I was listening the radio this morning at 4 am, as I usually do because I wake up early these days, and the presenter, Christo, was discussing karma with listeners who were phoning-in giving their views.

When an intelligent young man, Terry, spoke about his cat – meow – my ears pricked up. A while ago he decided he wanted to adopt a cat. He went to a rescue center. It was probably Battersea Dogs & Cats Home because the radio station is LBC 97.3, a London radio station.

As usual the cat chose him. He quickly bonded with a large, elderly tortoiseshell male cat that no one wanted because he was old. He had been at the shelter for 3 months.

For the remainder of the cat’s life, they had a great time together. Although, his buddy did not have that long to live. Soon, he had to have his cat put to sleep. He prayed and cried in the vet’s consulting room and the deed was done.

Not long afterwards a neighbour, who he had not meet before, came up to him. The neighbor offered him a large tortoiseshell cat. The cat was the mirror image of the beloved cat he had recently lost.

Was this an unexpected reward for his good deed in adopting an unwanted cat? Was this his karma? Positive actions leading to future positive consequences?

As I understand it (and I don’t mind being corrected), at a simplistic level, Karma can be described as positive consequences flowing from a positive approach to life. At a more mystical level it also includes previous lives and future lives. It is a part of Hinduism and Buddhism faiths.

Karma can be mystical or common sensical. There is a lot of common sense in the power of positive thinking and “good vibes” if you want to put it that way. The concept of “self fulfilling prophecy” also comes to mind. If one thinks and behaves negatively bad things are more likely to occur.  Negative thoughts are more commonplace in people with low self-esteem who feel they don’t deserve that good things should happen to them and are therefore stuck in a cycle of negative thought and consequences.

I believe in karma but don’t think about it at all. You don’t manipulate karma. I have always said that the best cat to adopt from a cat shelter is the least wanted. The cat that has been there for ever or the most vulnerable or disabled. You will find that the reward from looking after an unwanted cat is greater than from a bought pedigree cat. That is not to decry pedigree cats, it is just to state that one’s mentality when you adopt an unwanted cat is likely to be more positive and correct in respect of creating a close relationship than if you buy a cat.

When you adopt the unwanted cat in a shelter you are giving and caring. That will be translated into excellent cat caretaking which in turn will result in a contented cat who forms a close bond with you which in turn is the reward, the karma that you had not sought but will receive.

I feel there is a lot of good karma in Ruth (Monty’s mom) story about Monty her ex-feral cat. There are countless examples and in most cases people don’t realise that doing something good for a cat brings a reward that is equal to the amount of good given. Cause and effect. A recent classic example is the story of Marion’s rehabilitation of Chester. Chester has brought a lot of joy to his fans.

There is a well known book on this subject: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I have not read it. I have just heard about it on the radio. To be honest I don’t think that leading a positive life, which leads to better consequences is a secret. It is common sense as I stated earlier.

Note: the cat in the picture looks like a super attractive Burmese.