To experience life as beauty and goodness, without becoming enslaved to it, while being of service to others and remaining truthful to oneself – this sums up the basics of the law of karma.
For most people karma is linked to the philosophy of reincarnation. We will look into that in Chapter 7 and elaborate on it, but for this chapter we will focus on what karma is and how it relates to our emotions, and how this knowledge can change the entire course of our lives. This knowledge of karma will help us to make the optimum choices in our lives and help us turn painful memories and situations into opportunities for spiritual growth.
In order to understand fully what the law of cause and effect (karma) means, we need to look at life, not as a series of random events and incidents, but as part of a global network of interrelated souls, free to choose. There are no victims, no abusers, no victors nor losers; there is no such thing as bad luck, good luck, coincidence or destiny. There is no chaos. On the contrary, there is an orderly, coherent system governed by certain laws. All is predictable when all the factors are known. There is a predictable connection between our choices and the consequences.
The truth is that we are in control but often have given up our power and have become enslaved by our desires and needs. Once you accept that you do have control but have relinquished it, you will do what it takes to get back behind the steering wheel, won’t you? The question is, how do you find your path through life? How are you guided? That’s the difference between Level 1 of consciousness and the other levels.
Things happen to you; you can be lucky or have bad luck. Your approach to life is ‘hit or miss’; this is caused by a lack of awareness or passivity and ultimately is self-denial. It’s denial of your capacity and spirit. Life is like Russian roulette!
You start creating more synchronicity in your life and you accept that there are ups and downs. You start connecting and communicating with your guides, angels or Higher Self. You start understanding the signs and language of the universe.
What happens in your life is the reflection of your intentions. You choose to be pure and clear in your intent. There are no ups and downs, there is only now. In the now you are constantly letting go of the past.
Let’s understand what the law of karma means: there are two basic choices. Either we choose the bliss of ignorance or we choose to be aware of the fact that every action has its consequences. The latter means knowing we have to seize every opportunity to choose the very best for our lives. The law of karma means that you are always choosing; if you refuse to make a choice, your past will make that choice for you, because your old intent still stands.
By changing our original intent of childhood – which was, by the way, the subconscious programming of survival – we can evolve to a next level of being. Karma boils down to actions and our past experiences. Make a mental note here: all actions generate memory. This same memory will create a new desire to fulfil whatever was not resolved in the past. This desire that we are manifesting will drive us to action, which leads us to karma.
We can see what happens if we do not deal with our emotions: we become trapped in a vicious cycle that keeps reinforcing itself. The circumstances will vary, but the underlying pattern will be the same. By understanding and accepting this law, we gain greater endurance and flexibility to get through the difficulties of life.
A dentist friend of mine is famous for being one of the few pain-free dentists in the country. People flock from everywhere to come and see him. In his office he has a button on the dentist’s chair which you can hold on to during treatment. Whenever you feel the slightest discomfort, you can push the button and he will respond to your pain. He has the fewest requests for painkillers than any other dentist. The truth is that people very seldom make use of the button. The reason behind this is that, by having access to the button, people feel they have control. They are not helpless and, because of that, the biggest pain-inducer of all, anxiety, disappears.
It’s the same with karma: when we take control it’s much easier to deal with the difficulties that we create for ourselves. The main thing we need to accept is that nothing happens to us without our soul’s consent and cooperation. Therefore, all of our reality is the product of our choices.
The beauty is that, even in our most difficult moments, there is the opportunity for maximum growth. The laws of the universe are no secret to us: they are as real as the law of gravity, and we are fully capable of making them work as we already understand them on a subconscious level. Our feelings are our inbuilt detectors of these universal laws. In the universe there is ultimate orderliness and harmony; as soon as we consciously tap into that, we can feel it. By tuning in to this feeling we can discern when we are doing something that disturbs this harmony. In other words, the law of karma aligns us with the ubiquitous harmony of the universe.
To understand the law of karma fully, we need to know that every thought, every desire that we feel, every emotion that we suppress will change our vibrational rate. We can use this to our advantage, as we can change our vibrational rate to attract what we want. We can learn how to do this through the techniques explained in this book.
As we get more insights into how this functions, we also make leaps of awareness and can transcend higher in the levels of consciousness. We have to develop in order to become ‘multisensorial’. The five senses perceive only the physical, material world. This results in two opposite reactions at Level 1. Here we find the ‘achievers’, who would rather die than give up their dreams, and the people on ‘cruise-control’ – these are the masses, the majority. They accept their fate, and most will work at an unsatisfying job until they can retire and slowly deteriorate. Most of them are not happy at all and are very envious and critical of the ‘achievers’. Often they are anti-capitalism, because they cannot compete. At this level, whoever accumulates the most wealth before death wins. This is also the level of the so-called rat-race.
