A question about (Group) karma: below average intellect?

I hope you can throw light on the following matter in connection with the karmic effects.

A relative has been born with a below-average intellect; he takes time to respond to questions or join in on social conversations. He also has a very poor memory, cannot recall events, forgets what he went to another room for, etc.

What could be the possible causes set in previous lives which have brought on these effects in the present incarnation? What is the message the Law is sending, so that he can learn and avoid sowing such causes.

I think this question is very typical of our time: what did he personally do to deserve his fate? But is his fate really all that bad? What about the fate of those around him?

For him personally there is really not that big a deal, is there? Whatever the causes that got him where he is – since he is capable of so little, it is clear that for him the way to prevent this in future is pretty simple: just live as best he can. Not lie, not be aggressive, be giving, be understanding and learning that which he CAN learn.

The Law can never ask more of us than we can give. Just like it is harder to be the best you can be when you are rich (so much temptation to be greedy), it is a lot harder to take full responsibility when you have a lot of capacity.

I can’t tell you what caused this. It could be he was bad to other unintelligent people in a past life and needs to learn from the experience of being like them. There could simply be some physical cause preventing his higher capacities to come out, and this means he will have to postpone that to a future life. Perhaps his is a case of deserving a life of being taken care of, having given more than his share in previous lives and not being ready for more taking on a large responsibility in this one.

Take your pick.

Anyhow, the past is the past. The present is more important: It is the responsibility to those around him to make sure he lives the best life he can: doing what he can do himself and being helped to the extent that he needs it.

The law is sending all of you a message, not just him. It’s a message of Love – consciousness comes in all kinds of forms, and we have to respect that.

A version of this post appears in my book Essays on Karma.