On Karma- etc.

It all comes out in the wash-

An essay on life, death and soul.-

Rhythms and rhymes of nature- Brian Keeler

"I do not fear death, I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience for it."  Mark Twain.

The above quote conveys the wit of Samuel Clemens and offers some levity into any discourse on the ideas of rebirth and karma, as there is often an accusatory and even vindictive tone to the way karma is used. It shows that the idea of reincarnation was not such an obscure concept as we might suspect. Today it is in common usage, a household word in fact, although it seemed to spring on the scene and my radar during those (supposedly) halcyon days of the late 60's. It had that allure of a foreign word from an exotic religion that embodied concepts not covered in everyday life.  So I am allowing myself in this essay some time to collect and articulate ideas in regards to the recurrence of lives that have informed many.  

As many occurrences of late have reminded me of our limited life spans, the contemplation of recurrence and karma seems apt. Our bodies are frail, we incur health issues, and aches and pains come up. We see our generation aging and family, friends, and pets passing on. Processing grief and contemplating the hereafter are part of the task.

Part of this passage of time aspect was accentuated this spring when we had a family reunion in Boalsburg, PA. Many of the cousins are now in our 70's or close to it. While there, my brother was showing videos compiled from films made in the late 1940's and early 1950's of family gatherings and even my parents wedding in Towanda, PA at the Episcopal church. Seeing my parents in their prime and all the relatives enjoying themselves in sunlit settings on Front Street in Wyalusing, PA was touching and underscored the preciousness of life. There were shots of the family home in Wyalusing that I still own and some footage of my parents holding me at the school playground, which was in the area next to where my studio is now located. And as I am restoring the 1860 house built by my great great grandfather- John Gregory Keeler, there is no shortage of familial and community time to be appreciated. Extending the karmic concept to familial karma and even national karma is worth considering here.

I think of the Roman philospher Seneca, who had serious health issues his entire life and he died a famous death (a forced suicide) at the will of Nero. I recently read two books about Seneca that brought out his travails and difficult balance of living the precepts and virtue of Stoicism while appeasing the tyrant Nero. One of those biographies was aptly titled, "Dying Every Day."

Above- A still life painting by the author- Paintings of still lifes have been used since the Dutch Golden Age- 17th century Holland, to illustrate the brevity of life. By extension we can say that recurrence of life, reincarnation and karma could be part of the way we relate to still life. This painting is titled, "Still Life with Sunflowers." The perishable flowers and fleeting light combined with the skull combine to underscore the impermanence of life.

My purpose here is to coalesce and review our attitudes and presumptions about fate and free will that I've been pondering, studying and endeavoring to incorporate,   Where to start? How about with some of the profound observations of the British author, Paul Brunton (1898-1981), a prolific writer on philosophic concerns and world spirituality. He is referred to simply as "P.B." by his readers and students.  

First off, who would really want to live forever or even to have their current body again?  That is the take away and the promise of biblical teaching, for example, in the Apostle's Creed, the last lines, "I believe in the resurrection of the body."  We assume that this means for all of us, not just Christ.  This injunction is illustrated wonderfully by the Tuscan Renaissance artist (from Cortona) Luca Signorelli (1445- 1523) in one section of his San Brizio chapel in the cathedral in Umbria in Orvieto (his work is shown below).  I have taken students there several times to view these remarkably adept figure paintings which feature the human nude. In one panel of this fresco the athletic figures we presume are all in their prime- mid- 30's, as this is the age of Christ at his death.  It is what we could hope for, too, if we are among the saved. The figures are pulling themselves up out of the earth. One fellow on the far right converses with a bevy of skeletons.

Above- Luca Signorelli's fresco in the San Brizio chapel in Orvieto is titled, "The Reseurrection of the Flesh."

According to Brunton the idea of incarnating again was rendered heretical in the early church councils, first in Nicea in 325 A.D. and then reiterated for good measure in Constantinople in 381 A.D.  Brunton believes the ideas of evolving incarnations flourished in early times of Christianity with thinkers like Origen, Justin Martyr and Tertullian.

