What is Karma?

Hi Folks,

How have you been?!

I had a long and refreshing break.

A big, fat and fattening Indian wedding in Mysore with awesome South Indian food on plantain leaves.
A squeezed visit to the Byelkuppe Tibetan Monastery.

Then, a week of very interesting sessions in Bangalore with lots of wonderful insights.

And 12 days in the Jindal Naturecure Institute (also in Bangalore).
Google it, and GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is the most refreshing break you can give yourself.

I shall share some easy-to-follow tips I learnt there but it would be wonderful if you went and pampered yourself.
You will learn all about cleansing, repairing and rejuvenating your body.

For example, do you have backache?!
Well, I did!
And now I know what must be an important cause -
There are discs between two vertebrae, right?
They are spongy, and  made up of 60% of water.
(Also, the % of water in our body is 60 - 70)!

Two very good reasons to drink 2 to 3 liters of water.

I do not particularly feel thirsty so obstinately stuck to about a liter a a day.
And had backache and cramps in my back and calves.

With increased intake, my back is much, much better and the cramps have gone.
I  also pay attention to my posture, as I am at my desk about 8 -10 hours a a day.

You will learn many such nuggets over there.

Now back to today's topic.
I got some interesting mails and I want to take up one of them today -

I was asked for my views on the following -

'Many people believe that karma is payback for the bad things that one has done.This seems to be pretty limited and only slightly correct.

' Karma may be seen as something we do to ourselves so that we can learn and there is NO  judgement to this. We are not getting paid back for something that we did wrong (sins).'

Karma is 'doing.

That's it.

Just the act of doing something consciously or unconsciously, willingly or unknowingly.

It includes what we do to others as well as ourselves.

They are acts of commission and omission on the physical, mental and thought level.

You may wish ill on someone, use bad / hurtful words / hurt physically or kill - all of these will have to be repaid because we set it in motion in the first place.

We do judge our past Karmas before we take birth and choose which of the bad ones (according to our own judgement) we want to clear in the coming life.

Accordingly, we collectively plan our parents/friends/colleagues/spouse/family/mentors/enemies and set up tough or breezy situations.

I know of some brave souls who have chosen to bring a really big load of difficulties so that they can learn and proceed faster toward their ultimate goal.

It could be unsupportive family, bad marriage/s, abuse, financial difficulties, you name it  - 

They go to the root causes, acknowledge their past, apologize where required - and having cleared the baggage, move on with a smile and a spring in their step.

So Karma is payback time but the important point to be noted is that it is of our own choice.
We are not helpless beings being tossed around by invisible wrathful forces.

There was a lady who saw an extremely lonely lifetime in which her family had died when she was a child, her husband was indifferent to her and the children had not bonded with her either.

She was sad throughout her life and death was a relief. Then she left her body and I asked her to find out why she had chosen such a difficult lifetime.

' I wanted to experience loneliness', she said. ' I had many previous lifetimes in large families or tribal groups, and 

was curious about it '.

Well!

Now, in the course of that lifetime, she had also sown seeds of bitterness and anger towards some of those family members because she had thought them to be cruel and heartless, which was why she was in a session, to begin with!

Having understood her self - created drama, she was satisfied and came out lighter and forgiving of those people who were present in her current life too.

Oh ! What a tangled web we weave, don't we?!

So take life lightly.
It's just a class of - say 2012. Or 2013.

And we shall all move on!

Bye for now, more in the next post.

( I have no idea why some lines are in white and others tiny! I tried rewriting, no change! )