George Michael's self-castigating comments on Radio 2's Chris Evans show on Monday appeared to convey genuine remorse – but they also exposed the singer's sketchy understanding of the laws of karma. He was talking about being imprisoned for a month last autumn, following his second conviction for driving while high on cannabis:
"This was a hugely shameful thing to have done repeatedly, so karmically I felt like I had a bill to pay. I went to prison. I paid my bill."
John Lennon probably kicked off western misinterpretation of eastern philosophy around the principle of cause and effect with his song Instant Karma, released as a single in 1970 – a time when hippy travellers were roaming the orient in search of spiritual experience, but for the most part more interested in exotic quick fixes than the long hours of meditation needed to gain genuine insight.
The truth of the matter is that karma is not instant. In Buddhist terms it has to do with taking responsibility for one's actions. The British Tibetan Buddhist teacher Lama Jampa Thaye explains:
"The laws of karma are subtle and complex and it's simplistic to assume that you will undergo the consequences of actions in this life while you are still living it. For starters, one has to accept that karma is based in human consciousness being subject to a continuous cycle of death and re-birth – just like the cells in your body or leaves on a tree."
According to Lama Jampa, karma places what the future has in store for us firmly in our own hands. It is the basis of our moral and ethical compass – how we live today will reflect in the quality of our lives as we recycle through the life-death continuum. But, he says, there are other aspects that factor into how karma works:
"Karmic timelines are almost infinitely variable. Some take aeons before a cause matures into effect, others are on a shorter cycle, but in human terms they still move through over long periods."
In his book The Crystal and the Way of Light, the Tibetan lama Chogyal Namkhai Norbu offers an analogy for another aspect of karma:
"Primary karmic causes, good or bad, are like seeds which are capable of reproducing the species of plant from which they come. But seeds need secondary causes such as light, moisture and air if they are to mature. Primary karmic causes, remaining as traces of past actions in the stream of consciousness of the individual, also need secondary causes if they are to mature into further actions or situations of the same kind."
Namkhai Norbu makes it clear that it is possible to escape from repetition of the same actions and reactions by being aware of secondary causes as they arise in daily life, so that negative primary causes are prevented from coming to fruition. It has to be said that this level of continuous awareness is easier said than done. For most people it means that meditation and/or yoga have to be the focal points of a lifetime. For a fortunate few, this degree of motivation comes more easily – and that, according to Buddhism, pivots on the quality of previous lives.
When the historical Buddha attained enlightenment 2,600 years ago, the theory of karma was already around in his native India. But Lama Jampa points out that the Buddha gave it a "subtle and powerful twist" because he realised that karmic repercussions originate in the mind, rather than as a fate which none of us can escape. "Karma derives from intention," he says, and he quotes a popular myth about the Buddha:
"In a previous life he was a ship's captain and because he was already highly evolved, he could see that one of his passengers was going to kill many people. So he killed this passenger – not simply to save the lives of others, but also to save the murderous passenger from the karmic consequences of the action he was planning."
Lama Jampa cautions against a knee-jerk interpretation of this story:
"The road to hell can very easily be paved with good intentions. This means that we are required to investigate cause and effect, so that we do not fall into the trap of justifying war for example. Compassion has to be allied with wisdom – ignorance is a refusal to examine our actions and the causes they will create."
After his painful confession to Chris Evans on Monday, the unfortunate George Michael woke up on Tuesday to headlines proclaiming the end of his 15-year relationship with the Texan businessman Kenny Goss. The star says he's in therapy for his drug problems. Perhaps he also needs advice from a lama about primary and secondary karmic causes.