Here is a quote from P.B. relating how he regards the idea of a forever corporeal existence.

" We ought to be glad that we do not live forever.  It is a frightening thought.  If there were no death we would go on and on and on, captives in a body, having tried all experiences which promised much but in the end yielded nothing.  No, it is good that in the end we are released from the physical tomb, as Plato called it, and will be able to enjoy a period of dignified rest until we plunge back again into the next re-embodiment."

We may think of other authors who referenced the rebirth idea in their work.  There's a wonderful passage in James Joyces' novel Ulysses where he patiently explains the meaning of metempsychosis  to his wife Molly Bloom.  There is another intriguing aspect to this transmigration of souls in his book as the characters in his novel are reincarnations or at least reinventions of the themes and characters from Homer's original text.  

Dante Alligheri makes references to astrology and free will in his work, The Divine Comedy. "Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars." This line from the inferno encapsulates the resilience and tenacity necessary for Dante and his guide Virgil to pull themselves out from the depths of Hell.  I like the use of "rebehold" here, as it indicates a fresh look at what we had once viewed with apathy perhaps. 

There is a fundamental divergence between Dante's and Brunton's conceptions of life, hell, and the afterlife.  For example, Brunton states flatly that hell is not a geography, whereas Dante draws in detail all the gruesome aspects of his idea of hell with its inverted conical geography.  Thank God there's another vision of the cosmos and we don't have to go blindly into this medieval vision. The paintings on the dome of the Baptistry in Florence that is referenced several times in his writing is the most graphic illustration. It shows satan chewing on sinners much the same way as two characters in the Inferno (Ruggieri and Ugolino) are condemned to do.

We welcome a matured and well-studied cosmology and find solace in an intelligent repurposing of life through many moderns.  In other words, Brunton offers a refreshing alternative to the bleakness of Dante.

Above- The author sketching at the Met in NYC from the Carpeaux marble of Count Ugolino and his sons. The episode of the Divine Comedy, by Dante includes a grim retelling of Ugolino's death in a tower in Pisa- locked there with his sons to starve to death by his enemy, Rugieri.

Here's a P.B. quote relevant to this idea of hell as geographic location-

"We must find heaven this side of the grave; we must understand that heaven and hell are deep inside the heart and not places to which we go; and we mus know that the true heart of man is deathless."

Above- This still life painting by the author includes a small bust of the Italian poet Dante Alligheri mentioned here. Like the previous still life shown in this article, this painting also includes perishable flowers and a metronome that suggests the passage of time. This oil on linen is titled, "Autumnal Still Life with Dante." Included among these interior objects is a painting on the wall of Seneca Lake by Keeler.

 These ideas of transience, temporality and brevity of life bring up a host of ideas about our earthly existence- from cradle to grave, conception to cremation, from consequence to the creator and lastly from fatalism and determinacy to free will.  Karma is a key concept in this query as it suggests a balancing or more severely, a recompense, and at worst retribution.  Of course, some of us may recall John Lennon's song Instant Karma.  P.B. has a word on this too, inferring that we don't need to wait several lifetimes to bear the fruit or other results of our actions. As Lennnon opines, we can feel the boomerang effect coming back at us much sooner than during a subsequent incarnation. P. B has an abundance of insights on this and we can tell that his observations are indeed well considered and beneficial.  There is a wonderful balancing, if not visionary and altruistic light, that P.B. presents to us. Here is a quote that indicates his ideal.

" We are at one and the same time both the consequence of our environment and the creator of it.  The philosophical mentality sees no contradiction here, knows that there is a reciprocal action between the two."

And further - from P.B.

"In the somewhat mysterious way whereby fated decree meshes its gear with willed free choice, the final result appears."

