The Butterfly Effect in the Karmic Cycle – How Small Acts Create Ripple Effects

Few years ago, I watched a movie The Butterfly Effect, and it shifted my perspective on the circumstances we encounter in general. The sequence of events it showed was all tightly linked such that just a little change in the past drastically altered the future.

What is The Butterfly Effect - Meaning

I then browsed on the internet and found that if a butterfly flaps its wings in one part of the world, a hurricane could happen in another part. Theoretically, these two seemingly unrelated events effortlessly occur without our knowing and that one slight shift could dramatically change the upcoming series of events.

For instance, you fought with your spouse at home and then left for work. There comes a traffic jam and you become angrier due to late arrival at workplace. Would the traffic jam have not happened if you didn’t fight at home?

Real-World Examples of How Small Actions Create Ripple Effects

Many years ago, one of my distant relatives was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and eventually died after a couple of years of his diagnosis. He had a wife and two sons. If he and his wife got married to someone else instead of each other, what would have been the outcome, I wondered for quite some time.

Would another woman have lost her husband, or another man if this wife had married to would have died instead? My theory was that everybody would have survived. This means that the husband was destined to die of cancer only when these particular two had entered each other’s lives. The theory of The Butterfly Effect emphasises on the exactness of each situation. Things do not happen at all if there is one slightest shift.

Now I am not bringing astrology into the mix because it then reaches the paradigm of BS. I have seen some families who wouldn’t allow their sons and daughters to marry each other due to differences in their birth charts and predicting that one might die, failing to understand that such things whether one expires cannot be predicted at all. I am all for personality traits based on sun signs but nothing more.

Another example is that of a couple who I remember from some years ago. They met, got married, and were thankful that they found each other, but regretted why they hadn’t met some years before. Although it was not their fault in a practical sense to not meet before, they still wanted to have established their bond already. But here is the thing – they were supposed to meet only at the time they really met, not before, and not after.

There is a reason why we happen to cross paths with certain individuals only at some point in our lives. From the moment we take birth, we are designed to learn and evolve over time as we experience things. We only cross paths with specific people based on how evolved we truly are.

How Personal Growth and Evolution Leads to Positive Ripples

When I was in my teen years, and early twenties, I would meet toxic candidates more often than mature souls. As I started to work on my self-worth and personal growth, emotionally healthy individuals naturally gravitated in my life. It took me several years to understand that I had to work on myself instead of reaching people out for external validation, and ego upliftment.

I had my own demons to fight with. I would project my insecurities upon others instead. I have had my share of toxic behaviours in the past that I am not proud of. Not that I was naturally evil, but there were instances of psychotic rage, volatile behaviour, jealousy, projection, and gossiping to put others down. This wasn't just about behavioural changes but deep inner work so that minute things no longer sound triggering.

After meeting wonderful souls later in my life, I too wondered why I didn’t meet them before. Then suddenly I realised that if they entered my life way before, I wouldn’t have been friends with them. The reason was - We all would have been on different life journeys that wouldn’t have aligned properly with each other. Friends too have a major role in our life the kind of person we eventually become.

The types of friends I would make in the past used to be different than I make at present. Due to low self-esteem, I would more often chase self-absorbed individuals. When I began to be better at the ground level after realisation, I could sense toxicity, narcissism, and self-obsession from a mile’s distance and no longer enabled their behaviour. The result was that I stopped being in contact with those who no longer aligned with my core values. I put firm boundaries in place.

We attract specific kinds of people based on our evolution, and we also develop certain traits as a result of being with those individuals.

The couple that I mentioned before had to have their share of experiences to understand what an authentic relationship brings. For that, they had to have a series of heartbreaks first. The chaotic cycle continues if they still continue the old patterns.

Successful relationships aren’t rainbows and unicorns. There are instances of fights and some situations that may put people on edge, almost on the verge of breaking up. But only those relationships thrive who are ready to face uncomfortable truths head-on and not bury their head in the sand.

