There are several reasons why some people don’t want to get the Covid-19 vaccine. These often include fear of side effects, uncertainty about the long term validity, and having allergies to inoculation ingredients. I can fully understand these reasons and respect individuals right to make educated choices about their own health. Recently, however, I conversed with someone who had an additional reason for not wanting to get vaccinated. This person expressed a belief that all diseases, including Covid, were the result of karma. As an extension, the interference was that interfering with divinely ordained illnesses was not “right” because if a person was prevented from experiencing a destined illness, then another would take its place.
Unlike other reasoning for not getting vaccinated, I struggle with the “karma” one because there is no evidence to support “karmic destiny”. People have had allergic reactions and experienced adverse side effects to the vaccine, and in a few very sad and unfortunate situations some people have also died from Covid immunisation. Admittedly, these things played on my mind before I comfortably decided the benefits of getting the jab outweighed potential hazards, so I can fully appreciate appreciations people may have. But karma?!? I guess it really depends upon your definition of karma …
Karma
Karma, at its simplest, means cause and effect. In Hindu and Buddhist traditions it refers to reincarnation principles of a person’s actions in one lifetime impacting future existences. Someone once explained this to me as being like if a banker moves from London to Boston they will still be a banker. In other words, a banker won’t suddenly become a garbage truck driver or airplane pilot just because they have relocated. If a person wants to change occupation then they will need to re-skill. The same theory applies to the human soul moving from one life time to the next; people don’t suddenly change albeit being born in a different physical form and placement in life will induce learning experiences (which may explain why there are some highly intelligent garbage drivers!) Succinctly, if someone is an arshole in one lifetime, they’ll be an arshole in the next unless they have consolidated learning experiences that facilitate change and they take up the opportunity to make a fresh start.
Somehow, somewhere, at some point in time the idea of karma took on an informal meaning that revolves around the idea that if something good happens it’s because you’ve got “good” karma and if something bad happens it’s because you got “bad” karma. Underlying this sort of belief is the presumption that the world is good and just, and that some divine judge of values oversees a checks and balances system that ensures justice for all. I’m not convinced this is the case; principles of free will and education also need to be considered. Additionally, I do not believe there is some mystical destiny we in which we are playing designated roles in which some people are *supposed* to get Covid or any other horrid disease just because it’s God’s will or everything happens for a reason. To neglect other considerations has the potential to reduce empathy for others, moreover, can lead to victim blaming and bypasses issues, like stress and trauma. Which brings me to the nervous system.
Before going over my understanding of the nervous system and *karmic* diseases, I’d like to add that the person whom inspired this post was by no means being cruel and did not express (nor would they express) any malicious or unkind thoughts towards an ill person. They are a very kind hearted, loving human. If I were to extrapolate on what they were trying express (our conversation diverted to another topic but I am familiar with the ideology they were conveying), it was that diseases can also be a symptom of the body and soul trying to heal. While modern medicine generally views all illnesses and disease as indications of a person being unwell, there are times when the opposite is the case. A simple example being someone who comes down with cold or flu symptoms after doing a detox. Similarly, becoming ill can be the signal to some people to reassess their lifestyle and make changes accordingly. In such cases the karma, or cause and effect, can have a positive outcome. Thus, holistically, suppressing all diseases and labelling them as being bad is not always advantageous.
Nonetheless, the conversation reminded me of some others I’ve met in the past who did hold extreme views of human diseases being the product karmic destiny in a very black and white, good and evil kind of way, hence, this blog. Additionally, I’d like to say that I do not hold any definite opinion about the human soul reincarnating from one life to another, however, for the purpose of this discussion it will be treated as a valid hypothesis.
The Nervous System
Having a disposition to any disease or mental health issue virtually always relates back to the nervous system. On the simplest level, if a person is stressed, run down, over worked, or not maintaining their health in other ways, they are more likely to get sick, especially with a cold or flu. Step up a level and long term stress can wear down the nervous system’s capacity fight off disease or heal from wounds (physical or emotional). Step up another level where long term stress doesn’t subside and/or a trauma experience occurs, and the body’s ability is in a pretty vulnerable disposition for disease, Covid or other. That is cause and effect.
Obvious signs of stress include sleep disturbances, headaches, and low energy. Less obvious signs of long term stress or trauma include feeling overwhelmed, mood swings, and being emotionally numb (which can lead to addictions). Regardless of the symptoms, all signs indicate that sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are not functioning optimally. In an ideal world, our bodies would always revert back to homeostasis after stress or trauma and, if it did, then when we come in contact with a new stressor, like virus, our bodies would be able to fight it off with relative ease (provided other positive variables like nutrition and/or medication, herbal or otherwise, are available).
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the human body is not a machine, so dealing with viruses (or other illnesses) is not always easy. Some people can fight off Covid with relative ease, others can’t. Some people may be really healthy, with a well functioning nervous system functioning, but by chance they may come into contact with a really viscous strain or other variables impact their capacity to deal with it.
