Have you ever wondered…

Why are some people born crippled or blind and others are geniuses?
Why do I seem to instantly like or dislike certain people?
Why do I find myself in similar unpleasant situations again and again?
How did I end up with a family I have nothing in common with?
Why do some people die as children and others in old age?

Well, you’re not alone.

The word karma has made it into the mainstream. Just look at bumper stickers like My karma ran over your dogma or It’s a thankless job, but I’ve got a lot of karma to burn off. However, not everyone understands what karma really means, why it matters, and how to deal with it.

Think about the talents you were born with and the good things that have happened to you in life. Now think about the so-called limitations and challenges that have come your way. Both have to do with your karma. Karma simply tells us that what happens to us in the present is the result of causes we ourselves have set in motion in the past— whether ten minutes ago or ten lifetimes ago.

We’ve all grown up learning about karma. We just didn’t call it that. Instead we heard: What goes around comes around. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. In essence, karma tells us that whatever we do will come full circle to our doorstep—sometime, somewhere.

Karma and reincarnation go hand in hand. While karma means accountability and payback, reincarnation is simply another word for opportunity. Reincarnation gives us another chance to make good on the karmic debts we owe others and to reap the blessings we have sent forth.

Karma and reincarnation also help us make sense out of the question marks in life.

Why me? Why not me?

Why was my niece born with Down’s syndrome when her brothers and sisters are healthy and robust?

Why have I been blessed with promotion after promotion while my brother can’t hold down a job—even though we had the same opportunities growing up?

Why do all my relationships become a tug of war?

How come I can’t live with him and I can’t live without him?

Why, when I just landed the job I’ve been after for a year, do I have to leave town to care for my ailing parents?

Why did I survive a car accident when all of my friends in the car were killed?

Life is full of paradoxes and questions like these. Like a Zen koan, each paradox is designed to make us dig deeper, connect with our inner soul knowing and solve the karmic conundrum.