Then we have the ‘quietists’. They have given up and derive their quietude by accepting life as it is. They don’t struggle anymore, and actually once they stop trying to achieve their dreams, they do find a sense of inner calm. The difference between these people and the ‘cruise-controllers’ is that they do not experience feelings of hostility.
In terms of karma, our choices and the actions they engender are our tools for evolving in consciousness. Each and every moment we choose the intentions that will give our experiences meaning. When we make choices based on our alignment with our higher consciousness, we can let go of many of the Level 1, primitive driving forces such as greed, security, fear, anger, revenge, shame, loneliness and our desire for external fulfilment. A multi-sensorial person is open to insights, intuition, sixth sense and other subtle feelings, signs and signals. This person will make choices based on love, compassion and wisdom, and will let go of negativity and being judgemental.
It is very obvious and it has been said many, many times: we have to become conscious of our choices. Any influence that limits our choices is our enemy.
To sum up: behind every incident, action, thought, feeling, need or desire is an intention. This intention comes from an original cause: unfinished business. When we act consciously, we can break this karmic cycle and create more space for positive, creative, loving energy and more effortlessness in our lives.
Once we incorporate the law of karma into our lives and we start to understand that all the people in our microcosm and all the events that take place are orchestrated by our collective superior consciousness, so all involved can evolve at their own pace and in their comfort zone.
The spiritual path is a series of choices you make that always carries the promise of greater harmony within itself. As with everything, at the beginning it takes practice and hard work. The only way to achieve effortlessness is through the discipline of following the path of least resistance; this can take a lot of practice in deconditioning and deprogramming ourselves from the beliefs of Level 1.
We will face many crossroads where instant gratification will point us in the direction of dishonesty, selfishness or any other human vice. Often, the ‘best’ choices are the hard choices that require discipline, self-sacrifice and being of service to others. It is also the path of non-attachment and defencelessness. It is the path of allowing things to flow freely in our lives without the desire to hold on to things at any cost. The universal energy is the greatest source of energy; for it to flow through us, we need to liberate ourselves from our negative memories of the past, which block our energy flow. Any interference with the flow of this energy will reduce our affluence at Levels 2 and 3 of consciousness.
One of the sure ways to block the free flow of energy is to try to hold on to what we think we need: possessions, relationships, careers and people. This will also close the circle around us and block the influx of new things and people into our lives. The difference between having and holding is heaven. Whenever there is holding on to something, there is attachment.
Here is a simple rule: anything you cannot bring with you when you transcend out of the physical realm is not worth holding on to; it will only block the free flow of energy into your life. The most difficult paradox to understand is how this functions when you are in a relationship. You can have total devotion and commitment to the relationship, and trust your partner fully and completely, and yet not be attached at all. The relationship continues due to the moment-by-moment renewal of your commitment to that relationship. This also will be a choice you make on a continuous basis.
The main reason we want to hold on to things is that we do not trust that the universe will provide. Again, this mistrust is based on our past emotional reality; in this way we unknowingly create exactly what we wanted to prevent in the first place. We also believe that we know our needs better than the universe. On Levels 2 and 3 of consciousness we realize that by sharing our abundance and serving others, we will always be connected with the infinite source of energy available to us all the time.
To master the law of universal abundance, we have to let go of our limiting beliefs and any perceived shortage. At Level 3 we finally recognize that abundance is the natural state of being, and we release all attachments to material abundance and we can let it really flow freely into our lives.
The law of karma is not an arbitrary code of behaviour or goodness in the universe; it is the way to maintain harmony within the universe. Here is the best part of all: any thought, action, belief or desire that is in resonance with the harmony of the universe will multiply into more harmony and love. Imagine three tuning forks: one is a huge tuning fork vibrating at a specific harmonious frequency; this attracts other people tuned in to the same type of frequency. Then there is another huge tuning fork that vibrates at a disharmonious frequency. The third one is our own tuning fork; you have a choice between harmonious and dissonant frequencies. Whatever you choose, it will be reinforced by one of the two bigger tuning forks and you will get back what you send out.
In summary: every action, thought, desire or feeling that is not in harmony with the goodness of the universe will come back to us sooner or later to give us a chance to get back in line with the universal harmony. So, actually karma is the best thing that can happen to you. It allows you to make a new choice again. The other good news is that there is no judge or God keeping Him- or Herself busy evaluating our actions and keeping a record.