There is an abundance of  wisdom that has been offered from many sources.  The books of P.B. are far-reaching and profound.  PB's book that I am currently reading,  "The Ego From Birth to Rebirth" is no exception. It is presented, as are all the notebooks in this series, as a collection of epigrams and short but pithy observations.   These commentaries on matters of the spirit are nicely organized thematically and cover a wide variety of topics from 20th C. politics to Brunton's explorations of world spirituality.

The Other Side and the Counter Balance-

To level the playing field - and for our benefit, there is fortunately another principle to consider here. Karma is not the only force at work, as there is the possiblity of Grace. In common parlance this might be regarded as luck or random good fortune that is beyond our purposeful efforts. This fickle whim of the Gods seems unfair in certain respects as well. This is to say that the blessings of the Gods could be bestowed upon some, independently of their behavior or actions. This seems capricious at best. More on this later.

Here is another passage from P.B.'s book "What is Karma."

"The rejection of the idea of Grace is based on a misconception of what it is, and especially on the belief that it is an arbirtrary capricious gift derived from favoritism. It is, of course, nothing of the kind, bu rather the coming into play of a higher law. Grace is simply the transforming power of the Overself which is ever-present but which is ordinarily and lawfully unaable to act in a person until he or she clears away the obstacles to this activity."

Well said, and similar to the idea of clearing the dust from a mirror.

I have resisted the urge in this essay so far to speculate on the karma of our president. Many of us have been justifably wondering when his vile comportment will boomerang- resulting in the return of of his insults, atrocious actions and general blasphemies. Perhaps they will come swooping back and strike him in the head. Never has there been such transgressions and outright evil not to mention violations of principle so blatantly perpetuated. During P.B's time there was Hitler and Brunton wasted no words on articulating his disdain of Hitler. By turns, we are now confronted with a character of similar demagogic makeup who has in effect channeled evil forces.

As mentioned above, luck or random benefits bestowed on some seems capricous at best. And with the D.T. his luck to dodge the courts, the laws, and history seems slippery at best and demonic at worst. We understandably hope that the clock would certainly expire soon on his assaults and crimes, seemingly without consequence. The apparent imperviousnes and teflon nature should surely expire soon. How long can a scofflaw run scott-free? Many would think it is way past time for some divine retribution. Or is this the national version of the biblical Job, beset by boils and calamaties? The wheel of fortune eventually turns and the pendulum swings. We could evoke the well known adage with impunity here, and with justification- "As you sow, so shall you reap."

A Return and Conclusion-

The rhthms and cycles of life were suggested in the subtitle of this essay and it seems worthwhile to conclude with some of Paul Brunton's thoughts on the currents and flow of life. He believes that there are points like the orbit of a comet traversing the expanses of the solar system; apogees and perigees- or furthest reaches and closest approaches. Sometimes called aphelion and perhelion or as James Joyce quips - the centrifical departer and the centripetal returner. And in regards to karma, we might add the goal in Hinduism is to break the karmic chain and the endless cycle of rebirths.

From Paul Brunton-

"We need not dally idly in the stream of happenings because we believe in destiny. The Overself is omnipotent; the related links of the chain of Fate fall to the ground at its bidding; it is worse to disbelieve in the Overself and its supremacy than to believe in destiny and its power- not that Overself can outwit destiny, it merely dissolves it."

And finally a word of optimism from P.B.

"But if the past records cannot be changed, our present attitudes toward them can be changed. We can learn lessons from the past, we can apply wisdom to it, we can try to improve ourselves and our acts, we can create new and better karma. Best of all having done all these things, we can let go of the past entirely and learn to live in the eternal now by escaping into true being, the I am consciousness, not the I was."

Above- A still life by the author titled, "Helping Hands Still Life." It is a compositon of repeated groups of three and the theme is meant to suggest the beneficial act of assisting others up to a higher level. The fleeting aspect of nature with the flowers, fruit and bones allude to the idea of transitory life - focused on in this essay. The theme of, "pulling up" relates to the action in the painting of Signorelli's shown above.