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The word karma originated in the ancient Indo-Aryan language of Sanskrit, which is the religious language of Hinduism and Buddhism. It comes from a root word that means “to do, to make.” The broader meaning of this term is that thoughts, spoken words, and physical actions create a response in both the macrocosm of the outer life and the microcosm of the inner life of an individual soul. Even the most private thoughts, words, and actions generate a reaction as well as make an impression on an ethereal film of the collective consciousness, what is referred to as the akasha in Hinduism, which is comparable to the Western concept of the “Book of Life” for each soul and, in metaphysical circles, often called the akashic record.

Interestingly, when Edgar Cayce would enter a deep, meditative trance to read the akashic record, he explained that thoughts were as real as actions, so much so that he had to strain to determine whether the soul seeking the reading actually did something or just thought about doing it. In the greater scheme of life, especially soul life, thoughts are as real as actions. Here are two of Cayce’s readings on this matter:

The Mind—which is of the earth earthy but of heaven heavenly, and divine—is the builder, and so the thoughts may become crimes or miracles depending upon how they are applied in the experience of each soul in its sojourn through any period of activity in the earth. But, as has been intimated, know that the thought of a soul influences the sun, the moon, and all the heavenly hosts; for as you do unto the least of your brethren you do it unto the Creator. O that men would learn, would become conscious, that as you think of those—even though they beguile you, though they deride you, though they tamper with your own purpose—as you do unto them, you do it unto God. EC 315-4

For mind is the builder and that which we think upon may become crimes or miracles. For thoughts are things and as their currents run through the environs of an entity’s experience these become barriers or steppingstones.

EC 906-3

In Hinduism (originating approximately 7000 years ago, or millions of years ago, according to the Ramayana), the word karma first appears in the Rig Veda, the oldest portion of the Vedas, which are the religious texts of Hinduism. Veda means “knowledge.” Rig Veda means “knowledge in verse” and is a collection of poetic hymns written some 3700 to 3300 years ago. In the Rig Veda, karma means “religious sacrifice.” Curiously, there is no suggestion in the Rig Veda of its later meaning as a reactive force affecting a soul’s character and circumstances. There is some indication of this in the Upanishads (another portion of the Vedas, written roughly 2800 to 2400 years ago). Here it is taught that action creates tendencies in a soul, which then produce further action, and as a result, further reaction, or karma. According to these teachings, the soul’s subtle body (the “vehicle of consciousness”; sukshma sarira in Hinduism) carries the seeds of karma, and the physical body and world are the fields in which the reaction is experienced. Hence more karma is also created, which generates a recurring cycle of birth, death, and rebirth for the soul. The soul becomes caught up in a cycle of action and reaction.

Vedanta (another part of the Vedas) and Yoga (six distinct Hindu philosophies) speak of three kinds of karma: (1) karma to be experienced during the present lifetime, (2) the karma sown in the present life and reaped in a future life, and (3) latent karma, or the carry-over of karma to be experienced at some point when the stimulation is just right to bring it to the surface again. Liberation (moksha) is freedom from karma. When liberation is attained, the great storehouse of latent karma is burned up and present-life karma is resolved. The liberated soul creates no new karma and, at death, having no more karma, is no longer caught in the wheel of birth, death, and rebirth.

The idea that latent karma can be dissipated in the fire of enlightenment is fundamental to this book’s intention. The fire we are speaking of is that which cleanses consciousness, purges negative habits, and purifies intentions. This is not only an Eastern but a Western teaching, also found in Western Scripture and teachings, as exemplified in these quotations:

Our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12:29

I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me . . . he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Matthew 3:10

Fire is often a metaphor for the Spirit, especially the cleansing Spirit that burns up karma and its reappearing influences, leaving one renewed and strong. In this book we will study the “Fruits of the Spirit,” which are those practices and dispositions that contain the seeds of the Spirit and, when enlivened through application in our daily lives and nurtured in our innermost being, ignite the cleansing Spirit. We will also learn about the magical power of Grace and its role in our soul growth and mental enlightenment.

Fundamental to the teaching of karma is the responsive nature of thought, word, and action. The motivating influence generating thoughts, words, and actions creates a corresponding response. If the intention is in harmony with the Creative Forces, then so-called good karma results. If the intention is destructive or out of harmony with the universal life force and the ideal pattern for all life, then bad karma results.