The biggest limitation we face is trying to define a phenomenon of which we are an interactive part. Every observation is limited by the limitations of the observer. How can you measure with only five senses something that stretches infinitely beyond those senses? The law of karma is not about punishment; on the contrary, it is the law of mercy and love and is an expression of the interconnectedness between the universal intelligence and us. It is the law of communion and oneness, and the expression of the ultimate nature of goodness. Therefore, when we speak of karma we should differentiate between positive and negative karma.
What else is there to know about karma that may affect our lives? The more we understand, the better. It is important to realize that knowledge that does not lead to insights and better choices is also ‘bad’ karma. If you know that smoking cigarettes is bad for your health and you choose to continue smoking, that is ‘bad’ or ‘negative’ karma. If you choose to stop smoking because it is bad for you and others, you are building up ‘good’ karma. We need to become karma-recognition experts, one of the toughest skills to develop. This is the ability to trace specific causes and their effects; as a result, we will be better able to make choices that will bring ‘good’ karma to us. It will also allow us to accept more easily the consequences of past karma. The law of karma is not as simple as it seems; it is straightforward in principle, but very complex in its ramifications.
If we fully want to understand all of karma’s complexity, we need to take into account the philosophy of reincarnation. If we put that into the equation, much more makes sense. Whether we believe in it or not does not change what is. Acceptance of reincarnation will help us only to understand better what we are possibly looking at. The second thing that is helpful is the belief that there is no such thing as an accident or random event, and nothing that occurs is anyone’s fault or mistake. We all are part of a global conspiracy and we, on a certain level, have chosen to participate in this dance of life. Actually, we are enthusiastic volunteers who have agreed to the events that are happening right now. We can choose to step out at any given time, but to do so we need to be able to tune in and open up to the universal language. Some of the challenges we have right now come from childhood experiences, others are from previous lives.
The third empowering belief is that, whatever the challenge, we are up to the task. We are never in this alone; we are in this together and we can support each other. For those who have doubts about the law of karma and reincarnation, ask yourself the following question: ‘What do I have to lose by accepting this as a possibility?’ If you really think about it, the answer is nothing.
There is no way you can hurt yourself more than you may be doing right now. If the law does exist, you gain tremendous benefit by making use of it. If it does not, you can only become a better person for trying. Not accepting the law of karma simply means that there is no purpose, there is a random sequence of events over which you have no control whatsoever and you are powerless. You can also decide to test the validity of this law for at least a year. At least you will know that you have given yourself the opportunity to reclaim your creative power and have a big chance of improving the quality of your life. If we can agree on this, we can analyze the law of karma further and see what we can learn from the sages, who have a long tradition of studying it. Remember, all news is good news and we can only gain from knowledge if we act upon it.
The really good news about the law of karma is that, despite the fact that there are multitudinous ways it can express itself in our day-to-day lives, there are just a few basic categories that we need to grasp to know how it interacts with our choices. 42
First, the Sanskrit word karma means ‘action’. I prefer the word ‘choice’. Karma is about the choices we make and all the consequences of those choices.
The law of conservation of mass and energy tells us that energy is never consumed but will only change form, and the total energy in any given physical system cannot be increased or diminished. This can also be called the law of continuation. It takes eight minutes for sunlight to reach us from its source. What we see as sunlight is an action that took place eight minutes ago. With the faraway stars this phenomenon is even more dramatic: what we see in the night sky can be information that is thousands of years old. This information travels on forever in time and space. The same concept, converted to our personal lives, suggests that there is a tendency for the effect of our choices or past actions to continue from lifetime to lifetime.
Most people believe that our participation is confined to just one life. After this life, all is finished. You come with a blank soul and leave with nothing else than the life experiences you’ve had. In Chapter 7 I will discuss with you why this is never true, and why we all come into this realm with a whole set of impurities in our system which have nothing to do with reincarnation or religion but are pure scientific facts. The multi-sensorial person is open to the possibility of repeated incarnations as a way to explain many mysteries of life, and knows that the spirit is the part of us that is immortal. The spirit is not limited to time or space. It experiences all incarnations at once. One change affects past, future and present, simultaneously.
I have seen this in practice over a thousand times. When a patient who has previously felt that he has been badly hurt by another person (for example, a parent) forgives that person from his heart, an immediate change can be observed. The memory of the event is instantaneously altered (the past); the future changes at the same time as the present. The person’s physiology changes; even his biochemistry changes.
