Karma by Mabel Collins (M.C.

Karma
by Mabel Collins (M.C.)

This document is usually found at the end of "Light on the Path" Published in the 18 !s

Consider "ith me that the indi#idual e$istence is a ro%e "hich stretches from the infinite to the infinite and has no end and no commencement& neither is it ca%able of being bro'en. This ro%e is formed of innumerable fine threads& "hich& lying closely together& form its thic'ness. These threads are colourless& are %erfect in their (ualities of straightness& strength and le#elness. This ro%e& %assing as it does through all %laces& suffers strange accidents. )ery often a thread is caught and becomes attached& or %erha%s is only #iolently %ulled a"ay from its e#en "ay. Then for a great time it is disordered and it disorders the "hole. *ometimes one is stained "ith dirt or "ith colour+ and not only does the stain run on further than the s%ot of contract& but it discolours other of the threads. ,nd remember that the threads are li#ing- are li'e electric "ires& more& are li'e (ui#ering ner#es. .o" far& then& must the stain& the drag a"ry& be communicated/ 0ut e#entually the long strands& the li#ing thread "hich in their unbro'en continuity form the indi#idual& %ass out of the shado" into the shine. Then the threads are no longer colour less& but golden. 1nce more they lie together& le#el. 1nce more harmony is established bet"een them+ and from that harmony "ithin the greater harmony is %ercei#ed. This illustration %resents but a small %ortion- a single side of the truth2 it is less than a fragment. 3et& d"ell on it+ by its aid you may be led to %ercei#e more. 4hat it is necessary first to understand is& not that the future is arbitrarily formed by any se%arate acts of the %resent& but that the "hole of the future is in unbro'en continuity "ith the %resent& as the %resent is "ith the %ast. 1n one %lane& from one %oint of #ie"& the illustration of the ro%e is correct. 5t is said that a little attention to 1ccultism %roduces great Karmic results. That is because it is im%ossible to gi#e any attention to 1ccultism "ithout ma'ing a definite choice bet"een "hat are familiarly called good and e#il. The first ste% in occultism brings the student to the tree of 'no"ledge. .e must %luc' and eat+ he must choose. 6o longer is he ca%able of the indecision of ignorance. .e goes on& either on the good or on the e#il %ath. ,nd to ste% definitely and 'no"ingly e#en but one ste% on either %ath %roduces great Karmic results. The mass of men "al' "a#eringly& uncertain as to the goal they aim at+ their standard of life is indefinite+ conse(uently their Karma o%erates in a confused manner. 0ut "hen once the threshold of 'no"ledge is reached& the confusion beings to lessen& and conse(uently the 'armic results increase enormously& because all are acting in the same direction on all the different %lanes2 for the 1ccultist cannot be half-hearted& nor can he return "hen he has %assed the threshold. These things are as im%ossible as that the man should become the child again. The indi#iduality has a%%roached the state of res%onsibility by reason of gro"th+ it cannot recede from it.

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Karma by Mabel Collins (M.C.)

.e "ho "ould esca%e from the bondage of Karma must raise his indi#iduality out of the shado" into the shine+ must so ele#ate his e$istence that these threads do not come in contact "ith soiling substances& do not become so attached as to be %ulled a"ry. .e sim%ly lifts himself out of the region in "hich Karma o%erates. .e does not lea#e the e$istence "hich he is e$%eriencing because of that. The ground may be rough and dirty& or full of rich flo"ers "hose %ollen stains and of s"eet substances that cling and become attachments- but o#erhead there is al"ays the free s'y. .e "ho desires to be Karrma-less must loo' to the air for a home+ and after that to the ether. .e "ho desires to form good Karma "ill meet "ith many confusions& and in the effort to so" rich seed for his o"n har#esting may %lant a thousands "eeds& and among them the giant. 7esire to so" no seed for your o"n har#esting+ desire only to so" that seed the fruit of "hich shall feed the "orld. 3ou are a %art of the "orld+ in gi#ing it food you feed yourself. 3et in e#en this thought there lur's a great danger "hich starts for"ard and faces the disci%le "ho has for long thought himself "or'ing for good& "hile in his inmost soul he has %ercei#ed only e#il+ that is& he has thought himself to be intending great benefit to the "orld "hile all the time he has unconsciously embraced the thought of Karma& and the great benefit he "or's for is for himself. , man may refuse to allo" himself to thin' of re"ard. 0ut in that #ery refusal is seen the fact that re"ard is desired. ,nd it is useless for the disci%le to stri#e to learn by means of chec'ing himself. The soul must be unfettered& the desires free. 0ut until they are fi$ed only on that state "herein there is neither re"ard nor %unishment& good nor e#il& it is in #ain that he endea#ours. .e may seem to ma'e great %rogress& but some day he "ill come face to face "ith his o"n soul& and "ill recogni8e that "hen he came to the tree of 'no"ledge he chose the bitter fruit and not the s"eet+ and then the #eil "ill fall utterly& and he "ill gi#e u% his freedom and become a sla#e of desire. Therefore be "arned& you "ho are but turning to"ards the life of 1ccultism. Learn no" that there is no cure for desire& no cure for the lo#e of re"ard& no cure for the misery of longing& sa#e in the fi$ing of the sight and hearing u%on that "hich is in#isible and soundless. 0egin e#en no" to %ractice it& and so a thousand ser%ents "ill be 'e%t from your %ath. Li#e in the eternal. The o%erations of the actual la"s of Karma are not to be studied until the disci%le has reached the %oint at "hich they no longer affect himself. The initiate has a right to demand the secrets of 6ature and to 'no" the rules "hich go#ern human life. .e obtains this right by ha#ing esca%ed from the limits of nature and by ha#ing freed himself from the rules "hich go#ern human life. .e has become a recogni8ed %ortion of the di#ine element& and is no longer affected by that "hich is tem%orary. .e then obtains a 'no"ledge of the la"s "hich go#ern tem%orary conditions. Therefore you "ho desire to understand the la"s of Karma& attem%t first to free yourself from these la"s+ and this can only be done by fi$ing your attention on that "hich is unaffected by those la"s.

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