It is important to understand that the response is neutral; in other words, it is without passion. A simple universal law governs it: Whatever we do with our free will—in thought, word, or action—comes back upon us. The response is not motivated by retribution or punishment but by the Grace of the Divine to educate and enlighten. The law is intended to help the doer better grasp his or her effect upon self, others, and the whole of creation.

We express our knowledge of this law when we say “what goes around comes around” and “be careful what you wish for.” In our sacred Scriptures we find: “An eye for an eye”; “As you sow, so shall you reap”; and “With what measure you measure, so shall it be measured to you.” These sayings articulate the law of karma. Even scientists observe that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The law is unavoidable and immutable. Jesus taught that not one jot will be erased from the law and warned that those who teach otherwise are deceiving themselves and others. (Matthew 5:18)

There is an old saying whose origin is lost in antiquity, but Tryon Edwards, a theologian in the 1800s, republished it. It reveals the creative process of karma:

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

We are what we have thought, spoken, and done. Our destiny is the karma of our previous thoughts, words, and actions; but more than that, it is a habit pattern that we are building. And, as with most habits, it will be difficult to stop. Our motivations, expectations, and concerns (even fears) shape our inner and outer reality. Fortunately, the law is ever in effect, and therefore we can change our tomorrows and our character by engaging better thoughts, words, and actions today.

Karma does not always result as an immediate response. It may lie dormant within the heart and mind and on an etheric fabric of the collective consciousness until some stimulant awakens it. Often this response comes in a future experience and new setting, possibly even with different souls from those with whom it originated, although it is more likely that they are the same souls but with new personalities in different settings. The outer self often feels unfairly put upon, having no memory of the origins of these responses, habits, and character traits. And although they are innate, the outer self rarely comprehends their presence, because karma belongs to the deeper self, the soul self. In one respect, karma is deep memory, within both the individual and the collective memory. Since the outer mind is often focused on current situations, it does not see the whole of soul life and soul karma—it lives on this side of a veil that separates inner consciousness from physical consciousness. In some ways this is a blessing because it removes the weight of guilt, fear, and self-condemnation. In other ways it is painful and confusing because the outer self cannot understand why these things are happening and where its poor habits come from. But the lesson to be learned is not so much for the outer, earthly self but for the inner, eternal soul, and the soul learns through the senses of the outer self. Of course, if the outer and inner selves have made progress toward cooperation and reunion, then both may know and understand what is going on—and the veil that separates them becomes less opaque.

When thinking of karma, it is important to realize that its influence is not only in the deeper consciousness but also inside the physical body, in the “mind” of the body’s cells, tissues, and organs, or what is often called “body memory.” The incarnating soul brings its karma with it and distributes its influence throughout the body as it enters at birth into the nervous systems (cerebrospinal and sympathetic-parasympathetic, which correspond to the Yogic sushumna and ida-pingala) and the endocrine glands (which correlate with the chakras and lotuses). The incarnating soul influences the genes of the physical body, turning on certain genes while leaving others off, and this may change throughout the incarnation. How one attends to the physical temple of the soul affects the temple’s condition, both now and in the future. Good health is often good karma. Poor health is often a result of bad karma—though not always, as we shall see later.

Why is there a universal system of cause and effect? The metaphysical answer is that the original, infinite, immortal, perfect consciousness burst into creative expression and then allowed the creation to unfold freely as it expanded. It conceived of countless points of consciousness within its universal consciousness, giving each free will. The universal consciousness knew the potential for disharmony, confusion, and even chaos . . . but also the wondrous potential for joy, love, and enlightenment. In order to keep the creative process from spinning completely out of control, a simple law was established: Free-willed expression must know the consequences of expression. The Creator imbued each individual consciousness with an inner sense of the ideal universal condition. The law helps each entity to adjust its motivations, behavior, and character development as it learns from the consequences of its thoughts, words, and actions. The deeper mind is the builder, and it is always correlating thoughts, words, and actions with the ideal established by the Creator—seeking to ultimately be a companion to the Creator, thus striving to become companionable and in harmony with the ideal.

All of this becomes difficult to grasp when perceived from a finite, temporary perspective. Soul life is on a much grander scale and timeless, as compared to one eighty-to-a-hundred-year incarnation. And yet the soul’s opportunity for resolving karma lies within the choices, behavior, and character development of the present incarnation. The finite experience is an opportunity to improve the infinite, eternal experience.

In day-to-day physical life, we easily forget that we were created to be companions and co-creators with the infinite First One, the Creator, out of whom all originally found life and consciousness. God created us in love to know each other and share life. In order to realize this, God gave us free will, the ability to independently choose to be companions. Without free will, we could only become children, subordinates, automatons, or loving servants but not true companions. . . companions choose to be with you and commit through thick and thin, in good times and bad.

