Michael Jackson died yesterday. He was the King of Pop, sold more albums than anyone else in history, was an icon throughout the world, and at the time of his death owed a half billion dollars and stood accused of heinous crimes against children. What a life. So how does this fit into a blog on Higher Consciousness?
It’s pretty much a given that we all choose the life we want to live. True, often there are hinderances or obstacles in the way that make it impossible for us to reach the goals and match the dreams we have inside. Sometimes we are the ones who put the blocks in our own way by the decisions we make en route, (the politician whose desire for higher office is thwarted by being caught in an affair), sometimes the outside world imposes its will on us, (the sports injury that nips a budding athletic career), and sometimes we are just in the wrong time or place, (children born into lives of famine, disease, or war for whom simple survival is not even an attainable goal). To them, in particular, our hearts go out.
Integral consciousness posits reincarnation and says that we are subject to the law of karma. Those with bad karma have no choice in what they get. It is those who have positive karma generated from previous lives who have the option to choose the life they wish to live this time. In both cases, the challenges we face in our lives are designed to reward us for past positives, punish us for past negatives, and teach us the lessons we need to learn this time around.
So, here’s the question – Given the unbelievable life of Michael Jackson, the highest of highs and lowest of lows, all played out on a world stage under the microscope of intense public scrutiny, was his a life of positive or negative karma? Was he living the life that he wanted to live? Was he a happy man? Had he chosen that existence through merit built up in previous lifetimes of doing good? Or was the fame and notoriety forced on him as a way of experiencing the negatives he may have caused others in previous go-arounds? And in either case, what were the lessons that he faced, how did he handle them, and did he improve or worsen his case for next time?
While these kind of questions can be fun to play with, when you come right down to it, they really only have importance to Michael Jackson, or specifically that part of him that survives the body. But these questions do have importance to each of us if we simply remove Michael’s name from the question and put in our own. Are we living the life we want to live? Are we happy? Are our decisions being made for immediate gratification or with long term goals in mind? Are we building up good karma and shedding the bad, thereby improving our chances for a reward life next time, or are we spending our bankroll and going into karmic debt?
In the cosmic scheme of things, we are all various aspects of the singular consciousness. When we start to describe ourselves and say “I am…” that is the absolute truth. It is fact for each and every one of us. What we say to describe ourselves after that, however, is just an adjective. This life is the result of our past. Our destiny is ours to create. What a responsibility!
peace………………….ag
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