The mass-energy equation "Energy equals Mass times the Speed-of-Light-Squared" tells us that all things are convertible to energy. Inertia is the mass-energy of a subject relative to the system in which it is found. These definitions tell us nothing about the substrate of matter or energy. They describe effects. As yet no one has described prime movers. The basic substrate of matter and energy remains a complete utter mystery.
While the essence of being may remain clouded in mystery, there are valuable insights to be gained in understanding the way things work. Karma is the inertia of classical physics, and Karma is the existence of moral mass and spiritual energy and physical urgency. Karma is the inertia of classical physics. There is global karma, social karma, individual karma, and universal karma. Karma, in every case, is the existence of forces in motion that shape the unfolding flux of inevitability.
It is no accident that spiritual savants have emerged from opulent circumstance. The unbridled exploration of will and desire in a spiritually precocious being will bring karmic forces into the field of conscious awareness. Thomas Aquinas will call it one thing and Siddhartha will call it another, but in each case the individual has realized that there is no self in self expression.
Self expression is lending the energy of self to the inertia of karma. There is self: there is karma. Self is inhabited by karma in ways both parasitic and symbiotic. Outside of the energy of self, karma has no power. Outside of karma, self has no expression; and resisting self expression is a form of self expression.
Growth requires nourishment whether it is a black-hole or a bean sprout. For example: we are born with an accretion of millions of years of animal nature. This animal nature exists within the personality as karma. The inertia of this "animal nature" is invisible to us so long as we do not question it's existence. Questioning produces friction; friction produces heat. Questioning engenders an existential heat of curiosity and attention which can result in cooking the seeds of karma. A cooked seed is an excellent source of nutrition, and it's sprouting days are over.
As we grow spiritually by intentionally or unintentionally cooking the seeds of the karma within us, the energy stolen from self by parasitic karma is restored to it's rightful owner. The energy consumed both by repression and expression is conserved, and a higher level of existence is made inevitable.
