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2024 is a KARMA year.
What is the True Meaning of Karma?
“Karma’s a bitch,” right?
We hear that all the time. Somebody does something good, they get good karma. Something bad happens to someone, that’s because they had bad karma.
But that’s not how it works. We all think we know what karma means, but do we?
The truth is, most of us have it wrong. And this misunderstanding doesn’t help any of us.
When you truly understand what Karma means, it can be used as a powerful tool for personal development.
What is karma?
Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning “action.” It refers to a cycle of cause-and-effect that is an important concept in many Eastern Religions, particularly Hinduism and Buddhism.
In its essence, karma refers to both the actions and consequences of the actions.
Importantly, karma is not set in stone, is not out of our control, and is not indirect. By this, I mean you don’t do good things with hopes of getting a randomly good outcome (karma is not doing your chores this week in hopes of winning the lottery).
Instead, it means that the steps of your life, your spiritual development, and your personality are directly molded by your thoughts and actions.
Present you affects future you.
A Buddhist Master’s Simple Explanation of Karma
To begin with, let’s get one thing straight:
Karma has nothing to do with “fate.” If you do something negative, it doesn’t mean that something negative has to happen to you to “even it out.”
Karma is based on your actions and thoughts in every single moment.
What is the definition of karma?
The word “karma” means action, not fate. In Buddhism, karma is an energy created by willful action, through thoughts, words and deeds. We are all creating karma every minute, and the karma we create affects us every minute. It’s common to think of “my karma” as something you did in your last life that seals your fate in this life, but this is not Buddhist understanding.
Karma is an action, not a result. The future is not set in stone. You can change the course of your life right now by changing your volitional (intentional) acts and self-destructive patterns.
Action, not fate! Karma is the energy we create from our actions, from our thoughts. It’s a dynamic force.
What is the meaning of karma?
The meaning of karma is literally “action, work, or deed.”
According to Wikipedia: when we talk of karma it’s the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect).
So, is it just “you reap what you sow?” Close, but that’s not all of it.
While karma has a strong core of “cause-and-effect,” it’s more that your actions and thoughts will affect how you live your life.
It’s less of a “Oh, I picked up recycling outside so I’ll get a good thing later on,” and more of a “the good actions I choose now will mold me into a virtuous person.”
To quote from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, “A man of good deeds will become good.”
It’s in the doing of the good deeds that we make ourselves better people. That’s karma!
Why do we get karma wrong? Why does mainstream society get karma so wrong?
Why is it that karma in pop culture is “you get what you deserve?” How did we develop this view?
Pop culture takes the easy route. It’s easier to say “bad makes bad” rather than “there’s a dynamic energy system that responds to our every action.”
We have this misguided perspective that we aren’t in control of our destinies.
Karma is not fate. Karma is an internal power that we create, for good or bad.
When we shift this to say “that’s karma,” when a bad thing happens to us, we are giving up our internal power. We are giving up our ability to change things.
It’s because of this false view that we desire to transform karma into a sort of cash machine based on our ethical and spiritual behavior.
However, if we can let go of this understanding of happiness, we can see that all we need is to live deeply in the present moment with mindfulness and discover our true nature.
Karma is simply energy. It’s our intentional thoughts and actions. The energy we generate now and in the future will affect us. It has nothing to do with reward or punishment.
Karma is unbiased and it’s ours to control.
Examples of how karma actually works.
First let’s look at bad karma (it’s best to get the bad out of the way first).
Examples of bad karma?
Oppressing people
Abusing power
Stealing
When you create bad karma, you will bear bad results. Some of these results could be:
Enfeebling society
Destroying your close relationships
Losing your sense of self
Being punished by society
Examples of good karma?
Volunteering in your community
Choosing what is moral over what is easy
When you create good karma, good results will come. What are the results?
Strengthens society, which ultimately benefits you
Increases your wisdom
Helps you keep your negative emotions in balance
Heals your soul
When you perform certain actions, you will bear certain consequences. This is how karma works.
It’s actually really important to think about this and reflect on it.
Because the truth is many of us are the equivalent of computers infected with dangerous viruses.
All of us have been through unique experiences that have shaped us for better and for worse.
But we’ve also bought into many foundational beliefs and habits which motivate and guide us at the deepest level, often without our full knowledge.
