A STUDY IN KARMA/PART 26

 

THE LIGHT FOR A GOOD MAN

              Here is the light for a good man who finds himself surrounded by unhappy conditions. He has made his character, and he has also made his circumstances. His good thoughts and desires have made him what he is; the misdirection of them has created the environment through which he suffers. Let him, then, not be satisfied with being good, but see to it also that his influence on all around him is beneficial. Then shall it react on him as good environment. For instance: a mother is very unselfish, and she spoils her son by yielding, at her own cost, to all his whims, aiding him not at all to overcome his own selfish inclinations, fostering the lower nature, starving the higher. The son grows up selfish, uncontrolled, the slave of his own whims and desires. He causes unhappiness in the home, perchance brings upon it debt and disgrace. This reaction is the environment she created by her unwisdom, and she must bear the distresses it brings upon her.

               A selfish man may, on the other hand, create for himself in the future an environment regarded as fortunate by the world. With the hope of gaining a title, he builds a hospital and equips it fully; many sufferers therein find relief, many sick unto death have their last moments soothed, many children are lovingly nursed back into health. The reaction from all this will be easy and pleasant surroundings for himself; he will reap the harvest of the physical good which he has sown. But his selfishness will also sow according to its kind, and mentally and morally he will reap that harvest also, a harvest of disappointment and of pain.