Karma and Rebirth

Author(s): Christmas Humphereys
Publisher: Albemarle Street London

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CHAPTER IV WHAT KARMA EXPLAINS
Once the Law is reasonably understood it solves a large proportion of the problems which cloud our present mind, and certainly in the East, where Karma is as obvious as the law of gravity, these problems do not arise.
In the first place it explains the inequities and inequalities of daily life. Only Karma can explain the mysterious problem of Good and Evil, and reconcile man to the terrible apparent injustice of life. For when one unacquainted with the noble doctrine looks around him, and observes the inequalities of birth and fortune, of intellect and capacities ; when one sees honour paid'to fools and
fools and profligates, and their nearest neighbour, with all his intellect and noble virtues, perishing of want and for lack of sympathy; when one sees all this and has to turn away, helpless to relieve the undeserved suffering, that blessed knowledge of Karma alone prevents him from cursing life and men, as well as their supposed Creator.1
On the other hand, nothing is more untrue than the cry that all men are born equal. They are not. Each is born with the burden, pleasant or unpleasant of his own Karma, and no two men are equal, for no two are the same. All mankind is one family, but its members are of different ages. Therefore there is no equality of opportunity and no equality of responsibility. Although all are marching towards a common goal they cannot bear
al burdens, and would not be cxpected to if the Law of Karma were understood.?
In the same way Karma explains the problem of Original Sin. There is no problem, for there is no original sin. First causes are necessarily unknowable, and as the Buddha insisted again and again, discussion of such matters is unprofitable, as leading in no way to the heart's enlightenment. But the teaching of the
1 The Secret Doctrine, H. P. Blavatsky. % The Scales of Karma, Owen Rutter.
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