Karma is a Collective Burden: We Change Ourselves to Change the World
If we take the concept of karma seriously, and accept that we generate karma individually, we must also widen our lens and ask a broader question: do we generate karma collectively? Do communities, nations, and the human species as a whole produce karma? How does this affect our consciousness and future generations? What is karma’s purpose, and how does it serve the collective good? Before addressing these questions, let’s first address the more basic question, what is karma?
From a Buddhist point of view, karma is the yield of our actions. Actions are like planting seeds. Those seeds eventually blossom (whether today, tomorrow, ten years from now, or ten lifetimes from now) and bear the fruits of our experience in this moment. Most of the time, this experience is suffering.
Instead of framing actions as “good” or “bad” — and producing “good” or “bad” karma — it is instead helpful to use a different formula: does this action lead to suffering, or not? You might be wondering, as I have often pondered, “Is karma based simply on our thoughts and actions, or is it more dependent on the intentions behind them?” I once heard an American monk described it this way: “karma works sort of like the U.S. justice system: the intention behind the action matters.” Actions that lead to suffering are created out of the ego and strengthen it. As long as we are acting out of ego, we continue to plant seeds of suffering. When we act from a place of wisdom, consciousness, or our “higher selves,” we do not plant seeds of suffering.
Collective Karma
I believe that nations, too, create karma. Consciously or not, their actions bear fruits. As an interconnected system, these fruits impact the whole world. Yet each nation, itself, will at some point suffer the consequences of their actions. Thus, even from a self-centered perspective, it is wise for countries to make decisions against the backdrop of karma. It baffles me that leaders make decisions based on the shortsighted belief that consequences may not emerge in the immediate short-term. What might seem like a political gain in the present, if based on greed, ignorance, or hatred, can surely turn out to be a loss in the long-term. Is it too brazen to suggest that the social, economic, and political difficulties that certain countries are experiencing are the fruits of our own labor? Greed, hatred, and delusion have ruled our society for far too long. When these qualities rule the individual mind, it leads to suffering. Why do we think we can escape the consequences of these actions, collectively?
If we take the concept of karma seriously, it implies that we are responsible for our future happiness right now. The qualities of my actions in this moment — the seeds I plant — yield my future experience. In some Buddhist sects, as well as other Eastern traditions such as Hinduism, karma is considered to span multiple lifetimes. My actions may not manifest anytime in this lifetime, but maybe in 500 lifetimes. We may not necessarily believe in future lifetimes or care too much about “enlightenment,” but I assume most of us care about being happy and minimizing suffering as much as possible in this lifetime. We are impelled to act wisely and compassionately, no matter our metaphysical orientation.
Karma From the Biological Perspective
The materialistic worldview does not necessarily negate this idea. We might posit that “karma” is our DNA. We are each dealt a certain hand at birth. It is our job to create the best life possible for ourselves, and others, given the cards we were dealt.
How we play our cards may actually impact our DNA. The science of epigenetics continues to elucidate how the environment, and our response to it, changes the expression of genes. In other words what happens to us in this life, and how we handle it, has material consequences. If I learn to respond to situations with kindness and compassion, versus anger and hatred, this can, over time, affect the expression of certain genes. A number of studies have shown that meditation-based practices, for example, downregulate the expression of pro-inflammatory genes (inflammation, as you know, plays a role in most diseases) (Bower & Irwin, 2016).
The karmic DNA we effect in our life may not be confined to just “me.” Epigenetic changes can be passed onto offspring. Several studies have shown that trauma can be handed down from previous generations. In one study, children whose grandparents were in the Holocaust showed epigenetic remnants of trauma (Yehuda, 2016). Some scientists have proposed that our thoughts can affect the expression of genes (see Lipton, 2006); presumably, these changes could also be handed down to future generations.
Karma, Spirituality, and the World
Having entertained this materialistic perspective, it is also worthwhile to consider that something immaterial reincarnates into another body. Again, this need not completely negate the scientific worldview. It is widely known that our biology interacts with “invisible” forces — namely, energy. In his book The Biology of Belief, cell biological Bruce Lipton demonstrates how cell membranes contain “antennas” for environmental signals, including energy fields. Lipton proposes that each of us, our DNA, is tuned to a specific environmental “frequency.” This frequency is then “downloaded” into our DNA at birth. Putting this in my own words, I might say that our unique consciousness, or karma, is matched up with a suitable physical body at birth. Perhaps we are not only like our parents biologically, but spiritually, as well; we are incarnated into this DNA because we have similar wounds, lessons to learn, and destinies to fulfill, as our parents and relatives. No wonder family is so triggering.
From either perspective, spiritual or material, it is important to peer beyond the legacy of our own “spirit” or “DNA.” We need not necessarily see the karma handed down to future generations as “me.” It belongs to someone else. That person is an extension of me, which is also to say that are each each other. Karma belongs to us all — it belongs to the world. We do our work in this lifetime for the sake of others. We change ourselves to change the world.
*This post was excerpted from my upcoming book, “Symptoms of the World: Interconnectedness and the Re-Imagination of Illness, From Cell to Society.”
Matthew S. Goodman, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (PSY32423) and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. He hosts “The Middle Way” podcast. Learn more here: http://matthewgoodmanphd.com
References
Bower, J. E., & Irwin, M. R. (2016). Mind–body therapies and control of inflammatory biology: a descriptive review. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 51, 1–11.
Lipton, B. (2016). The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, and Miracles. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House.
Yehuda, R., Daskalakis, N. P., Bierer, L. M., Bader, H. N., Klengel, T., Holsboer, F., & Binder, E. B. (2016). Holocaust exposure induced intergenerational effects on FKBP5 methylation. Biological psychiatry, 80(5), 372–380.