Getting back to the idea that Covid and all diseases were karma, in a way, yes, they are karma, karma in the sense of cause and effect. Likewise, a person with a dysregulated nervous system may receive the Covid vaccine and then get another disease because their nervous system has disposition towards getting ill. Again, it is cause and effect. How or why someone has a dysregulated nervous system is another matter. It could be due to overwork, school pressures or adverse home or social scenarios. Alternatively, they could have been abused, sexually assaulted, experienced neglect, involved in an accident or natural disaster, experienced transgenderationsal trauma, or other adverse experience. If reincarnation is treated as a valid theory then a traumatic past life could potentially manifest as nervous system dysregulation in their current life. Succinctly, disease of any form, and from any cause, could be seen as a sign that care of the nervous system is needed.
Imagine if someone was brutally murdered or otherwise tormented in a past life, so comes into this life with a need to heal their nervous system of the trauma therefore is susceptible to certain illnesses, but instead of care they get judged as somehow deserving of their disposition due to karma. Such a situation would be unjust. Similarly, in a less esoteric example, studies of stress on parents who were pregnant during the 9/11 attacks indicate that if the mothers experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) then their children were more likely to develop PTSD. Situations like this indicate that trauma responses can be inherited and may extend back several generations. For instance, children born three generations after WW1 and WW2 may have dysregulated nervous systems from a seemingly unseen cause.
Adding value judgments to the scenario of people getting ill like inferring they are weak, deserved to be ill, or are fulfilling fate because the universe wants to make them stronger, are cruel and unkind sentiments, especially if taken as an extreme view.
Our science has not advanced to a point in which we can detect underlying susceptibility to diseases via measuring nervous system functioning. Nor is it easy to distinguish between a disease caused by degeneration or healing (I once had a tumour that appeared abnormal on the scans, therefore, the doctors suspected it was cancerous but once it was removed it was discovered it looked abnormal because my body had begun healing and the tumour was shrinking.) We do, however, have some clear indications of what can help regulate the nervous system, which includes creating environments that ensure people feel safe (physically and emotionally), having choice, working collaboratively with others, establishing trust, and encouraging self empowered.
Christmas Peacock
Potentially, if all humans had an awareness of the importance of nervous system functioning then some diseases and ailments could be prevented. Somatic practitioner, Irene Lyons, discusses this topic at length on her YouTube channel. She presents easy to understand short clips about the complexities of stress and trauma, and how healing at the nervous system level can improve the quality of life. Her work is well worth a viewing.
Lyon is not the only person to promote the link between illness, stress, and the nervous system. Another researcher of interest is Gabor Maté. His book When the Body says ‘No’ provides a thorough scientific explanation of the body-mind connection of diseases like cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and other common ailments. Maté presents compelling information about stress and how certain behaviours like people pleasing and enabling abusive behaviour through being tolerant can cause adverse health effects to “nice” people.
In the western history, about two thousand years ago, there was another a person who preached similar things, albeit in a less technical language than contemporary trauma experts. Their basic philosophy was to love others and be forgiving while still challenging hypocrisy and adverse behaviours. Much to the amazement of many crowds, this revolutionary person was sometimes even able to heal dis-ease by simply being kind to others, in particular, the down trodden and social outcasts. In contrast, the common medical knowledge of this person’s era was based on concepts like the four humours, and a belief that hysteria in women was caused by their womb wandering around their body. To heal the later, it was believed sexual intercourse could put the womb back in its rightful position, as opposed to the elbow or spleen or wherever else the medical practitioners thought it had wandered to.
This magical person was sometimes depicted as a young man waving a wand around. Other times, they were symbolised as a peacock because Ancient legends said peacock’s flesh couldn’t riot. Further, peacocks represented rebirth because each year they would lose all their feathers and then regrow them with anew.
Sarcophagus of Archbishop Theodoric, marble, 6th century; in the church of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, Italy.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
For those who have not worked it out, the peacock was a symbol of Jesus and his resurrection. It may just be a coincidence but the peacock Jesus went out vogue around the same time (sixth century) the Church made a firm stance on reincarnation not being part of the Christian faith. It is within medieval Catholicism that we also see a version of karma being presented that stipulates if a person is evil they’ll go to hell and if they are good they’ll go to heaven.
The extent to which early Christian’s believed in reincarnation is debatable, nonetheless, this year I would much rather raise a toast and say “Cheers!” to the Christmas peacock who could heal dis-ease with love as opposed to celebrating a so-called virgin birth.
References
Rowan, Nic. “Opinion | the Spiritual Life of the Peacock.” Wall Street Journal, 20 Dec. 2018, http://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-spiritual-life-of-the-peacock-11545350315. Accessed 24 Dec. 2021.
“The Argument over Reincarnation in Early Christianity | Utah Historical Review.” Utah.edu, 2011, epubs.utah.edu/index.php/historia/article/view/578. Accessed 12 Oct. 2020.
Wilson, Ralph F. “Peacock as an Ancient Christian Symbol of Eternal Life — Early Christian Symbols of the Ancient Church.” Www.jesuswalk.com, 2022, http://www.jesuswalk.com/christian-symbols/peacock.htm.
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