What is Karma?

Karma is a spiritual law which teaches us that the nature of our actions has a direct and personal consequence, and that everything we express outwards into the Universe is returned to us in equal measure. It is referenced in the Bible by the phrase: 'As you sow, so shall you reap', meaning if you sow evil, you will reap evil in the form of suffering, and if you sow goodness, you will reap goodness in the form of happiness. Karma is an aspect of the Principle of Causation (or Cause and Effect), which is one of the great Universal Laws of Creation.

So, why do we need Karma? The short answer to this is because we fell from Grace. Once we fell, we forgot that we were divine beings and instead believed ourselves to be mortal because this was what we were experiencing. We identified ourselves as separate from God and each other, and in so doing entered a state of delusion. The notion of separation and the belief in our own individuality affected our capacity to love as humans, and what was once unconditional became conditional. This disturbed the natural equilibrium of the Universe and humanity fell out of alignment with the Law of Harmony. As a consequence, human suffering began and Karma was born.

To understand Karma, we must recognize that it is created by our thoughts. Contrary to what you might believe, the origin of all physical matter in this universe is consciousness or thought. Not only does thought create, but it can also transform matter. This is because consciousness is energy and energy which is directed by Will acts upon matter. Therefore, it is our thoughts (which precede our actions) that impact our physical reality and create Karma. And since, as far as the Law of Karma is concerned, we are all One (meaning we are of one Mind, even if we don't remember), any thoughts that we direct towards others will by default be reflected back on ourselves.

People seldom look for hidden causes behind the occurrences in their lives and cannot understand why they suffer. But the problems that we experience today have their origins in our misguided thoughts of the past. We have magnetically attracted the consequences for those thoughts into our lives through the spiritual law of karma. Every unfortunate circumstance, every personality weakness and every bad habit that we possess, however much we may reject the idea, was something which we ourselves created, whether recently, in the distant past, or even in another lifetime. It was through our own failure to live our lives in accordance with God's laws, or the laws of the Universe, in the past that we have now created a reality of suffering for ourselves today.

Even though it is easy for us to blame other people or circumstances for our misfortunes, in truth it is our own subconscious mind that is at the root of the problem. The subconscious mind is where unconscious habits are formed, and once created, these become self-perpetuating. Most people fail to realize just how seriously their habits from the past affect their present day mental outlook, their behaviour, their life choices and even the type of luck that they have.

Those who are born into disadvantaged life circumstances should strongly resist the temptation to indulge in self-pity. To feel sorry for yourself is but to dilute your inner power to overcome. Accept that your difficulties stem from errors you have made in one or more past lives, and affirm, 'There are no obstacles, there are only opportunities!' Accuse no one, not even yourself. Blame and accusation won't erase what has been done, rather, it will affirm your dependency on circumstances over which you have lost control.

The solution is to go within and follow God's guidance. The clearer a person's awareness of their own higher guidance, the greater their freedom from the dictates of karma. Often it is hard to know where our thoughts and motivations are coming from, but when we follow the advice of the greater aspects of ourselves then we can be sure we are receiving the best instruction on how to disentangle ourselves from the old snares of our making. Remember, only by perfect self honesty and dynamic self effort will you eliminate forever the influence of dark delusion in your life. Life is a game. Be interested in it, but always remain unattached. Let nothing affect you inwardly. Whichever way things go, remember there is nothing real about it.