Karma and Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion

People I talk to have widely varying conceptions of karma. I’ve noticed they fall into one of three camps: Some who deeply understand karma in a spiritual sense and let it drive much of their actions; those who have a surface-level belief in it; and others who believe it’s too esoteric, or maybe even bullshit.

I grew up in the middle camp: I was raised loosely Presbyterian, so I learned about karma in church and at home. “Do good, experience good in return” was my basic understanding. But it seemed oversimplified and therefore, hard to believe.

At some point in my journey, I read several books on Taoism. Within the pages of one of these texts, I stumbled upon a definition of karma that, ironically, made perfectly rational sense to me:

“The unseen, omnipresent protector of the balance of the universe.”

The universe must always return to equilibrium. Without balance, we can’t stand on our own feet. Without balance, ecosystems aren’t able to survive.

Moving away from the “spiritual,” it strikes me that Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion states the exact same notion:

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

For every cause, there is an equal, opposite effect. The effect then becomes a cause of one or several subsequent effects.

If I do something that hurts you, even if my intention was not to hurt you, you’re still harmed. The cause leaves a harmful effect.

Now, you’re upset with me. You decide to not talk to me.

You withholding from me, in turn, upsets me.

You deciding not to talk to me becomes a new cause, which then yields a hurtful effect. The cycle continues.

Despite having benign intentions, your experience of my action (the cause) is true to you. There is no other truth, even if you can see my point of view. You may have an equal and opposite reaction.

We can choose to continue this pattern of being hurt and then causing more pain because we are hurt. According to Newton’s Third Law, this is natural. According to karma, this is fair.

There are billions of causes and effects circulating all over the world, based on trillions of causes and effects that have occurred over the course of history. We are constantly injecting new causes into the mix, and arguably, many are based on generational trauma, developed from causes that took place hundreds or thousands of years ago.

Where we can choose to perpetuate the cycle, we can also choose to end it. Whether we’re breaking the chain of toxic beliefs passed down through generations, or stopping the game of pain-pong between ourselves and someone we care about, the choice is ours at every intersection.

If someone reacts to you in a way that surprises or hurts you, pause before you react. Unfollow your instincts.

When this happens in your life, try saying:

All is right in the world.

Based on karma — the unseen, omnipresent protector of the balance of the universe — and the Third Law of Motion, this is an indisputable fact.

All is always right in the world. Rather than fighting what is, accept it. It transpired this way due to a perfectly reasonable series of events, strung out over days, months, or even millennia.

The question is, what type of future do you want to create?

This story was originally published on shelbysmith.co.