Living Life in Accordance with Natural Power: Part 2: Karma, Equality and Guaranteed Rights
As human beings, we naturally desire to be happy and free from suffering. In America, this desire translates into an expectation of guaranteed rights: the right to happiness, prosperity, freedom, and so forth. This guarantee of rights is an idealistic view, and it fosters a lot of resentment among Americans. We assume we have the Constitutional rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." How do we interpret these rights? Does it mean we have the right to own a machine gun if that makes us feel content and secure? Does it mean we have the right to a decent place to live with a decent job? These “rights” in the Constitution are open to wide interpretation, they do not mean the same thing to all people. “Equal rights” is a nice concept, but it does not correspond to reality at all. We have different responses when there is a seeming inequality of rights, but it is due to our karma that there is no such thing as a guaranteed right of equality. If we understand the laws of karma, the causes and conditions, we can become more comfortable with our limitations and strengths and not be so frustrated or resentful towards the seeming inequalities. And instead work towards cultivating the right causes and conditions for change.
