Understanding Karma Part II ~

In part II – Johannes ~ Sevaji shows how understanding Karma can guide us to our true spiritual path ~

Understanding Karma Part II

Last week I tried to clarify karma in a way that was easily graspable. It is a deeply complex Law but it is essential to have at least a basic understanding of it so that you can navigate through life as healthily and joyfully as possible.

One thing that I should make very clear is that karma is not the result of some sort of higher power singling you out and punishing you for being naughty – your parents already did that when you were a child! It is not some god or the devil that is bringing us pain and suffering, for we are the creators of our own karma.

We attract what we need. When we act against our own higher purposes a lesson is manifested to guide us back to our light. In simplified terms the more wrong you do in the world the more wrong will be brought unto you. Conversely, the more good you do the more good you will receive. It is a perfect science but not as simple as that may appear, for we have to account for not only the actions we do today but the actions we have done in the past and in many cases our past lives too. If you don’t accept the idea of reincarnation than it makes grasping karma a little more difficult.

You and everyone you know are seeking the same things: happiness, love, acceptance, and the enjoyment of at least a few simple things in life. So why don’t we all get these things? Why aren’t we all so happy?

Well, it’s not like a team of architects, construction workers, and suppliers of raw materials that work together for a common goal to build a home…or like an orchestra of violins, cellos, wind instruments, and so on playing in tempo to bring to life a great symphony. We humans don’t work together that well all the time. Life, for the vast majority of people, is more like a race and each person wants to win. In some cases one runner may purposefully trip another runner to get to the finish line first, or take performance enhancing drugs to have the winning edge. This is when we put our needs and wants – our need to be right, our need to have more, our need to be superior – above the desire to be in harmony with others and even nature.

Consider this: sometime in this life, or a past life, you may have been the runner that tripped the other runner. And consider this: has the world really changed much since mankind began recording history? We still fight horrible wars, we still have pointless arguments with friends, we still struggle to put food on the table. Sadly, it does not seem like much has change in the last ten thousand years. There’s a saying: “Do what you always do and you’ll get what you always got.” And really the consciousness of the average human being has not changed a bit; we keep doing what we’ve always done. In times of tragedy, however, we see how we can unite. And this is our potential…and this potential is what must prevail to save humanity.

This is why on the spiritual path we stress awareness, awareness to see where the little karmic traps await us. We get caught in a karmic trap when we get frustrated and fly into a rage. We get caught in a karmic trap when we break promises. We get caught in a karmic trap when we say things we regret later. Stress, anger, jealousy, and so on, are emotions that dull our awareness and prevent us from thinking rationally. Thus we do irrational things. Irrational thoughts, words and actions lead to bad karma.

If all karmas could not be change then there would be no point to living a spiritual life, there would be no point in studying the teachings of the Buddha, Jesus, Nanak, Osho, or other great teachers. We’d be all doomed! But fortunately, these and other great teachers have said that we can, through effort, change, transcend and wash clean the wrongs of our past.

Jesus would say pray to the Heavenly Father for forgiveness and be born again. Buddha would say follow the Eightfold Path of right view, right intention, right action, right speech, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Osho would say be the witness to your own mind. And Nanak would say to sing the name of God in your heart.

Where ever you may be on your path, no matter how far you may feel you have deviated, no matter how much wrong you feel you have done, know that each moment is fresh and alive; each moment is potent with the opportunity for change. This moment right now is as good as any to stop doing what you have always done that has never served you and to start doing something new, something that will give you spiritual radiance, gracefulness, dignity, and nobility.

As far from the path as you may believe you have strayed, know that in the very moment you decide with all your heart to walk in your Truth, to walk in your Light, that instantly you will be guided back on to your True Path. Be in awareness, pray, repeat the names of God, whatever feels right for you, and verily you will be headed in the right direction.

Sat Nam,

Johannes ~ Sevaji