Understanding Karma

The word Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning “action.” Karma is often thought of as a “payback” for something you did in the past, that may have hurt others or was negative in some way, and it can be, however Karma does not always work that way. Karma is not a judgement. Karma is just the universal law of cause and effect which states that every thought, word, and act, carries energy into the world, and that energy affects our present reality, good or bad. Karma can also refer to the “work” we have ahead of us, which includes lessons we are here to learn, lessons from both our past and present lives.

One of our jobs here on earth is to figure out our individual relationship to the universe and to understand how the universe affects each of us individually, and as a whole. Once we understand this, we can avoid negative karma and create positive karma for ourselves. Karma often gives us clues about our intended life purpose, and shows us a map of our past lives, so that we can find the way out of repetitive cycles or behaviors and thoughts that are no longer serving us. Unlike Dharma, (also Sanskrit, from the root word Dhri, which means to hold or to maintain), which has more to do with our personal mission, purpose or intended position or work in life (like being a nurse).

We are all spiritual beings in human form here to learn our lessons. These lessons are designed to help us grow into greater levels of love, joy, and awareness, and therefore to vibrate on a higher level. These lessons teach us to choose love and to be love, to forgive everyone, everything, and to live a happy life without worry or fear. Wherever we fail to choose love, show forgiveness, teach tolerance, or display compassion, karma will intervene, to put us back on the best path for us to learn these lessons. Sometimes we receive good karma, but the goal is always to maintain karmic balance and the best way to do that is to be love.

How does one “be love?” To be love, one must love without condition or exception. To act out of love and not ego. To accept people without judging them and to give without expectation instead of giving in order to receive. To treat someone how you would want to be treated, to be kind, to help others, to always chose love when given the opportunity, rather than to choose something of a lower vibration, such as hate, envy, fear, jealousy, revenge, etc.

Karma gives us the opportunity at every moment, to become open to greater levels of love and compassion. Karma applies to everyone, all the time, with no exceptions. The logic of Karma is “you reap what you sow” in exact and precise measure. Karma is also predictable, just like the laws of gravity in that, what is done to you is the net result of what you have done to others, whether it be in this lifetime or in a previous lifetime, good or bad, and with the goal of providing you with all the experiences that you will need to grow and evolve into greater levels of joy, awareness, responsibility, and love. Karama shows us how we are solely responsible for the circumstances in our lives. Based on how we react, choices we make, and directions we take, etc. karma brings us back to the path we are meant to be on, so that we can keep learning until we are in karmic balance. Karmic balance is living in a loving manner, accepting all things as being part of you. Simply put, what you do to another is done to yourself, whether it is good or bad.

We are all a part of the same universe, so the goal is to understand and act as one, as opposed to separate, so that we can obtain unity with life, so that we can flow with it. Karma forces us to look beyond ourselves so that we can truly see ourselves as we are. Once we totally understand this, we can see our divinity and our unity with all of life. Only love is real, and love is our reason for being. Once we recognize that this is the

ultimate journey, the universe will open to us and keep us in the flow.

We will always have the opportunity to adjust our actions to avoid making the same mistake twice and creating more Karma. By understanding karma, you can unlock the patterns from the past and from past lives, to use the laws of karma to consciously choose a better path for this life and for the next.

Good Karma works the same way, “being love” sends out the energy of love which attracts and brings more love back to you in the form of good Karma. Karma is not always immediate, so you may not recognize it as such, for example, suppose you helped someone with a flat tire one day along the road. Then one day you ran out of gas along the road and someone who had a gas can in their car, stopped to help you. You may not recognize that as “good karma” for the kind deed you previously did, but good karma will always find you the next time you need help, and it will be provided for you. This is karmic balance. This is an example of “the universe has your back”.

“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.”

~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.