Change can happen in the blink of an eye. Often the other people involved also change. Our personality and physical body are tools through which the spirit evolves. Every aspect of the personality and physical body is adapted to suit the purpose of the spirit. By letting go of fear and all related limiting emotions, karma is changed immediately; each time we let go of one of our fears, we stop the projection of that into the future, back to the past and in the now, and we release one emotional hostage. The spirit is not time-bound, so the future and the past are not fixed. The goal is to let go of as much negativity (projected fear) as possible to get closer to our original blueprint of unconditional love. The good news about the karmic law of conservation is that no effort or intention is ever lost. Whatever you’ve gained in this life, emotionally and spiritually, you will bring with you into the next or into eternity. The energy and dedication we put into our efforts will determine the future effect of our labours. That is why it is important to discipline ourselves to continue with our spiritual practice, as we will reap the benefits sooner or later.
The downside of this karmic law is that all unresolved emotional issues will also be brought with us into the future. Just as the positive momentum of our positive actions and choices is kept moving forward through repetition (discipline), our negative karma based on our negative beliefs, thoughts and actions will be forwarded as limiting patterns in the future. Most people live in denial and self-delusion, or have blind spots when it comes to their destructive patterns. This is where the other laws of karma come into place and give us other opportunities to break through these patterns. It is good to know that the spirit is attracted to harmony and healing and will continue on the path of evolution.
If your feelings or actions toward someone are reciprocated, the other person feels or behaves in the same way toward you as you have felt or behaved toward him or her.
This is the foundation for the recommendation to love others as yourself. What you do unto others will be done to you. Treat others the way you would like to be treated, no matter how they are treating you.
Treat others the way they want to be treated. This means you have to delve into their world and find out more about them.
Our thoughts and actions will come back to us like a boomerang. Sooner or later there will be a point when your actions and thoughts will return to you.
Suppose you are presented with a bill or invoice for damages because you’ve broken some goods from someone else. Here are the different ways you can pay your bill:
1. Cash: you feel the pain in your savings account right away. This is called instant karma.
2a. Delayed short-term karma: you pay with a credit card like American Express, Eurocard or Diner’s Club and 30 days later (or sooner) you get the invoice.
2b. Delayed long-term karma: you charge it to your Visa or MasterCard and you can choose to pay only the minimum or in increments with interest, or all at once (2a).
3. Delinquent long-term karma: you opt for a delinquent account which will give you a bad credit history. This means that the ‘punishment’ you choose may be so far into the future that you may not even remember why you are being punished!
Personally I prefer the ‘instant karma’, because it is so easy to see the cause and effect. The more you evolve, the more you will have ‘instant karma’.
The law of reciprocity also applies to positive karma. Sometimes you get an immediate return on your investment in a lump sum. Sometimes you get returns spread out over time; at other times you will not see returns until far into the future.
A word of warning: the law of reciprocity is not the only explanation for life’s challenges. When we see someone who is suffering or is facing severe tragedy, we cannot assume that this is always the result of their own destructive choices in the past. Sometimes the soul takes on karma from others to relieve their suffering or as a service or an experience chosen to accelerate spiritual growth. The most important lesson is that we can never assume that if someone is suffering it is as a result of negative karma. Our intention should be to show love and compassion for everyone who is in their karmic process. If we don’t, we also create new negative karma.
The law of reciprocity can give us an understanding of hardships, tragedies, suffering and premature death. The law of reciprocity is also the law of positive karma. All actions based on unconditional love, acts of kindness, services we perform or compassion we show others will come back to us. Just as old debts can accumulate interest, so can savings be multiplied.
Do we make choices for good, because that will bring us positive karma? Is that not selfish? All knowledge is karma: what use is knowledge if we choose not to act upon it? Ideally we should do good from the heart. When faced with some choices, it is OK to choose from an intellectual level for the benefits of doing the right thing. It is an added incentive in times of temptation. Gradually we will become more and more comfortable and more harmonious with making choices from the heart.
Some people use the law of reciprocity to become victims of their past selves and delve into feelings of guilt and shame. This law is meant to heal the past and change it. It gives us the possibility that our suffering is not in vain, that it serves the purpose of cleansing our memories and replenishing our systems with new energy. It makes us aware that we have to take responsibility for our lives.
There are many more laws that relate to karma. The two laws described here are the most important ones when it comes to understanding the relationship between karma and the emotions. For emotional balance, the added benefit of resolving past unresolved emotions is that each time we let go of a limiting memory, we are letting go of negative karma and creating more free emotional choice. Free emotional choice is the way to positive karma.
As we have read in this chapter, we can make choices from our mind or from our heart.