Karma:

Enlightened living and higher consciousness.

By Yogi Ranjit

Karma means action and reaction, cause and effect, the cycle of action and its
consequences. Actions can be divided into two broad groups: those with a selfless
motive, which are rare, and those with selfish motivation, which are common.
Selfish actions can result in joy or pain, or a mixture of the two. They always
create more karma, complication, and bondage because worldly desires tend to
keep us stuck in worldly, karmic existence.

“The practice of karma yoga is a path to freedom from karma and its effects.”

Karma and consciousness

There is good and bad karma. A body-mind will always have some karma, some
process of activity which keeps it acting and reacting. Consciousness, on the other
hand, transcends Nature and is free from karma. Therefore, the more conscious
and aware we become and the more we identify with our real self or our higher
consciousness, the more freedom and choice we experience. Awareness is the
ultimate tool we use to liberate ourselves from the bondage of karma.

Through the practice of karma yoga, we develop greater awareness. We witness
the quality of our actions, how they are filled with desires, expectations, hopes,
and fears.

Karmic theory

Karma is patterns or habits in our body-mind, in our nervous system, in our
thinking and emotions, and in the actions we perform every day. Our thoughts,
emotions, and desires have a way of repeating themselves, and these form
karmic patterns.

We inherit some of these patterns at birth, and some we create over the course
of our lives. A karmic pattern can be a strength or a weakness. We can find it
difficult (perhaps impossible) or easy to change.

We need to develop awareness of our patterns. We can do this through
meditation and self-study.

Once we identify our patterns, we apply yogic techniques that allow us to act
on our patterns—to respond to them, changing those that we can and accepting
those we cannot. Acceptance of weakness is a great strength. It is an outcome of
authentic meditation, arising from the cultivation of self-knowledge and self-love.

For example, we may have a digestive problem, perhaps as a result of worry or
anxiety. This health pattern undermines our energy, so we are motivated to work
on it.

We may then choose to address the cause of the problem. We may change our
eating habits and other lifestyle factors, and we may engage in more powerful
healing yoga methods such as breath work. Thus the old patterns may fade over
time as we modify them with the new patterns we are consciously creating.

Karma and meditation

The root cause and nature of our karmic patterns can only be fully understood
through meditation, which is the most important yogic tool for managing karma. By
developing awareness, we can clearly see our karmic patterns in action and
respond to them. Meditation also gives us a calmer, less emotionally reactive mind
and nervous system, so that we can respond with more peace and wisdom and
with less fear, anger, or attachment.

“ Positive karma negates negative karma in life cycle”.