Karma cafe – there is no menu, we get what we deserve whether we want it or not. This is an article that explains what karma is and what is its powerful effect on our lives.

On May 18th, 2009 I was within the perimeter of the citadel of Carcassonne, in France, around eight o’clock in the morning, while I was having breakfast and pondering about the events occurred the day before, I understood the true essence of Karma.

What is karma actually? The karma is the way of being of a creature mirrored in the others – essentially, the way You are, this is how the kind of people You will mostly attract to You will be. The good and the evil You do to others will be done to You; concerning the material things, what You give to others or what You lose will be given to You or You will find in return equally measured but not necessarily in the same form.

There are two types of karma: positive and negative, and each of the two types can be built in time doing good things or bad things. Moreover, may be changed on the long run – those who initially build a good karma can lose it if they stop doing positive things to balance any eventual negative things done, and who has a bad karma can improve it, behaving positively, and even turn it into good karma on the long run.

The quality of our own karma may be seen as two weights on a scale; from my point of view, for a hitchhiker, or more generally speaking, for an adventurer is good to have a good karma, to tilt the balance towards good. Asking people for things (like a beggar asks for money) contributes building up a negative karma, laughing and making fun of those in difficulty contributes building up a negative karma, etc…; behaving positively, like helping people in need without demanding anything in return (yet not allowing them to take your kindness for stupidity) contributes building up a good karma.

The karma is rooted in our thoughts, not in our actions; because our actions are just an expression of our thoughts. Is not external circumstances that rule us, but we are the ones creating and manifesting those external circumstances. They are merely a reflection of our inner world. It is of course much easier to point fingers outside than taking responsibility and looking within for change. This realization is very important because we no longer outsource our power. What is also key is to recognize how everything is interconnected and why in turn all thoughts and actions reflect back onto us.

If You are a good person in the deep of your soul then it will come natural to meet good people who gladly will help You without demanding anything in return – the chance will do most of the job, just allow it by letting good things happen to You without resisting. Welcome to the Karma cafe – there is no menu, each of us gets what deserves.

Written by Claudio Adrian Dobre; first in 2012, last updated in 2020. © 2012-2020