After sharing the prior two contemplations with Mae Yo, I asked the following 3 questions for clarification. Mae Yo’s answers are in green below:

Question Part 1) From my contemplation it seems that sometimes karmic debt is something we create through feelings and interpretations of our own actions. Sometimes however it seems to be initiated by others. Is this correct and if so then whats the balance–how do I reconcile these two ideas? consequences?

Yes, karma works in both ways. Sometimes we do wrong, but don’t feel wrong and so we don’t take on that karma. Other times, we take on karma that isn’t ours to begin with (like feeling guilty about Eric’s move from NY, when you weren’t to blame). Other times, others hold us to certain debts…. it works just like the judicial system in this world.

Question Part 2) In so far as we have limited control of the karma we have already created and which we continue to create what do we do? I guess I feel a little like–how am I ever going to stop getting reborn if others can keep pulling me back. I am scared I’m trapped not just by my own failings of view (of which there are plenty) but also by others. The double whammy seems overwhelming.

There are two parts: 1. others pulling you to be born, and 2. you pulling others to be born

The way not to be reborn is to change your key viewpoints that have caused all those bad karmic acts that you are paying for now. It’s like trying to get a tree to stop producing leaves. You can pluck each leaf, each stem, each branch, or cut the trunk. Choosing each of those acts will result in different results. Once you cut the key viewpoint, the big branches or the trunk, the leaves won’t grow back in time to overwhelm you again.

Question Part 3) Is there anything else on this topic of Karma that is important for me to know/understand/contemplate?

When focusing on karma, you can hone in on the consequences…the revenge aspect. This is what makes the world go round.

Mae Yo’s thoughts about the Eric and NY story i.e. karma as something created by myself:  This is a very clear example of how you took on that karmic debt even though you may not have been responsible for it. It affected your thoughts, your actions, your speech. But once your view changed, this karmic debt can go away. This is how you can stop being reborn….it’s like outrunning the karmic cycle. It can’t keep up with you if you are cutting out wrong views and not just actions or speech.

Mae Yo’s thoughts about my examples of  where karma is created by someone else: There’s really no way to avoid these, and you may not want to avoid them either. They are the examples that teach us and move us forward in our practice. Without problems, we don’t challenge ourselves to find solutions. While we can’t avoid them, we can be better prepared…by doing what we’ve been doing, digging up our past actions and figuring out the whys and hows.

Alana’s Further Thoughts: About a month after these contemplations, Mae Yo told a story that really helped sharpen my understanding of karma. The story was that she once bought a truck from a guy and because there was a small problem with the truck she felt cheated. She felt she was owed something, like the scales of the transaction were not balanced. She said that because of this, he could have brought her back to this world, he could have been a karmic debtor. But, when she came to understand vengeance, to eliminate it through her practice, the truck salesman no longer had control over her. The connection was severed.

The story made it clear to me that, in the end, if the causes of our rebirth, our wrong views (in Ma Yo’s case, this was vengence), are eliminated, there is simply no force great enough to pull us back. I can’t think of a better reason to start uprooting my own wrong views…