THEOSOPHY.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13434, 22 July 1911, Page 12

THEOSOPHY.

KARMA (FOR BEGINNERS). Karma is a Sanscript word, moaning action. Every action produces an 'effect, that is, makes a difference to somebody or something; thus it is a cause first and an effect afterwards. Therefore.we. speak of Karma as "the law of cause and effect." Throwing a stone is an action; the stone strikes a pane of glass and breaks it. The break is the effect of the action of the throwing, but this is not all. The broken window is now the cause of further trouble. Your pocketmoney, perhaps, has to go to replace it, and you are thus able to buy the present you so longed to give your mother or a friend, and the effect upon you is a feeling of keen disappointment. This may make you moody or irritable, and, unless you are very careful, you may allow the disappointment or the irritability to become the cause of your doing something else that is wrong, and so on. There is no end to the result of action, no end to Karma; so when we arc wise we, shall be very careful, indeed, about our actions, so that their effects will be good. Every action is first a cause, then an effect,' which in its turn becomes a cause, and starts something else; so it is possible for us to do an action that will start something good and helpful, which will go on and on, making a chain of love and goodness right round the earth till it returns to us again in blessing—good Karma—and makes us strong enough to start a bigger and a better chain. Throw a pebble into a lake, and watch the effect. There is a splash, and a number of little rings form round the place where it strikes. See how the rings gradually widen and widen till they became too wide and too slight for our eyes to follow. Wider and wider they grow, till the last one makes a tiny wave on the shores of the lake. That little pebble has moved 'every, drop of water in the lake, and its work is not yet done. The shores of the lake are hard and unyielding. They throw back the tiny wave, but very gently, for its force is.Well-nigh spent. The" water then moves back till it once more slightly pushes the pebble that caused the disturbance, but the pebble now lies quietly on the bed of the lake, and the water this time receiving no resistance settles down soft and still over and around it. The effects of our actions come back to us just as the waves dri to t'h< v pebble ; and as long as we are angry with them, and angrily try to throw them off, just so long shall we make new waves of Karma to beat back upon us and disturb us. Tf'we are kind, and keep ourselves peaceful, the return waves of trouble .will grow weaker and weaker, and gradually die down altogether, but never till they have gone right to the end and come back to us again. Th'- is :> hard lesson {-) If.'.'!rii. but every,.o:;e in the world lias to !'.':<ni it. so it is wise to begin at, oiice. C. W.-'Christie.