Cause, Effect, and the Number Three

Karma's a bitch and all things come in three. I thought this as I was driving home from dance last year. In Buddhist teaching, the law of karma, says only this: `for every event that occurs, there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful.'  Pretty much if your not careful, Karma will come back to bite you in the ass.

Now onto the number three. What with this number and why did it pop into my head when I was driving? Well, I was cross examining my life and my thoughts like I normally do whenever I drive. At the time,  a friend of mine had landed herself in major trouble. She had tempted fate and you can guess what fate did. She made three wrong choices and landed herself in a metaphorical doghouse. Then came my epiphany, it was a number of power that was so ingrained in our lives that we barely even noticed it.

After all, it only takes three seconds to decide on something and another three to grasp whether or not it is right or wrong. If you also take a gander at the first stories of man--folklore, myths, legends--, you get three wishes, three chances, and three questions. It is more than a number. It practically rules our lives. There are three parts of a whole: a beginning, a middle, and an end. A past, a present, and a future. It is a number of compulsion, consquences, and common sense. But, it is up to us to decide what path we will take.

The Need to Fly

I look out the window and see the hawk flying. I envy it. I envy the freedom that it has. The ability to rise above it all: emotions, need, and pain. I too need to fly. I need to let my imagination run rampant.

Agitated already, that knot in my chest grows. It burns as the beast that resides in it dies to explode into action, to create that which has not yet been seen. But, it is caged, surpressed within me. It is a dangerous force: that need. That impulse. Because of it's unability to escape, it drags you into the dark leading you a mad-hatters dance. It claws at you trying to destroy whatever is holding it back. It endeavors to drive you over the cliff and into insanity. It leaves you only two choices: to release the beast and see what happens--whether the result is catastrophic or prosperous--or to keep it caged and pay the consequences.