Karma is that irresistible force we have set in motion that confronts us with certain people, places and events. Like a giant magnet, it draws us to those we have something to learn from and those who have something to learn from us, and often these are the same people. Karma also attracts us to those with whom we have had fine relationships in the past, allowing us to share the generous gifts of our mutual love. Such one-on-one contact is what we call personal karma.
But karma can also be collective. Entire families, cities, areas and nations can share so-called group karma. When groups of people have done or failed to do deeds together, they come into incarnation together to work all that out, or reap the benefits of the good karma they made together. They form what you might call a "spiritual ecosystem.
For example, if four people team up to commit a theft, they create group karma. If a number of people contribute to air pollution or do not stop it or do not challenge persecution, for example, then they are collectively responsible for the harm it causes to others; harm that can have far-reaching consequences. Long-standing quarrels such as the fierce and potentially dangerous hostilities between the Israelis and Palestinians or between India and Pakistan may indicate that there is ancient group karma between those cultures here.
Unresolved group karma can have terrifying consequences. Just as intense personal karma can sometimes cause serious physical consequences if we do not resolve that karma before it descends, so too can negative group karma have serious consequences for those who caused it. Disasters caused by severe and unusual weather conditions, for example, often indicate the return of collective karma.
When disaster strikes - in any form - we should respond to it with compassion and help for those who suffer, and we should never be tempted to criticize or condemn or ignore the victims, believing that this is the karma they deserve. Each of us, in our own time, will have to face the karma we have made in this, or previous lives, and we may then need support ourselves to get through the difficulties.
We must also remember that not everything that happens to people is the result of their karma; a subject that will be covered later in this book. Bearing each other's burdens is part of the spiritual path and can be a golden opportunity to clear some of our own negative karma; to create good karma and last but not least, to exercise the power of love.
People can also create positive karma that connects them with like-minded souls. Those who created beautiful music with each other in past lives, for example, or worked with each other as doctors or writers, can do so again now and use their talents for the benefit of humanity. For example, I knew a family where the parents and almost every one of their seven children played the violin. It could well be that they had also been together in previous lives. The specific musical talent of these children may have received them through the parents' genes, but it is their acquired talent and good karma from previous lives that drew them to these parents.
Peoples from every nation have some karma to resolve with each other, but they also have a collective genius: a special gift or talent that their culture has to offer the world. It is said, and it is true, that many Americans were incarnated on the ancient continent of Atlantis that sunk into the ocean thousands of years ago. Materialism, abuse of power and misuse of technology contributed to the fall of that high civilization.
Americans now face these same tests and opportunities again. Can we unite science and spirituality so that we can use our power and technological advances for liberation rather than oppression? Can we sustain a practical spirituality that develops the heart, the soul and also the mind? Can we focus more on inner values this time rather than worldly wisdom and intellectual knowledge that spirituality lacks?
Source: Book: Karma and Reincarnation by Elizabeth Clare Prophet and Patricia R. Spadaro
More about karma and reincarnation follow the free lessons at: karmalessen.com
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