There is always a reaction to any action; nothing goes unnoticed. Many would call this balancing of energy "karma." Colloquially, it might be expressed as, "what goes around, comes around." The golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," is another expression of this action-reaction concept. Another way to describe this law of the universe is, as Elizabeth Haich writes in her book, Initiations: "When we strike our hand against a wall, the wall strikes back without intending to! It is not the wall, which really strikes back, but our own blow bounces back. In any case, whatever we hit always gives back the same blow we gave it."
Karma is not about punishment; it is about energy. Remember, every thought, word, and action consists of energy. You activate this energy. Think of Newton's third law of energy: For every action there is an equal reaction.
If you think, speak, and act negatively, this same energy will come back to you. The same holds true if you think, speak, or act positively out of love. The more you create a positive, loving state of energy, the more you will experience this in return.
Karma is a field of energy. It surrounds individuals and seeks balance. People who see energy or auras know that energy, generated from within the body, is evident around the person and extends into the aural field.
During the process of one of my soul retrieval journeys, I came across something that appeared as a dark, looming cloud of energy surrounding my client. I asked my spirit helpers about this energy, and they informed me that it was karma, which had accumulated around this particular person. I shuddered because it looked awful and had the feel of anger and hatred. I immediately thought that we needed to leave this negative energy alone. I believed that others' karma should not be interfered with because it was part of their destiny. (I had always heard that karma, as described in books and by other people, was something a person was stuck with and had to live out.) My spirit helpers said to me, "Jan, are you here to follow your human rules, or are you here to do a healing?"
I was dumbfounded. Never did I expect a comment like that from my spirit helpers. I realize now that this journey was an important turning point in my learning. The spirits used this journey to help me understand that "punishment" is a human concept. The spirits never inflict punishment; they love all beings unconditionally. My spirit helpers taught me repeatedly that all karma is healed through love, as love instantaneously heals and balances all energies.
Loving yourself and loving others will create change in the most adverse situations. Remember, there is no experience that is less or more important than another; there is no lifetime better or worse than another. Each life circumstance comes with its own set of challenges and experiences, and all are part of the exquisite whole.
Karma is not hung on you like a scarlet letter; however, you do build an energy around you. This energy accumulates and is always in motion, as it tries to maintain balance with other energies. Sometimes this balancing is quick; sometimes it will take years; sometimes it flows into other lifetimes, but it will balance. If ever you question why certain things are happening to you, take some time to look at what you are doing and thinking.
You can change your life by changing your thoughts, your words, and your actions. At any time, you may choose the path of enlightenment. All negative life situations, all fear, can be balanced and reversed through love. You can choose to open the heart, forgive, let go, and be happy. No matter what your past, love heals. Even in situations where you find no reasonable explanation for why things happen the way they do, your life can change.
We are not stuck with disastrous lives or having to live out a particular karma if we choose to change our thinking away from fear and judgments. So much of our thinking keeps unfortunate things in motion. If you are experiencing, or have experienced, many struggles and hardships in your lifetime, you can be assured you are not being punished or held in an unmerciful way by some judgmental God. You can also be assured that there is a bigger picture being played out with your life than that represented by current circumstances. There is a divine plan designed uniquely for you that is based in unconditional love.
Judgments prevent you from seeing life from a holistic view, and they keep you caught in your pain. The same holds true for unforgiveness. The failure to forgive imposes chains on the heart of the unforgiving. Forgiving is always for self. It clears the energy field instantaneously. Try it. You will see what I mean. When one forgives another, there is a physical, emotional, and spiritual freedom for both the giver and receiver. Forgiveness, like love, heals two souls at once.
So let me recap. The soul is vast, it is immortal, and it adheres to no timeline. Each lifetime could be represented like an individual word on a page of an enormously long novel. Life creates the story, filled with romance and loneliness, gain and loss, terror and glee, destruction and creativity, betrayal and glory, wealth and poverty, royalty and destitution. All facets of life are experienced wholly, and each lifetime is valuable. Everything necessary to create wholeness for your soul is present. Each lifetime follows the laws of the universe—creating, co-creating, accumulating, being.
Is this what the great masters and teachers such as Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad have been implying for centuries? If so, I was beginning to understand it. The spirits fondly expressed to me that when we have real attachments to things, such as to a particular writer, poet, artist, or sculptor, and are drawn to his or her work, it is probably because we were actually the creator of that piece of work. If we read something from history that profoundly teaches us, we may have been part of the actual event. Even if we are extremely attached or moved to help someone, perhaps to support a child in a Third World country, then we are probably that child in a different lifetime expression. Do unto others as you would do unto yourself; the other might actually be you! Now there's a thought.
I am still processing this information and probably will be for several years to come. It is amazing. The spirits have since taught me to journey to my other lifetimes and to remember the wisdom I gained from each lifetime expression. I have also learned to journey to souls I would like to learn more about. The possibilities available through journeying are unlimited. Journeys to other lifetimes can be extremely informative, but also lots of fun. I highly recommend them for anyone practicing their journey skills.
We need to understand that lifetimes are both experiences of the soul and an exchange of energy. We also need to remember that everything is energy. Lifetimes are energy, and thoughts, words, and actions are energy. Everything is energy and everything affects and is affected by everything else. Energy used in a directive way is power.
The universe is in a constant state of motion striving to keep energy in balance. Even if we are not consciously aware of our energy and how it affects the whole universe, the universe is aware of it. We are all very powerful beings.
The actions of every person on the planet affect the lives of us all; one never does anything that is isolated from others. We are all interconnected in a divine sphere—relating, interrelating, and exchanging energy in a holographic and profound way. These interrelationships are extremely complex, coloring every experience we have.
I understand that this is a difficult concept because it is so vast, so I will describe it metaphorically: A butterfly hatches out of its cocoon 2,000 years ago. It sits in the sun in a far away country to dry its wings. It then begins to flap its wings, moving the air around its body. That movement of air alters the surrounding nature and the influences expand ever outward. That continuing effect of change creates our weather patterns today!
This metaphor is, in truth, an expression of the scientific principle of complexity. Quantum theory recognizes the complex association of interdependence as fundamental to reality. All of existence self-orders into a purposeful, yet unpredictable pattern. Science, however, "discovered" this reality long after it was known to mystics. In the study of spirituality, the manipulation of energy is fundamental. Directing energy in a powerful way through intention can be used for both good and evil. People can be harmed or healed through words that carry powerful intentions.