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Sexual abuse
If a person was sexually abused, does it mean that they were definitely a bad person? What are the various karmic reasons for abuse? Leading away from the idea of karma, couldn’t a person undergo certain experiences because it will shape their life in an ultimately positive way, i.e. they are meant to be a certain type of person to serve their own growth and society? In yoga, there are writings about the yoga of pain, the path of pain. There is not judgment put on this path, just acknowledgment that correctly handled, pain leads to compassion. Is abuse entirely explainable by karma, or is it just one of those things that happen in life? In other words, is everything under the umbrella of karma? Does anything ever just happen?
(signed) Susan Craig
Karma Queen says:
Yes, everything that happens in samsara—ordinary, conditioned existence—is subject to karma. Karma is the natural law of cause-and-effect: For every action, there’s a reaction. Whatever we do and think has consequences, in other words. Karma does not imply, however, that there’s some cosmic force meting out judgment or life lessons. Karma is the result of many causes and conditions coming together. The way it works is too complex for us to say definitively this happened because of that in the past—or a past lifetime.
Rather than speculating on whether or not someone who has been sexually abused was “bad” in the past, why not ask yourself why this issue is of concern to you now? If you are plagued by memories of abuse, how can you free yourself from the obsessive thoughts? There’s no need to continue suffering guilt or anguish about events that happened in the past over which you had no control. Of course, if the abuse is continuing in the present, you should take immediate steps to distance yourself from the abusive situation. But if you are dealing with the residual effects of past abuse, you need to break the chain of thinking that keeps you feeling like a victim. When negative thoughts arise, don’t dwell on them. Replace them with self-compassion. Loving-kindness meditation can help in this regard.
