The Law of Karma

A couple weeks back we discovered a yoga philosophy class at the Ved Niketan Ashram just down the road. What better way to learn about 'The Bhagavad Gita' then to have it interpreted by Swami Dharananda, a devotee of the Ashram for the past 20 years. The lectures took place in the basement of the main worship centre of the Ashram. It felt a little eerie walking amidst the caged figures of the deities down to a dark room encompassed by a number of 'meditation caves'. These meditation caves sparked my curiosity. They were like small prison cells where one would sit with no distractions or much natural light. In the middle of the basement the group gathered before an alter that showcased pictures of all the enlightened masters, Gods and great teachers of the world.

In his first few lectures, Swamiji candidly discussed the subject of Karma.

Law #1: Law of Karma. Swamiji used all kinds of explicit examples from smoking to adultery to telling lies to charity to illustrate how our physical and mental actions can create a 'fruit' that is either pleasurable or painful. These actions subsequently create 'sanskaras' or seeds that produce desire to repeat the action. So that's why it's always so difficult to learn our lessons ... and more often than not we learn the hard way!

Law #2: Bondage / Reincarnation. Our karma binds the soul to a cycle of repeated births by the chain of: action - fruit - seed - desire. In other words, our soul takes on a body again and again in order to become aware of our soul nature. The evolution of the soul journey is quite interesting. According to Hindu tradition the soul starts in the mineral kingdom - moves to the plant world where it must go through many species - then it moves to the animal kingdom to develop the mind and finally to the human level so it can become aware of itself again. The soul inside a body is continually evolving and when it has learned its lessons in this body, it moves on to the next. If a soul does bad karma in the human body or has strong attachments it will go back a level or two. Apparently we should be careful of how attached we become to our pets. Does that mean I am coming back in my next life as Mrs. Softers or Little Boots? I always thought a cat's life would be pretty sweet ... just joking God :)

Enter Karma Yoga, the science to free us from the painful effects of karma.
Here are a few examples of how we can burn the karma we have accummulated:
Note: 'God' can be interchanged with the word 'good'
~ Drop expectations of fruits
~ Offer fruits to God
~ Do actions/service without thoughts or expectiations - give up some comforts to help others. Mother Theresa is the prime example here.
~ Act as an instrument of God
~ All actions done to please God
~ Learn to see God in everything / person - even in times of suffering and pain this notion can help us grow
~ Appreciate the creator in the vastness of nature
~ Make pilgrimages / visit holy spots to take the benefit of the high levels of energy/vibrations
~ Learn to like that which the mind dislikes
~ Learn to burn your desires in the fire of self-control (Note to self)
~ Charity to poor/sick, monks, dead relatives
~ Pranayama exercies
~ And of course, we can also burn our karma and seeds through meditation ... the fire of wisdom.

So Karma is really about finding equilibrium again. Taking responsibility for ourselves and our actions is our duty so we can experience the freedom of the here and now. Can we truly evolve our consciousness? In this lifetime? In the next?