Two travelling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead, the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.
The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel “How could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die.”
“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead.
If you are a member of at least one your family Whatsapp groups, I am sure you have come across this little story before. That’s the place where you find all the be-good-do-good stuff.
You might wonder, then, why have I chosen to write about it here? The reason is I found the story not only inspiring but also intriguing, almost like a mystery.
On the surface, the moral of the story is simple –“Have faith – Things aren’t always what they seem.” But if you try to read between the lines, you can clearly see what I am trying to hint with the title of this post. Yes, the story, in reality, is about Karma.
“You will never understand the damage you did to someone until the same thing is done to you. That is why I am here” – Karma
What the rich man did to the angels, in spite of everything he had, decided the reward of his Karma and so did the deed of the poor farmer. From the farmer’s perspective, he had lost his cow; nothing good had come out of his good deed to the angels. His family’s only source of income had been taken away from him. But from an omniscient point of view, we know that he was blessed. His deed had saved the life of his wife. Unfortunately, he will never realize this because to him, the world is unfair. Remember? Bad things always happen to good people?
Wrong.
The law of Karma is just like any other law in nature. It is impartial. For instance, the law of gravitation does not care whether it is your first time or hundredth when you jump off a building. The impact with which you hit the ground will be the same. Only, in the case of Karma, the result is not instantaneous.
The Law of Karma is in some ways like the Law of attraction, it returns to you what you give out to the Universe. You reap what you sow.
In case of the law of attraction, the seeker has to send out positive thoughts at a certain frequency to the Universe and the Universe conspires to make it happen. In case of Karma, the seeker has to actually do the deed. However, the two cannot be mixed. One cannot negate the other.
You may then think what if I do a bad deed and then think positively about the outcome of that deed? Will the law of attraction overrule my Karma or does it work the other way round?
The beauty of these laws lies in the answer to this question.
Both the laws work distinctly. Your positive thoughts may work in your favour now, but the result of your Karma will be shoved in your face when the time is right. Or you may get hit by the result of your bad deed now and in the long run, be rewarded by the law of attraction. The dependency lies in the magnitude of your Karma and intensity of your thoughts. However, both ought to happen. Repeat – One cannot negate the other.
The law of Karma works in ways beyond our perception. Your hundred good deeds will not spare you from the result of one bad Karma. Similarly, your hundred bad deeds will not deprive you of the reward of your one good deed.
It is for this reason that even after thousands of years of studying Karma and its ways, we are still not able to formulate, rule out or prove it.
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Wow! This post really made me think. I liked how you described the difference between the law of attraction and karma, that would always confuse me. I hadn’t heard of that story that you shared before but I agree with your interpretations about it. Sometimes we can get so stuck on negativity that it is hard to stay positive but we have to enjoy what we have instead of what might have been.
Thank you Erinna for reading my post. Glad you liked it. 🙂
Hey… You are an inspiration to me. I think there’s much to learn from your writing. The flow is picture perfect. The subject is interesting and keeps the reader hooked.
Thank you, karthik 🙂