Now knowing things like butterfly or ripple effects, there are naturally more questions about other things such as Karmic cycles. Getting a dose of past actions either in this life or the next obviously crossed my mind.

Where the Butterfly Effect Meets Karma

If we put this into an umbrella of Karmic cycles you’d wonder if each scenario is tightly linked so much so that you might question – Are you truly planning, manifesting, making your own decisions or are you a puppet of the divine plan? What’s the point of experiencing and learning if everything is pre-orchestrated and you have near to zero control over your life?

If we look at the whole picture based on the butterfly effect and by putting Karma into the mix, every little scenario is intertwined. This means that situations are partly divinely pre-arranged and partly on what choice one makes. Karma is the result of those actions.

As you sow, so shall you reap.

The key principle of Karma is - "As you sow, so shall you reap.". One gets the ripple of their actions either in this life or beyond. There is a belief about rebirths one takes based on what life lessons they are meant to learn.

There is no scientific evidence that proves the existence of reincarnation. Yet there are plenty of documented instances where children talk about a memory they never experienced in their current life. They reveal details about some people who they claim to be their family members such as parents, spouse, even things like how they died, and that eerily match after being taken to those places.

The Spiritual Chain of Cause and Effect

So, let’s bring more complication to the concepts already discussed and tie those with Karma. You chose your own parents before taking this birth. You did that because there is a past residue still left to even things out with those souls who you happen to know already. The pre-destined plan may also include sibling(s). Now on top of who you meet in your current life, your life will also depend on the decisions you make at each moment and so the butterfly effect.

Any setback or foul play in this moment and you are back to being stung with more tragedies. For example, a grown man is tempted to molest a vulnerable girl child when no one is watching. Would he resist? Would he give in? What are the outcomes in the years to come if he gives in to the temptation? Would he remain to go unnoticed? The universe is taking notes even if no one else is.

There could be slightly less evil actions in the eyes of the law and yet could still be morally terrible such as using people for personal gain. Every single action determines what kind of future one holds.

I have plenty of instances in my observation through the years of people of varying age groups and genders putting others down in their prime age, and eventually crumbling after reaching middle age. They still do their best to never acknowledge and hide it instead as they perfected in maintaining their well-curated image. Yet there are cracks they won’t admit to. They are also masters of denial and skilled at gaslighting. This means that their reluctance to non-admittance leads to more collapse for those directly affected, and naturally, themselves!

It is important to note that the Universe doesn't see this as a punishment. It is simply the cause and effect based on someone’s intention and actions, and it manifests accordingly. Sometimes it is difficult to personally determine and judge whether an act is right or wrong due to complications associated. How so?

Say, for example, a woman killed her husband. It is no rocket science to understand that killing is wrong. What if I tell you, he used to consume heavy amounts of alcohol, took her money, and would verbally abuse and beat her? Would her murder now be justifiable?

I have come to terms with the fact that this world is a chaotic place, to begin with, and there are no separate black and white boxes to categorise people into. Everyone is doing something to meet certain objectives and there is a whole mix of positives and negatives. There could be well-intentioned as well as ill-intentioned people plotting and acting on instances and impulses the whole time, manifesting things they are drawn to, whether money or power, happiness, and so on.

If we believe that reincarnation exists and that everyone takes several lifetimes to finally merge with their Twin Flame and The Source, it would still take lifetimes to even reach that far. It requires plenty of rebirths to understand the concept of the divine path. Wrong actions would lead to more rebirths until there is a spiritual breakthrough.

This led me to question how one would do that, and hence, I concluded one's ego needs to be shed.

How Ego Comes in Between Your Spiritual Journey

Ego is one of the biggest hurdles to remain in the bubble of delusion. People take pride in whatever they do or say, and they think they are right and everyone else is wrong. If they think they do not need to spiritually mature from their current version, they will remain the same.

