I read the letter on karma on your site today, and I wanted to make a comment. I am 55 years old and have been in treatment for a major depressive disorder for 22 years. I was abused physically, emotionally, and verbally in my childhood. My mother could have written a textbook on borderline personality disorder, and my father was also her "victim", so he was no help to the children. I raised my son without perpetuating the abuse, and now it's my turn to deal with my issues. Just this year I am making great strides in overcoming my depression (which, it turns out, is much more psychological than physical). I don't know if I chose this life to "pay" for errors in past lives, but I really prefer to think of it as building "POSITIVE" karma for the next go-round. If I hadn't had this experience, I would not know how to help others not continue the abuse, and how to advise them to get help for the abuse they have suffered. Being abused is always an awful thing, but you can take the energy you expend on regret, shame, hate and anger and turn it into a positive force for the good of children everywhere. It's amazing how much this relieves your negative feelings.
AM: Preaching that abusers are teachers and that you can make sense of the endured abuse by turning negative energies into positive ones is a very problematic philosophy. It is used for brain washing everywhere. In this way, "teachers" pass on to others the lies that they were told and that caused their rage so they can feel well and "positive".