Carmic Capers

There exists a time in every person's life when one strongly believes that life is a bed of roses. That them movies arent lying- its all about celebrating life, gifts, flowers, cards - all sugar and spice and everything nice. Optimism seems to be the mantra for life or so one's told to believe and so one's told to get through with schooling and attain a well rounded education.

And then middle age sets in. The other day one of my co-workers mentioned that he believes in karmic justice- the kind of justice where good begets good and bad begets bad. Accounts are settled in real time- or so its said in this age- Kali Yuga.

I believe in another kind of karmic balance. That of happiness/successes and sadness/hardships. Well call me jaded, but for most part I am convinced if there is one day that is a supreme high, the next day or one of the following days will definitely be a supreme low. Just as there is an ebb and flow of tides, just as there is sunrise and sunset, just as there are summers and winters likewise happiness and sadness, joy and disappointment, successes and failures all go in pairs. One cannot exist without the other. Life is all about balance. Karmic balance.
Remember the physics law "Energy can neither be created nor destroyed." ? Well it applies to everything in life, be it mechanical energy, chemical energy or karmic energy.

Hence I believe the Serenity prayer is so apt when it says

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Why all this tatva on a Friday? Cos its true and cos one needs to be reminded of some basic laws of life and living...cos there's beauty in symmetry!