Let’s Chat: Karma is a boomerang

By Linda Tooth on May 15, 2024.

Have you ever wondered where the term karma comes from? We say it all the time, but do we really know what it means?

I did some digging on the web, and you might be surprised to know the term karma is very much a part of Tibetan Buddhism. Tibet is an autonomous region in the People’s Republic of China with a population topping 7 million people. They believe in living a simple nomadic life and their diet consists of meat and dairy products and they drink tea.

They sound like my kind of people.

According to Yowangdu Experience Tibet, karma refers to “both one’s actions and the consequences of those actions.” Some people think of it as cause and effect. The Dalai Lama explains bad karma as, “We too must face the consequences of faulty actions we have committed in the past.” He explains good karma as “any wholesome act, no matter how small, will always come back to us, to increase the joy and comfort of our lives.”

You may be wondering why I am talking about this, so let me explain.

I am part of a small group of caring people who go out twice daily to feed the community/feral cats in Medicine Hat. We take our job very seriously as these cats do not ask to be born into the situation they find themselves in. We ensure they are safe and fed, and if they need to see a veterinarian, we take them and ensure they are looked after. We ask for donations for food, and so many people have been extremely caring.

That is good karma.

Unfortunately, not everyone likes to have the cats around. They view them as a nuisance.

Upon checking on the cats in the past week we discovered four dead ones. Sometimes we find one, maybe two, but four in one location is a bit suspicious. Broken hearts are an understatement – we are crushed and beyond angry.

I am trying to temper my anger. All we want for our community cats is to have a Trap, Neuter and Release (Return) program in Medicine Hat. You may remember that this is something we started petitioning the city for last year. We are so close but have been stalled by the city and the paperwork necessary for Persian Dreams and the Medicine Hat SPCA to bring this program here.

If these cats died from means other than Mother Nature deciding it was time for them to go, I strongly believe bad karma will find those responsible.

Help me, help them. Please spay and neuter your cats.

Linda Tooth is a communications instructor at Medicine Hat College

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