Karma, Nonattachment and Surrender

Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.

-    Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Karma” in its basic sense, means “action.”  The universe is a vast field of activity from the subatomic vibration of superstrings to the whirling of galaxy clusters.  Somewhere in the middle is the realm of human beings and our actions.  The Law of Karma tells us that every action produces a reaction.  It is similar to classical physics but goes a little deeper. 

From the yogic perspective action is not just occurring in the physical, material world but in the mind as well.  Our actions in the world begin as thought-seeds in our minds.  Often we are not even aware of them though until they take form in our lives.  The experiences in our lives then create more thought-seeds in terms of memories and desires. 

We are born with karmic seeds already planted from past lives.  There is an almost infinite store house of seeds within our unconscious known as karmashaya in the Yoga Sutras.  This “reservoir” of karma is rooted in the five “afflictions:” ignorance, ego, attachment, aversion and fear of death.  “As long as the root exists,” Patanjali tells us, “it will come to fruition as life experience.”  This experience can be either painful or pleasant depending on our past actions.

Karma is not “fate,” however.  While we may have little choice but to suffer through some our past karma in the present, our current actions influence our future karmic outcomes.  Through the practice of yoga we can address the root of karma itself – ignorance.  Ignorance in this sense means unawareness of our true nature as divine spiritual beings.  The flip side of ignorance is ego – false self-identification.  “The ego is like a virus in the computer that attacks the core system,” writes Marianne Williamson.  “It seems to show us a dark parallel universe, a realm of fear and pain that doesn’t actually exist but certainly seems to.” (1993, A Return to Love)

Without ego karma would have no effect upon us.  We suffer the effects of karma because we are attached to and identified with the ego.  It is much like watching a film where we get so caught up in the drama that we laugh, cry or jump when the main character is going through happy, sad or frightening experiences.  It’s entertaining but at a certain point it is nice to be reminded that “it is just a movie.”
 

This awakening occurs in our lives through the practice of nonattachment, or vairagya.  Nonattachment doesn’t necessarily mean renunciation.  In fact the outward renunciation, of possessions for instance, without an inner release of emotional attachment is ineffective.  As Patanjali explains, “When an individual becomes free from cravings for the sense objects he has experienced, as well as those of which he has heard, that state of consciousness is vairagya.”  We can develop this state of consciousness through observing our own emotional reactions without identifying with them.  Sometimes this not easy!

It becomes easier when we develop an attitude of surrender.  Whether we believe in God, a Higher Power, the Tao, etc. is not important.  When we recognize that there is a greater power, a greater order and intelligence working in and through the universe and us, we don’t have to stress out over the events of life.  On the contrary, everything is happening exactly as it is supposed to and we are exactly who and where we should be.  This doesn’t mean that we stop working, just that we are connecting to greater resources of wisdom and power than we usually realize. 

Nonattachment and surrender are aspects of Karma Yoga, the way of selfless activity.  When we practice Karma Yoga we are working with positive intent while observing and letting go of emotional attachments.  It is meditation-in-action.  Through Karma Yoga we can uproot negative karma and undo its effects.  In this way we accomplish the true purpose of this life; not to make money or even accomplish great deeds, but to express our essential nature.  To quote Marianne Williamson again, “The key to a successful career is realizing that it’s not separate from the rest of your life, but rather is an extension of your most basic self.  And your most basic self is love.” (ibid.)