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.)
