The law of karma is much more complicated than most people are willing to admit. The common agreement is that karma is based on cause-and-effect, assuming the cause and effect is linear. Life as we know it has become increasingly more complex. One cause will not equal one effect since there are so many variables to each and every act we perform in this and all other lifetimes, past, present and future.
One cause may produce a myriad of effects, obscuring the cause from the original intent. For instance, as modern physics teaches, two objects in space can be predicted how they will react to one another. Three objects in space make our predictions more difficult as to how the said objects will behave or react. Gandhi said “Once God created the law of karma, He was able to retire,” because the billiard balls continue their cascade of action and reaction making any prediction of outcome uncertain.
One example of 1 to 1 reaction is embodied in the addiction of smoking cigarettes. 10 to 20 years of daily tobacco smoking almost guarantees the breakdown of the physical body. Poison is poison, after all. Making a clay pot is dependent on clay to make the pot. Also water is needed, a kiln is needed, the sun or a source of heat to create a pot is needed, overseen by the potter. Any action or thing is the result of many different factors that come together to create it.
Can change in my thoughts to embrace only Love alter my own karmic trajectory? Can living only in the here and now with only Love change my life circumstances? I say yes. OM