So we have had this invasion of Moths almost since we moved in this apartment three years ago.
They all pretty much look alike: black or dark grey wings, about 1/2 an inch long.
When the invasion started, I thought they came from outside. ALIENS !!!!
And undocumented aliens at that.
I was scared I would have to buy brand new clothes as I thought that all moths feed themselves on fabric.
We did not do much about this invasion except regularly, I mean every day, swat down or crush the invaders against the wall. Soon the kitchen was decorated with a collection of dried crushed moth cadavers. The daily moth cadaver count ranged from 4 to 15 per day.

After months of puzzlement, one day in despair, I googled “moth” and discovered to my relief that these aliens were most likely coming from the dry grains and beans that we stored in the pantry.
Turns out that the packages of lentils and rice that we buy from the Indian grocery store contain moth eggs that hatch when the weather turns warmer.

I decided to call my first blog article “Karma of a Moth Killer” in respectful reverence to my beloved friend Baba.
Baba is my best friend, an incredible guy who decided to take the Buddhist path.
Baba multiple times, patiently explained to me what Karma is all about, so each time I crushed one of these freshly hatched moth with a mix of relish, relief and guilt, I think: “Here I go, why do I need to create more Karma for myself” ?

Eventually, we realized that regular careful and attentive surveys of the contents of the pantry would enable us to identify the infected containers of dry grain and get rid of the source of the contamination.

I thought the two poles of my dealing with the Indian Moth invasion, i.e.: attempting to get rid of them one by one and looking for the root source of the infestation was a metaphor for a lot of this life: Short term fix or long term resolution.

Do I want to deal with the cause of my suffering or not?
Do I really want to identify and deal with the root cause or just stay ignorant and deal with never ending manifestations of the problem?

Do I want to know or do I prefer the comfort of my ignorance?
I find fascinating that these questions apply to individuals as well as organizations.

As to my Karma,……. I decided long ago that I can only keep working on getting enlightened.
So, obviously for me, sainthood is not around the corner.