Karma
In Sanskrit the word “karma” simply means “action.”
What actions do we or don’t we take?
I’ve been intrigued with karma’s relationship to vasanas - latent or unconscious patterns. Often these patterns are negative, destructive or create “samskaras” - grooves of negativity in the system.
Because of our vasanas, we take actions that are seemingly automatic. And these actions can lead to consequences that we see as painful or filled with joy.
Karma - as we know it in popular consciousness can be summarized as
“what comes around, goes around”
“you reap what you sow”
a boomerang - whatever you do, always comes back to you
On the spiritual path - it can be a fallacy to see actions as “black and white,” “good or bad” - dualism at its finest. This or that. One or two. Up or down. One or the other.
"Advaita" or non-dualism gets a bad rap at times - I believe - because it is misunderstood.
Of course there is duality. This is the “duh” factor.
There is “good” karma and “bad” karma.
But beyond the duality is something bigger. Advaita positions the mind to see from this bigger picture.
I think of it like this: in duality - we are all hamsters running around on the same little wheel. Beyond duality - we are the ones who run the wheel and the hamster.
Karma then becomes something we are able to Witness, with grace and affection- rather than something we are victims of.
Yoga sadhana introduces the power of choice in an essentially choiceless world. We choose our vantage point. We choose our perspective. We either see the big picture or we remain narrow, and confined as the ego self.
From the standpoint of Advaita, non-dualism, we learn not to see and live in one dimension - we learn to live in multitudes of dimensions, simultaneously with great joy.
happy karmas for all of us
Namaste,
Sumukhi
