Understanding Karma

Om Shanti. Greetings of Peace.

 

One of the lessons that I learned in my journey of spirituality is the subject of karma. It has answered a lot of my questions. 

 

So what is karma? Karma I know is a word that is known many by many people do not understand fully what is. Simply stated, "karma" means action. And so an action can be good, can be negative can be positive, can be charitable, can be destructive. It all depends on the doer of the action. But our actions are governed by a universal law. And this is called the Law of Karma. The Law of Karma states that for every action that we do there is a corresponding reaction to it. Some people call it the law of cause and effect. The law of sow and reap.  It means the same, whatever goes around comes around. So, to put it practically into my life, I always think to myself:  What is the fruit that I want to experience in life because accordingly, that then would be the kind of seeds that I should be planting in my life. So if I want to experience happiness in my life then it is imperative that I plant happy thoughts because thoughts are the seeds of actions.

 

In every thought that I have that will translate into my words, into my feelings, my attitude, my behavior, my character, and my personality. Ultimately to my life. And so every day, if I ask myself this question, then understanding the Law of Karma can be beneficial for me.

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Now in my actions as I perform several options in a day, all of these is translated into three aspects of my life. One is my health, second is my wealth, and third is my relationships. In other words, for me to enjoy quality life I believe health, wealth, relationships are all inclusive in the quality life. So if I want a good health what is the purpose of having this body? What am I here for and what is the body for? As a being in this human form, having this body, is my instrument for me, the being to express my goodness. The goodness of peace, the goodness of love, the goodness of joy. In other words  can I use my eyes to see that which is good? Can I use my ears to listen to that which is only good? Can I use my lips to speak words that is only good?

 

What is good? Words that can offer hope, offer encouragement, uplift others instead of words that gives sorrow, bitter words. So this is my choice. In everything that I do knowing and understanding the law of karma means I have a choice and I must be accountable to all of these choices. So when I use this body to express the intrinsic goodness that I have within me, then I have the faith that I will enjoy good health. In the same way, if consciously or unconsciously due to my ignorance, I have abused or misused this body to serve selfish interests then sooner or later there will be an experience of disease that can range from disease of the body to disease of the soul.

 

On the subject of wealth, again, when we speak of wealth we are not confined to the material wealth but wealth is the feeling of abundance. The feeling of having access to whatever that I need having that conviction that whatever I need will be provided. And so for me to enjoy this kind of freedom, it is important for me to understand that the purpose of wealth is to share it with others for goodness. And so as long as I am using wealth in this way, in a worthwhile way then again, the faith and the conviction will always be there that I will be provided by life. If, I instead have greed and would like to accumulate a lot of wealth for my personal self-interest, then the material wealth may be there but it may not give me the feelings or experience of real wealth which is freedom from worry, freedom from fear, freedom from confusion which is again we are seeing a lot in the world today.

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On the subject of relationships, again what is the purpose of having relationships?  As long as I understand that if relationships will be an exchange of our goodness then again, I am insured of enjoying relationships that are harmonious relationships that would give happiness, that would give joy,that would give comfort to each other. The moment I have an exchange of negativities then relationships that originally meant to be a source of happiness can thus become a source of pain which is something that we also see nowadays. And so in practical terms, let me be mindful that in my everyday relationships, let it be a give-and-take of only goodness. I give love and I will receive love. Let me only give happiness and I will receive happiness. If I give happiness and I take some sort of pain because of expectations then down the road there will be some form of pain waiting for me. And so again, relationship means let me pay attention that my exchange shall only be that of positivity.

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These laws are meant for me to understand and to use it for my advantage so that my life can be a life of joy, of lightness, a life of being carefree, of happiness. But these laws because of our ignorance may not be so easy to follow.  And that is why it is imperative for me to invoke my relationship with the Source. The source of goodness, the source of light, the source of power, the Supreme, the Almighty God. Let me take powers from Him. Let me take lightness, let me take love from Him so that I become filled.

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I become full.  And so I would have the capacity to give and to share with others.

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If you want to know more about the subject of karma or other subjects that are related to the development of spirituality, I would like to invite you to come to any of our meditation centers in the Philippines.

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Thank you. Om shanti.