. And then the neighbor says, “oh, yes, I believe he’s been kicking his dogs for thirty years or more”. And that really sucks.
It’s tempting to think that sometime, even after death or in the next life, this dog-kicking jackass is going to get his comeuppance. Very tempting.
It’s not that simple. It’s simpler.
Look around. Look at the dog kickers. Look at the dog petters, too. Nothing stops dog kicking. The fact is, the only thing the universe requires of you to do a thing is that you have the power to do it. That is it. All there is.
The world is not fair. Nothing exerts some sort of power to make the scales balance. Nothing metes out punishment for the bad, or rewards for the good. There is no god, no karma.
But.
When I said it’s simpler than we want to think, I meant it. The fact is, nothing will guarantee the results of a single action, for good or for ill. Sometimes the only punishment a dog kicker will have is having to live as a dog kicker. Do you think that’s a happy life, a fulfilling one, an enjoyable one?
Good rewards itself; right actions yield positive results… on average, over time. No guarantees on your particular single action. The flip side is true also. It’s not magic, there’s nothing making it happen. Just as fruit ripens in the sun or withers in frost, so does your own life ripen or wither depending on the environment you make for it.
So go out and kick no dogs. It’s for your own good.
*Yes, I know the Buddhist concept of karma is not about punishment. But let’s face it, a lot of people think of it that way.