When it comes to your personal spiritual journey, which toxic habits have you unknowingly picked up?
Is it the need to be positive all the time? Is it a sense of superiority over those who lack spiritual awareness?
There’s an effective way to undo the disempowering spiritual beliefs that are trapping us …. if we are willing to be radically honest and face ourselves in the right way.
Simple definition of karma
Karma is the entire process of cause-and-effect where our actions and intentions directly influence our future.
Karma is a dynamic process; it’s not something you bank for a rainy day. When we say “that’s karma” after a bad thing happens, what we actually mean is “that is the natural result of the negative actions that were previously taken.”
The truth is that if you want to free your mind, you have to look at karma in a whole new way than wish-fulfillment that makes life fair.
Life’s clearly not fair, but it’s an ongoing process, and everything is ultimately interlinked.
Spiritual meaning of karma
How does karma relate to our spirituality?
How is karma different than just simply “cause-and-effect?”
Why is it that karma is an energy, as opposed to just an observation?
It’s different for every religion.
Karma in Hinduism
In Hinduism, karma plays an integral part in the cycle of a soul’s rebirth. The actions you have taken in the past will affect your reincarnated self in the future.
Hinduism has 3 types of karma:
Sanchita:
accumulated karma.
This is the karma of actions we have already undertaken
Prarabdha:
ripened karma.
This is karma that is ready to be experienced in our present state
Kriyamana:
current karma.
This is the karma that we make now, which will be experienced in the future.
Karma in Buddhism
Buddhism is less straightforward when it comes to karma. What is important to understand is that Buddhism does not view karma as fatalistic.
In Buddhism, you can change your karma through changing your thoughts and actions. Karma is also less tied to actions and more about a person’s thoughts and state of mind.
Karma in Jainism
In Jainism, karma is a physical substance, rather than an energy. Karma is attracted to the soul through the actions of the soul itself. The soul then undergoes rebirth in relation to the karma it has accumulated.
Laws of Karma
In Hinduism, there are several laws that govern karma.
Here are the most important:
Whatever you sow, so shall you reap.
What you refuse to accept shall continue for you.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Whenever there is something wrong in your life, there is something wrong in you.
Even if you don’t identify as a Hindu, you can see that these rules are applicable to our lives. Put in good, and you will cultivate good. Put in bad, and you will reap bad.
Watering the garden of your mind: How to use karma as a guiding force
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.” – Eckhart Tolle
The best way to think of karma is an energy that you’re creating every moment. Every intentional action or thought generates this energy.
We feel this every day, and it’s not stored for future punishment or reward.
However, if you’re reacting with anger all the time, you’re conditioning the mind for anger. Similarly, by reacting to things with peace and calm, you’re conditioning the mind for peace and calm.
All these qualities, such as anger, discontent, joy, harmony, etc can be seen as flowers and the seeds they sprout from.
When we’re born, all these mental qualities and emotions are seeds. Now imagine these seeds resting in the garden of your mind and constantly being either watered or neglected with your intentional thoughts.
Depending on what you do, you’re either watering the bad seeds or watering the good ones. These seeds can eventually grow into flowers or they can wither and die.
The important thing to realize is that the energy we give to these flowers is our karmic energy.
By living with mindfulness we can observe this karmic mind which is becoming conditioned in our minds and begin to change how we react in our daily lives.
Mindfulness gives us the ability to choose which flowers we water and which we don’t. Without mindfulness, we’re simply reactive to conditioned thought patterns.
To use karma as a force for our own personal and spiritual development, a force for great good, you need only shine the light of mindfulness on your life to identify your karmic energy and work to heal any karmic energy holding you back.
In conclusion
Karma is a dynamic spiritual cycle of actions and effects that we directly control through our thoughts, decisions, and actions. When we create positive choices and thoughts, we will receive positive outcomes. Not because it is fated, but because this is the natural consequence of the previous actions we took.
By living with this knowledge of karma, we can let go of mental baggage and worries that we think are assigned to us and instead take control of our life.
Sure there are going to be outside factors that affect your life. But if you deepen your understanding of what true peace looks like, you’ll have the ability to experience life fully no matter what’s going on around you.
Karma shows that we have the freedom to decide what happens to us. It’s our intentional actions and thoughts that govern our lives.
Excellent explanation! Thank you, that makes so much sense and brings the power back to the individual:)