What is Karma? Heed this advice with 12 Laws of Karma
How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.
What is Karma?
The law of cause and effect forms an integral part of Hindu philosophy. This law is termed as ‘karma’, which means to ‘act’. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines it as the “sum of person’s actions in one of his successive states of existence, viewed as deciding his fate for the next”. In Sanskrit karma means “volitional action that is undertaken deliberately or knowingly”. This also dovetails self-determination and a strong will power to abstain from inactivity. Karma is the differentia that characterizes human beings and distinguishes him from other creatures of the world.
The Natural Law
The theory of karma harps on the Newtonian principle that every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. Every time we think or do something, we create a cause, which in time will bear its corresponding effects. And this cyclical cause and effect generate the concepts of samsara (or the world) and birth and reincarnation. It is the personality of a human being or the jivatman — with its positive and negative actions — that causes karma.
Karma could be both the activities of the body or the mind, irrespective of the consideration whether the performance brings fruition immediately or at a later stage. However, the involuntary or the reflex actions of the body cannot be called karma.
Your Karma Is Your Own Doing
Every person is responsible for his or her acts and thoughts, so each person’s karma is entirely his or her own. Occidentals see the operation of karma as fatalistic. But that is far from true since it is in the hands of an individual to shape his own future by schooling his present.
Hindu philosophy, which believes in life after death, holds the doctrine that if the karma of an individual is good enough, the next birth will be rewarding, and if not, the person may actually devolve and degenerate into a lower life form. In order to achieve good karma, it is important to live life according to dharma or what is right.
Three Kinds of Karma
According to the ways of life chosen by a person, his karma can be classified into three kinds. The satvik karma, which is without attachment, selfless and for the benefit of others; the rajasik karma, which is selfish where the focus is on gains for oneself; and the tamasik karma, which is undertaken without heed to consequences, and is supremely selfish and savage.
12 Laws of Karma I wish I Knew Sooner
1. The Great Law.
Whatever we put into the universe will come back to us.
2. The Law of Creation.
Life does not happen by itself; we need to make it happen.
3. The Law of Humility.
One must accept something in order to change it.
4. The Law of Growth.
When we change ourselves, our lives follow suit and change too.
5. The Law of Responsibility.
We must take responsibility for what is in our lives.
6. The Law of Connection.
The past, present and future are all connected.
7. The Law of Focus.
We cannot think of two different things at the same time.
8. The Law of Giving and Hospitality.
Our behavior should match our thoughts and actions.
9. The Law of Here and How.
We cannot be present if we are looking backward.
10. The Law of Change.
History repeats itself until we learn from it and change our path.
11. The Law of Patience and Reward.
The most valuable rewards require persistence.
12. The Law of Significance and Inspiration.
Rewards are the result of the energy and effort we put into it.
As you think, so shall you be.
