Karmic Wheel

By Trish Briggs

My mother had two favorite sayings that she shared with my brother and me while we were growing up. The first was, “What goes around, comes around,” and the second was, “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” At the time, she was applying both to our behavior toward one another. Without realizing it, she was introducing us to the concept of karma and the karmic wheel.

Understanding Karma

What is karma? Simplified, it is the relationship between cause and effect. Our actions, choices, and behaviors influence what we experience later. The consequence may not happen immediately, and we may not always recognize the connection between the action and the outcome, but the connection exists nonetheless. It is this repeating relationship between cause and consequence that creates the sense of a loop or wheel.

Buddhism and Hinduism take this concept a step further by extending karma beyond this lifetime.

From that perspective, some karmic lessons may have roots outside our immediate awareness, making the connection between cause and consequence more difficult to recognize. The wheel becomes larger than a single lifetime, but the principle remains the same.

That is a lot of baggage to carry. I can feel the weight of it as I write these words.

I have met several people who have worked very hard to become karma-free in this lifetime. At first glance, I might think what a relief it must be to no longer carry the weight of lessons unlearned. However, I have come to realize that maintaining a karma-free state may be just as difficult, if not more difficult, than working through existing karma. It requires tremendous self-awareness to move through life without continually creating new karmic loops that are detrimental.

A person must know themselves and be willing to take responsibility and accountability for their thoughts, beliefs, and actions. This makes sense when we realize that we create our own karma. We own it. It belongs to us. And yes, once we have dealt with our karma, it can be difficult to maintain that freedom. Yet I have witnessed people do it.

I would like to share an experience from my own life that helped me understand the karmic wheel more clearly.

During my first Christmas break home from college, my parents asked what I wanted for Christmas. My answer was simple - I wanted a dog. My previous dog had died before I left for college, and I have always had a special affinity for dogs.

My parents contacted the local pound and found one for me. It made for a very special Christmas. Throughout my college years, I would come home during breaks and spend time with both my family and my dog.

After graduation, however, I moved two states away for a new job. My apartment did not allow dogs, so the dog remained with my parents. At the time, I thought very little about it. After all, my parents - and especially my mother - had been caring for him during my four years of college. As I write this, I hesitate to call him “my” dog because, over time, he became my mother's dog. She was the one feeding him, caring for him, and carrying the responsibility.

I remember my mother trying to get me to take him, but my living situation would not allow it. Eventually, my parents downsized and had to find him another home. I do not even know the details because I had removed myself from the situation. I had not taken responsibility or accountability for the dog. In that season of my life, I simply chose not to think about it.

Years later, one of my daughters found herself in a similar situation. She had a small dog that she adored, but circumstances made it impossible for her to keep the dog in her apartment. She asked if I would take her.

So, I inherited my daughter's dog.

At first, I believed it would be temporary, but it wasn't. The dog settled into my home and gradually became my responsibility. Looking back, I realize I never fully opened my heart to the dog. As the years passed, I am not proud to admit that I often felt resentful about caring for her.

When the Karmic Wheel Came Full Circle

It was only after that dog passed away that I saw the parallel.

I saw what I had done to my mother years earlier when I left my dog in her care and distanced myself from the responsibility. I saw how I had burdened her with something that was mine. I also saw how I had repeated part of that pattern with my daughter's dog.

What hurt most was recognizing that I had withheld part of my heart from my daughter's dog. I had cared for her daily needs and provided for her throughout her life, but I had never fully opened my heart to loving her as my own. As someone who naturally leads with her heart, that realization was painful.

The experience allowed me to see the burden I had once placed on another person. It also showed me aspects of myself that were not among my proudest moments.

The karmic wheel had come full circle, and in doing so, it gave me an opportunity to understand something I had not been able to see before.

I believe most of us are doing the best we can with the awareness we have at the time. That is part of being human. Yet we still create karma. Later - whether in this lifetime or another - we may find ourselves revisiting those same lessons from a different perspective.

The key is recognizing that no one else dealt us that hand. We did. And when we are willing to see our part in the story, the wheel begins to teach us what we most need to learn.