Dealing with Karma

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Karma means action. Every action triggers a sequence of consequences. Positive actions yield positive consequences while negative actions do the opposite. Positive and negative consequences can cancel out each other. The concept of karma includes the consequences of one's action. Actions from pervious lifetimes will determine the circumstances of the current lifetime. Actions of this lifetime will determine the circumstances of future lifetimes. That entire matrix of cause and consequence from previous lifetimes to future ones is the karmic cycle. If one fails to understand karma and does nothing about it, one will be caught in that unending cycle for eternity.

The Bhagavad Gita offers a tri-patha (three sectional) classification of karma:

• sanchita - all of the karmic baggage accumulated over the many lifetimes

• prarabdha - the karmic baggage that one is expected to deal with in the current lifetime

• kriyamana - fresh karmic baggage being added by current actions

As I understand it, karma is contained within this material realm and does not impact the astral body, which includes the chitta component of the mind. So the conscious Self does not carry karma from one lifetime to another. When entering the life of flesh, one chooses a lifestream with the appropriate karmic baggage for the lessons one is seeking to learn and then follows the reincarnation cycles of that lifestream in order to participate in the full cycle of lessons.

The lessons one seeks to learn are related to the desires and attachments one carries in the chitta, the spiritual component of the mind. So long as one indulges in the material life and builds up desires and attachments, the longing to be reborn in the flesh will remain. At the time of yearning for a body, the pains and sorrows of the material realm will fade into insignificance.

The various paths of yoga are mechanisms for dealing with karma, accommodating the various states of mind and coping ability that can be found among humans. Those who are interested in the details can read more about the 4 paths of yoga.

The most humans find comfort in their belief in a loving, compassionate and protective Divinity, who has been given many names in the many faiths. If those people engage sincerely in their spiritual practices and devotion, that will give them focus and purpose which will guide their actions and help to ease, and possibly accelerate, the resolution of their karma. Some devotees sing songs of devotion while others simply dedicate whatever they do to their ishta deivam (preferred icon of divinity). The Christians say, "Let Jesus sit upon the throne". The Muslims say, "Submit to Allah". Krishna devotees say, "Let Krishna be your Charioteer". I had the rare privilege to see Pithukuli Murugadass in person - he dripped bhakthi. He saw Murugan in everything, his every utterance was directed to Muruga. That is the single-minded devotion that will shunt aside the ego and enable the shrugging off of all karmic burdens. 

The risk with this path is in becoming "holier than thou". Convinced that what they are doing is the only correct path, some of them go around trying to convert others to their choice of belief or compel fellow believers into following their selection of rituals. Those external distractions will not help to clear any previous karma. On the contrary, there is risk of accumulating fresh karma by imposing oneself upon others. It is important to clearly identify one's correct focus and then remain steadfast.

There are many who find satisfaction in doing good work, in helping those in need of help. Performing such actions without attachment transforms those actions into into a liberating force, helping exhaust prarabdha karma and burn the seeds of sanchita karma. But there is danger with this path too. One can get caught up in the satisfaction derived from doing good work. Then it becomes an attachment. The key point is to perform the good work without any engagement of one's ego. The service needs to be selfless - the self should gain nothing from performing the service.

From the advaita (nondualist) perspective, Self-realization, whether by njana yoga or kriya meditation, nullifies all three karmas - sanchita, prarabdha, kriyamana, because the realization of Self dissolves the link between chitta and the reincarnating body. The realized soul has the ability to engage in the life of the physical realm without entanglement, since ego is formed in the brain and only attached to the physical body. When the seeker realizes experientially (not just intellectually) that he is neither the body nor the mind, then he can separate his awareness from his material self and stop being influenced by his ego. 

This concept of separating the awareness from the rest of the mind is brilliantly illustrated in this video. Our awareness is constant, like the sky above us. Our thoughts and emotions are like the clouds flitting by in the sky. In meditation, we need to learn to identify the awareness and separate it from the thoughts and emotions. Then we can, with our awareness, observe our thoughts and emotions. If this separation can be transferred to our non-meditative state, then we would have attained experiential self realization.

One interesting phenomenon that has been observed is that, as a person grows spiritually, the physical body tends to undergo additional challenges. It has been explained that the evolving chitta is able to take on bigger challenges so the spiritual growth is expediting the burning of the residual karma of the body. This increased load should not be seen as an additional burden but as an opportunity to expedite the growth. The realized soul will be able to take the additional physical challenges in its stride.

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