Karma

This is a story of a poor Scottish farmer whose name was Fleming.

 

One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the boy from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

 

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman.

 

"Yes," the farmer replied proudly.

 

"I'll make you a deal. Let me take your son and give him a good education. If he's anything like his father, he'll grow to be a man you can be proud of."

 

And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

 

Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin. This is not the end.

 

The nobleman's son also made a great contribution to society. For the nobleman was none other than Lord Randolph Churchill and his son's name was Winston Churchill.

 

{This story has been doing the rounds quite frequently over the past few years and I am not quite sure that it is 100% true or factual.  Nonetheless, it is very illustrative of what we know as 'karma'.  The explanation of karma can differ per tradition. Usually it is believed to be a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The results or "fruits" of actions are called karma-phala. Karma is not about retribution, vengeance, punishment or reward; karma simply deals with what is. The effects of all deeds actively create past, present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to others. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well. It is cumulative.}