Evolution is about shifting their present mindset to something better and a willingness to upgrade. Therefore, unlearning and relearning are crucial steps to reach there.

What is Unlearning and Re-learning and How it Helps in Evolution?

Unlearning is the process of shedding the rigid thinking patterns (also known as conditional thinking) that we established while growing up. Any kind of bias such as our religion is better, women are bad drivers, people who consume non-vegetarian food are sinners, brahmins are upper-caste people, etc. Such kind of thought process isn’t factually true.

For instance, I too thought that women are more emotional and less analytical than men.

Conditional thinking, old behaviours and patterns, biases, etc. are carried forward into families and communities without conscious realisation.

Re-learning is the process of giving it a fresh start and entering into the new phase of truth which is factually correct. This is where your independent thinking and ideas will be established. The process is not linear and requires great deal of self-reflection.

Once I realised that gender does not determine whether one is sentimental or logical, I began to comprehend that there are several other presumptions I required to let go.

Nearly everyone has conditional thinking and they are brainwashed into believing whatever they think is their own truth. Examples include - "I think that you should go for an arrange marriage because it is the right thing to do.", "Inter-caste marriages don't work!", "Why girls are so bad at math?".

Is there a correlation between what I originally addressed, which is The Butterfly Effect and Karma, AND unlearning and relearning?

If you think deeply, maybe there is. If you won’t be able to think through what is morally right and wrong, and that most of your mindset is based on what your community thinks, how would you shed your toxic patterns? Conditional biases usually circle around the idea of supremacy.

Let’s say, you are a person of authority, a male candidate belonging to an upper caste and well-respected. Would you take advantage of that position and exploit your subordinates, OR help them level up? If you choose the path of exploitation, why would you do that? Is it because you belong to an upper caste and those who rank lower in the hierarchy deserve to be treated like that? Who taught you this? Is it your own mindset or there is the entire community at play who thinks exactly the same?

How many lifetimes would you need to unlearn that upper and lower caste are concepts created by humankind and are not a hardcore fact? Don't you think that the universe will have to arrange the role reversal for you in some way to compensate in this or some other lifetime?

Conditional thinking lets people do things they aren’t supposed to do because they think it’s the right way, which is not necessarily so. Rigid patterns do have a role when it comes to natural action, and so the series of more events like ripples.

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Does that mean that you will need to overthink and over-analyse every minute of action?

My take is, it is fair to make decisions based on your current knowledge and understanding. Things that you think at this point are right and do an introspection occasionally. Over time, you will gain more insight and the future will hold better outcomes.

Since the world is a strange place to live in and most events are beyond my control, I simply focus on my own path, people who I interact with, and those who get directly affected by my actions. This helps me filter out the chaos and not concentrate on miserable things happening around every corner of the world.

We don’t realise that even our seemingly small act of kindness can really help someone get through their day. And just a loud scream could ruin their entire month, and a lifetime to be traumatised.

Here goes the ripple effect in full picture where someone might continue to act rude because they were looked down upon by someone else for months or years. This is a vicious cycle of everyone traumatised and hence acting weird for centuries.

My Final Takeaway On The Butterfly Effect

I don’t know whether I will be able to convey what in my mind is or if it is too complex to comprehend. Apologies to those who didn’t get it. Things that I tried to articulate are my personal beliefs, and I don’t expect someone else to think the same. Everyone has a belief system through which they navigate their life. Some may be a hundred percent atheist and do not believe in the existence of God. Others believe in the idea of some form of power watching over us but they are not much into following man-made rules.

A spiritual person who has chosen their path without a religion to dictate does not follow specific protocols and believes that every person may have a personal path to chase without external interference. This is the key element of spirituality. Plenty of individuals claim to be spiritual but most of them are not. They are bound by religious dogma and expect everyone to follow through.

As far as the movie is concerned, I liked the first part that was released in 2004. The rest in the following years were trash because of lack of representation.