Choosing Your Karma
by José Stevens, Ph.D.
There is always free choice about when to complete a karma. The choice to complete it is made by essence at the time of initiation of the karma. It will always be completed.
Let us say that you have karma with a Mr. Chang who resides in China, and you live in Brazil. On an essence level you feel an urge to return the good deeds he has done for you in the past that will take a full year to repay. You however have not been able to travel to China and are heavily involved in completing and creating karma in your locality. Mr. Chang is able to visit Brazil for one week and you feel a pull to attend a lecture he is giving in a nearby city. You go out of your way to see him even though the topic is not of interest to you. You realize that although you are strongly attracted to him you will not be able to complete the karma in this life because of his short stay.
Such flirting with karma is a common experience and happens all the time. On the other hand, if Mr. Chang announced that he would be in the vicinity for several years, the pull to complete the karma would be almost irresistible.
Sexual attraction is one of the greatest facilitators of karma. When an imbalance exists between two people there is a strong essence-driven impetus to balance the record sheet. However, personality may sense a possible danger and wish to avoid the situation. Strong sexual attraction will make this avoidance less likely.
For example, if you embezzled a large sum of money from Marsha in an earlier lifetime and you suddenly run into Marsha in this lifetime you may want to run and hide. You sense that she has come to collect. However if you are distracted by the fact that Marsha is now a beautiful blonde, your very type, then your lust will lead you directly into the karma. How convenient. You may later wonder how you ever could have gotten involved with her after she has divorced you and taken your house and car in repayment.
Karma and Time
How long does karma last? Is there a time limit or a way to speed it up? The answer is not a simple one.
Sometimes karma lasts only for a few seconds, such as a short intense pain; other times karma can last a whole lifetime, such as having a benevolent aunt who constantly looks out for you for many years. In another vein, a foe can cause you the loss of your arm early in life, a handicap that can last for decades. The length of the karmic experience is directly in proportion to the length of the first incident. If you deprive someone of the use of their legs for twenty years then this becomes a twenty-year karma. If you cut short someone's life by one year then your own life will be cut short by one year in a later life. If you raise an orphan with kindness and generosity for twelve years then you will be repaid with a twelve-year kindness. Balance then, is the name of the game.
However, you can drag karma on, escalate it or creatively manipulate it according to the experiences and lessons desired by all parties involved. In order for karma to be truly complete, everyone involved must acknowledge the completion of it at an essence level. Karma can be such a delicious source of growth and lessons that often all parties would rather refuse to recognize the repayment and generate more karma instead. The karma builds and becomes more intense lifetime after lifetime, until ultimately the lesson of forgiveness is learned. Sometimes a person will feel an intense tug to repay a karmic debt that they owe you. You may recoil at their appearance and try to avoid them based on past painful experience. This is like saying "Oh no! Not you again! I'm getting out of here!" So the chase is on until the debt is repaid.
However, people are not always successful at repaying the karma.
For example, Tom may owe Susan for abandonment one lifetime. Men they meet again the intention is to repay the debt. Nevertheless Tom may get cold feet at the prospect of being abandoned and instead repeat the original offense by abandoning Susan all over again. The karma then has just escalated. Small wonder then that some people get skittish when they see their old enemy show up. The question arises "Am I about to be repaid or am I about to be burned again?" The game of cat and mouse can go on for centuries. Again, in the end, all is forgiven, balanced, and completed.
Occasionally you play the game of "Who can be the most generous?" lifetime after lifetime, by building karma of a positive nature with someone. On the other hand, old souls wishing to cycle off the planet become adept at completing karma efficiently and creatively, sometimes accomplishing several at the same time.