My First Lesson In Karma

When we are young and inundated with life, wrapped up in the goings on of early adulthood, we sometimes miss important moments. But fortunately we can sometimes go back and touch on those things with our mind that we didn’t take the time for during those early years.

For example, I was thinking recently about a friend I used to go visit a lot when I was younger. She was from another country and her parents were much older than most who had a 15-year-old child.

We used to have sleepovers. One memory that stands out is waking up at her house one particular morning and looking out her bedroom window. It was late fall and I remember seeing her father sitting on a chair in their backyard, near the edge of the woods. He was playing a musical instrument which was some sort of Native American flute.

People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply: by the lives they lead ~ Edith Wharton

As he played, animals soon appeared at the bird feeder and water feeder they had set up in their yard. Many birds and three deer showed up near him as he played… and they came close to him too! I remember saying to my friend that was so cool that her father gets to be so close to the animals.

“Yes, my dad is friends with the animals,” she said. “They love it when he plays for them.” Then she talked about how animals can feel our energy and sense human intention. I wish I would have talked with her more about this subject back then.

I remember another time, seeing this bird nest they had up in one of their trees. We were able to climb up a neighboring tree, in order to get up high enough to look down and see the eggs inside the nest. I remember my friend saying how she hoped to see them when they were born and how her father said we needed to stay far away from the eggs, as the mommy bird would kill or abandon the babies if we touched them. We never interfered with the nest, but found great delight in climbing up and looking down into the nest.

Another day, I saw from her window her father apparently lecturing in a calm fashion the next-door neighbors’ two sons. When we went out back, my friend asked her father what had happened. He told her that one of the boys messed with the nest and the mother lost her babies, purely because of their actions. He said he had to explain to them what they had done.

I remember watching him talk and there was such an unusual aura around him. His energy was so warm and bright. Today, I realize he must have been a very enlightened person with a very strong spirit that radiated unconditional love and light. He seemed to be a great human being. He was not only a wonderful father to my friend, but a great nature lover and teacher.

Telling us about the boys’ wrongdoing, he said, and I will never forget this as long as I live, “Those boys were educated this morning in Karma.” That was when I first learned the word ‘Karma.’ Later, my friend and I were talking on the front steps of her home and she told me more stories about Karma.

Still others commit all sorts of evil deeds, claiming karma doesn’t exist. They erroneously maintain that since everything is empty, committing evil isn’t wrong. Such persons fall into a hell of endless darkness with no hope of release. Those who are wise hold no such conception ~ Bohidharma

I stayed in touch with this friend and just had lunch with her last week. She is a nature photographer and came home to visit family. I told her about my work with Reiki and the healing readings that I provide for people.

Catching up on mutual friends and family, she mentioned the two boys who used to live next door, and the adversity, trauma and tragedy they have faced in their lives in recent years. She believes it is a very good example of Karma in action.

Apparently, since that day of the bird’s nest, they disregarded her father’s words. They continued to steal stuff from their property and vandalized her father’s garden for many years. She said he would had given them whatever they wanted, had they just asked.

“So, apparently your father’s talking to them about the nest, didn’t teach them anything,” I said.

“No, it did not. They both would had been smart to learn from that lesson,” she responded. “Sometimes there are hard lessons to be learned for those who do not respect the Law of Karma.”