The positive effects of good karma are not a fixed reward handed out from outside; they are the natural result of how causes and effects unfold. You can grow in them, not by demanding favor, but by shaping your actions, attention, and intentions.
No harvest comes without planted seeds. Seeds will not grow unless watered. But if you plant and water, they will grow and yield fruit.
Your resolutions are the seeds; spiritual disciplines are the water; the fruit is the pattern of thought, word, and deed in your life. Like the sun, the overarching influence of karma—the moral principle of the universe—works in and with you, making clearer, more virtuous living possible.
Positive effects are already present in the very functioning of karma itself. Your existence participates in this moral order. Thus all you do occurs under its rays.
Like the sun, the benefits of good karma can harden clay but soften wax. The selfish, rigid mind is hardened; the open, compassionate mind is softened. Resistance makes the heart stubborn; surrender makes it receptive. Liberation arises through this unfolding of positive effects, not through self-centered effort alone.
