About Karma

The following article is shakti's response to a question about Karma written on her interactive blog: www.shaktimhi.com. You are welcome to visit her blog, post comments, ask questions, and get real answers.

Question from reader:

How does karma affects those that know and have learned some very powerful and practical techniques, practices, and spiritual exercises, but they not apply them in their daily life? Are them affected more that those that don't know and are not aware about these laws, practices, etc?

shakti's response:

On the high level of spiritual practice all concepts we use must be contemplated. Often you will find seekers using concepts they take for granted like for example, the concepts of Karma. Before I answer your question about Karma we should clarify what this concept means.

Karma in Sanskrit means Action.

The law of karma means the law of Causation; whenever there is cause there is an effect.

There is no argument that every action has a result, it's a fact you can experience yourself. Drop an apple and something will happen, as long as you don't have any expectation of the result.

But it doesn't end here.

Swami sivananda said " the people's own Karma brings reward and punishment"

This is where the problem starts...

True spiritual practice manifests beyond the conceptual mind. If we perceive reality within the mind's concepts we are still trapped in the Maya- the illusionary dimension.

What does good action and bad action mean? Good and bad has nothing to do with reality as it is, they are simply mind-relevant concepts that at the end of the day have no absolute meaning except the one which defines them in that particular moment.

So how can we describe any action as good or bad? Good to whom? Bad from what point of view?

True spirituality is never involved with fear or reward. If we talk about Karma in terms of punishment we come from fears if we talk about Karma in terms of reward we talk expectation. Talking punishment and reward make spirituality no different than religion. The use of punishment and reward is a passive aggressive way to control the masses.

O.K so let's talk Karma on a higher level of knowing.

Every action and thought carries a frequency of energy. If the actions and thoughts come from the need to survive, the frequency of the action's energy will be low and dense. If it comes from experiencing reality from the higher self as being a union with everything around us, the frequency will be high.

Low frequency energy leads to low consciousness (experiencing reality with limited perception) High frequency energy leads to high consciousness: seeing reality as it is.

So for your question, Karma will affect the one that believes in it. The effect will be in the form of the meaning that each person gives to it.

Lets say that as a spiritual seeker you move through life trying not to do "bad" things to avoid creating bad karma. By doing so you don't really care about anything outside of yourself but about your good or bad karma. So where is you spiritual evolution? You still live for your own sake. You still act like a little child who's mainly afraid to be punished. But if you move in the world knowing and experiencing that everything around you is your reflection, you will always try to act from love as everything is one, everything is you.

 

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by shakti mhi