Before the gift of free will was given, God set up a simple yet powerful universal law—Whatever one does with free will, one will experience—not as punishment or retribution but as education and enlightenment, that one may know the effects of one’s thoughts, words, and actions.

How, then, can any of us survive our mistakes with free will? Who has not misused free will? Are we now caught up in a tangled web of karmic reactions to our prior misuses of free will? Not necessarily. Jesus said that the Spirit seeks mercy from us, not sacrifice. When He taught this lesson, He said that curious little saying of His, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” It’s as though there is some secret within these words, “I seek mercy, not sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13 and 12:7) The secret is that the law is so perfect that we do not have to make up for all our past sins with free will; rather, we have to understand these mistakes in others who have and do misuse their free will. The law is absolute: What you do or think comes back upon you. If you can understand the misuse of free will in another, then it is understood in you! If you can forgive the misuse of free will by another, then it is forgiven in you. And, best of all, if you can forget the misuse of free will by another, then it is forgotten in you. This is the secret in Jesus’ words, “I seek mercy, not sacrifice.” Few of us could sacrifice enough to make up for our misuse of free will, but having mercy upon others who have misused their free will brings mercy upon us. The law is absolute. Not one jot will be erased from it. Therefore, jots of understanding, forgiveness, and forgetting will also come back upon us.

With this understanding of karma established, it is now important for us to understand that not all of physical hardship and suffering is karma. Some is the test of the Spirit—actually, the test of Satan! In ancient Israeli teachings, Satan was the accuser (ha-satan in Hebrew, and the exact name used in the book of Job) and the tester, as we shall see in the story of Job. In fact, according to classical rabbis, Satan’s job was to “break the barrel but not spill any wine.” In other words, he is to test us hard but not destroy our soul in the process. In Kabbalah, Satan’s role is to tempt us as best he can, then turn and accuse us when we fail—but the Kabbalists believed that, deep down, Satan wanted us to be victorious, because he was, in effect, an agent of God’s testing. The planet Saturn and the day Saturday have been associated with the test by Satan. Astrologically, the planetary influence of Saturn is said to engage one in his or her tests on the way to self-awareness and enlightenment. Saturn’s lessons require one to succeed through trials, building toward mastery of free will, God’s gift to us. Here’s the story behind the idea of a life with divinely approved tests and trials.

The high priest Melchizedek wrote the biblical book of Job for all incarnate souls to better understand the nature of incarnation. Life here is a test of our love, our companionability, and our commitment to God and the ideals that are Godly. Melchizedek begins the book by describing how the sons and daughters of God came together to present themselves before God, and Satan came among them. God turns to Satan and asks if he has seen the goodness in His servant Job. Satan challenges Job’s apparent goodness, claiming that if God touched one thing of Job’s physical life or physical person, Job would curse God to His face. Satan claims that the human is not interested in spiritual life with God, only physical life. He wants two cars in the garage, a chicken in the pot, a fantastic spouse, money in the bank, and a healthy body. Spiritual things are of no interest to him. Job’s prayers to God are just to keep physical, selfish life the way Job wants it, not to awaken spiritually or know God personally. After Satan laid down this challenge, God instructed Satan to test Job to see if this were true. From that moment on, Job’s physical life and body fell on hard times. His friends accused him of sinning against God or that members of his family had sinned. But Job insisted that every time he or his family sinned, he had asked for forgiveness, and Job believed that the all-merciful God forgave him and his family. Still, his friends wondered what else could explain these sufferings and misfortunes. Job had no answer to this question, but he did not and would not curse God. In the end, God and Job talked directly. They got to know each other and understand one another. A hundredfold of what Job lost in the test was restored to him.

So it is for all of us who journey through physical incarnation. Here we will be tested to see for sure what we really treasure: mammon or our Creator and ultimate companion. And the Spirit of God is composed of the Fruits of the Spirit. These fruits have the seeds of the Spirit within them and grow a more companionable soul to the Creator, who longs for our companionship. “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) What may be the qualities of this Spirit are revealed in the Fruits of the Spirit, the focus of study in this book.

God’s wisdom is evident in this exactingly magical law of karma and the testing revealed in the book of Job. Understanding mistakes, vices, and weaknesses in others and faithfully enduring the tests are two keys to regaining our birthright as companions and co-creators with our Creator—the Creator of the entire universe and all that is in it.