Karma

What Is Karma?

Karma is a Hindu word which literally means ‘action’ but has come to mean ’cause and effect’ or as the Bible might say ‘as ye do unto others, so shall it be done unto you’.

Karma is also referred to as the principle of cause and effect and principle of karma.

Karma is based on the idea of reincarnation. That is, that there is a soul, entity (it has different names) in all of us that keeps coming back to earth in different human bodies for the sake of experience.

Consider it like a student who returns to the same school hundreds of times until they ultimately pass their exams. Each time the soul rebirths, it comes back with a specific lesson in mind and it takes on an identity most suitable to achieve this goal.

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How Does Karma Work?

Each new incarnation is governed by the laws of Karma which determine the lesson to be learnt.

Each successive life will reflect the merits and demerits of past-life behavior – so the worse you behaved in a past life, the more unpleasant the lesson you need to experience in the next.

The principle of causality, rooted in the belief that actions produce outcomes, encompasses the concept of karma. Within religious discourse, some scholars associate karma with the theory of ethicization, highlighting that our actions have not only causal effects but also ethical ramifications.

Karma serves the purpose of purifying the soul. Upon the soul’s purification, it is said to have attained enlightenment, and the necessity of the Karmic Cycle ceases to exist.

The ultimate aim is to achieve complete enlightenment and to return to the Source from where your soul originally came, some call that Source, God.

But as far as we know this cycle could take millennium and thousands of incarnations.

In fact, in India it is thought that each soul reincarnates 840,000 times!

Perhaps it does take this many attempts to perfect our character.

Each time we are born the voice of our soul is ‘lost’ in the physical senses of the new body. Intuitively rediscovering this inner voice is like discovering your life purpose.

What Are The 12 Laws of Karma?

According to readings by the famous psychic Edgar Cayce, the following laws apply to karma.

1. Karma isn’t always negative

Karma is not purely negative. It has two aspects: experiences which teach a lesson related to previous acts of cruelty, and new experiences related to continual learning on the path to enlightenment.

In essence, karma is not good or bad, it does not reward or punish. It simply reflects the Universal Law, what you put out, returns to you, like a boomerang.

2. Spiritual gifts transfer

Talents and spiritual abilities cultivated in one life tend to persist in succeeding lives. However, sometimes their expression may be inhibited by other karmic life circumstances.

For example, even though you may be ‘naturally’ very good at learning languages, if you don’t have the financial means to travel in this life, you won’t have opportunities to exercise your talent.

3. Character traits persist

Traits of character, interests and attitudes (towards religion, race, politics, sex, animals etc) tend to persist in succeeding lives.

Extroversion and shyness also tend to persist unless karma steps in and requires you to change.

4. Punishment is proportionate

According to the retributive aspect of karma, any action that is “evil,” or harmful to the well-being of any other unit of life, is exactly “punished” in a manner proportionate to and appropriate to the original harm done.

5. Different types of retribution

Three kinds of retributive karma are distinguished in the Cayce readings:
a) Boomerang: A man who blinded others in the past finds himself blind in the present.
b) Organismic: A man who eats to excess in one life-time can suffer from digestive problems in the next.
c) Symbolic: A person who “turned deaf ears” to others plea for help in a past life is literally deaf in the present.

6. What you mock you become

Mockery and criticism of others can invoke psychological and physical retribution; you suffer the same thing that you have mocked or criticized in others.

If you criticise other people, for example for their lack of education, sexual orientation or physical appearance, you take on those attributes or circumstances you mock, in your next life.

7. Cheats become cheated on

If you cheat on a partner in this life it can lead to you being cheated on in the next.

8. Karma is sometimes suspended

Karma is sometimes “suspended” so to speak, for several lifetimes. Cruelty committed by a life you led in the 1900’s for example can remain unpaid for 5 or 6 intervening lives, and may finally be met in the present life.

The suspension of karma seems to be necessary for three basic reasons:
a) The culture epoch or era must be appropriate to the payment of the debt.
b) The soul needs to develop sufficient inner resources and strength to handle the karma and learn its lesson.
c)The soul may need to pay the debt to other souls and therefore must wait until such time as they are also incarnated. So if someone is particularly cruel to you in this life, they have to wait until you are reincarnated before they can return to pay you back.

9. Phobias come from past life experiences

Unexplained fears can be traced in some cases to past-life experiences.

For example, phobias of certain animals, closed places and water are sometimes due to terrifying experiences or even death associated with these objects.

Recurrent dreams and hallucinations can also in some cases refer to past-life experiences.

10. Free will to make choices

Every soul has freedom of will. You are responsible for the choices you make, regardless of your circumstances.

Freedom of will is interfered with by the karmic laws of life only when the will has been selfishly misused.

11. You pick your parents

You pick your parents before you are born. A soul is magnetically drawn to parents who can give it the environment it needs to fulfil its new life task.

Our Guardian Angel and Spirit Guide, help us to plan our future incarnation on Earth. Together we handpick the individuals we will encounter and intentionally arrange challenging circumstances we will face. These may include physical illness, disability in children, deafness, blindness, death of loved ones and accidents.

These adversities serve as a means for karma balancing, soul growth, and personal advancement.

12. You retain memories from past lives

Your unconscious stores buried memories of every experience your soul has ever been through, in all of its many existences.

A history of all your lives are also believed to be recorded in the Akashic records.

What’s even more interesting, is that with the help past-life regression therapy, you may even be able to recall some of those lives. This is a type of hypnotherapy which is designed to help you remember past lives.

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