Pay to Arrive, Free to Leave

On Bainbridge Island, it costs money for a ferry ticket to get there but one can leave and ride for free going back to Seattle. On Lummi island, the ferry deal goes the same way. Pay to get to the island, leave for nothing.

This pattern is redolent of life in the Bardos (look it up). You have to pay off your karma to arrive in a human body but it costs nothing to leave, physiologically speaking. Medical bills and funeral costs optional.

Earning a way back into a human body can be tricky, according to the teachings of Buddhism. Apparently, countless beings in the afterlife vie for a precious human rebirth, where evolution can be quick and effective. Of course if a newbie human flicks his or her finger at earning good karma while in bodily form, next time around one might get a one way ticket to the body of a spider, gnat or some such form with more limited capacities for conscious reflection. Or get stuck in the slums of afterlife.

So lest a being wants to risk such a fate, it is adviseable to work hard on evolving consciousness whilst on earth so that there is enough spiritual capital in the bank to come back again. And what for? To serve and love.