I know someone who had a bumper sticker that read "My karma ran over my dogma". To this day I find it very funny. Yet it underscores how few of us understand the Vedic Law of Karma.
The Sanskrit scholar Edwin F. Bryant tells us that karma comes from the Sanskrit root "kr" which means to do or to make, or literally work; not only the act but the reaction it produces. Karma is sometimes equated with Newton's third law of motion - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The Vedic concept is more than a description of the physical world but is ethical and spiritual. Responsibility is the answer to the law of karma. Only when we assume responsibility for ourselves can we effectively change and alter how we live in a harmonious manner.
The universe is our own co-creation that we have participated in along with the great creative forces of nature. There is no God to blame for the condition of the world apart from ourselves. We as individuals are the result of our own thought and action, not the result of what others have done to us.
The Sanskrit scholar Edwin F. Bryant tells us that karma comes from the Sanskrit root "kr" which means to do or to make, or literally work; not only the act but the reaction it produces. Karma is sometimes equated with Newton's third law of motion - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The Vedic concept is more than a description of the physical world but is ethical and spiritual. Responsibility is the answer to the law of karma. Only when we assume responsibility for ourselves can we effectively change and alter how we live in a harmonious manner.
The universe is our own co-creation that we have participated in along with the great creative forces of nature. There is no God to blame for the condition of the world apart from ourselves. We as individuals are the result of our own thought and action, not the result of what others have done to us.
Karma Yoga
Life consists of forces that are ever changing and reshaping themselves, undergoing renewal and transformation. These forces cannot be destroyed, but we can alter their level and degree, sometimes in a radical way. To do this we must be aware at every instant, not as a state of stress, but as receptivity to the vast movement of life.
Once we accept our karmic responsibility in life we are able to forgive others and let go of the past. The goal is not simply to help us get what we want. It is to further the unfolding of our higher awareness that leads us beyond bondage to the external world and into the creative response of self awareness.
Once we accept our karmic responsibility in life we are able to forgive others and let go of the past. The goal is not simply to help us get what we want. It is to further the unfolding of our higher awareness that leads us beyond bondage to the external world and into the creative response of self awareness.
Consciousness and Ritual
Karmic responsibility leads us naturally to Karma yoga or action for the good of all. Karma Yoga is not simply selfless service to a good cause. It is action rooted in the awareness of one's higher nature as an immortal soul, as well as others. This is action as an expression of consciousness.
Karma Yoga helps us reduce tamas, or the quality of inertia, darkness and ignorance in our minds and hearts. It helps break through deep-seated traumas and lead us from personal sorrow to compassion for all beings.
All daily activities become more beneficial if we do them in a sacred or sacrificial manner.
Karma Yoga helps us reduce tamas, or the quality of inertia, darkness and ignorance in our minds and hearts. It helps break through deep-seated traumas and lead us from personal sorrow to compassion for all beings.
All daily activities become more beneficial if we do them in a sacred or sacrificial manner.
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