LAWS OF KARMA

What is Karma? We have heard so much about this word. Karma is a Sanskrit word that means ‘action’. The famous quote “as you sow, so shall you reap” tells us everything about karma. We all know every action has an equal and opposite reaction, this process of cause and effect is associated to our thoughts, emotions and actions.

However, this law of cause and effect is not a punishment and is entirely for the sake of our education and learning.  We are spiritual beings having human experience and our karmas help us in learning as well as progressing through our actions. Thus, karma is not considered as good or bad. It operates on the universal laws that create absolute justice. Law of karma applies to every one without any exception. It teaches us oneness and makes us realize that all human beings are one irrespective of their religion, caste, caste, creed, nationality, sex etc.

Karma teaches us to be self-responsible for our actions in all situations. Understanding the dynamics of karma is one of the vital steps in spiritual evolution of an individual.

TYPES OF KARMA

SANCHITA KARMA- it is the sum total of all the karma that is accumulated from all lifetimes.

PRARABDHA KARMA- it is the karma which is ripe and the effects of these karmas will be experienced in the present lifetime in current situations.

AGAMI KARMA- it is the recently added karma resulting from the karmas of present actions and affects our future.

KARMA AND REINCARNATION

Many people believe that our characters and personality are formed from the moment we take birth and we assume that the psychological makeup of an individual is a result of parental and social conditioning and genetic inheritance. Family origin, patterning, personal myths have been used to explain how the psyche of a person is affected by the childhood experiences and the genetic inheritance. Current family genetics as well as psychological environment are not only responsible for the psychological makeup of an individual.

Reincarnation and karma are interrelated. Before we take birth, we choose our parents, circumstances, social conditions in which we are born. This gives ideal conditions for the lessons we intend to learn in this lifetime.

Our character, situations have roots in the past lives. Past life habits, activities, patterns emotional and traumatic experiences from the past lives all together contribute to our present personality and character structure. All these serve as a tool for the expression of the soul and serve as factors required for the karmic drama.

KARMA IS NOT A PUNISHMENT

The most common misconception is that the laws of karma are operating to punish us for our wrong deeds. From karmic point of view, the punishment is always self-inflicted and we believe that the law of karma operates to punish us for our wrong deeds. Identification with the patterns of guilt gives rise to the need of punishing oneself and thus punishment is self-inflicted punishment.

Another misconception about karma is that it is ‘fate’. Karma is usually viewed as negative and we have heard that our life is in control of someone sitting at the top. However, we always have the freedom to let go of the patterns that we identify with. Our life situations are always in our control. But, this is very difficult to believe initially because of our deep conditioning.

Our individual characters are shaped by our karma. It helps us in learning the lessons as well as has a vital role in our spiritual growth. As we evolve spiritually, we understand that there is no need to be attached to our false identity. This identification frees us from the karmic patterns. 

We don’t create any new karma in this state of universal consciousness.

Sri Krishna said “karma gets burnt and destroyed in the fire of wisdom”. This wisdom is we gain through self-realization. Once we grow spiritually and identify our true self, karma has no effect on our lives.