What is Karma?

I hear people constantly talking about Karma...especially as something negative. Usually people say, "Karma is a bitch" when they feel they've been wronged. Or, "Karma will bite you in the ass." The confusion is we tend to relate karma with justice...and this isn't the case at all. Karma isn't justice.  The word has been misconstrued and used incorrectly.... kind of like the word coincidence... but that's another blog post. 

So, let's break it down. If I can help one person understand the meaning of Karma, I have done my job with this blog posting.

Karma is Sanskrit for Action. So, basically, karma is the cause...the action that gets the ball rolling to create an effect. Think of it as the pebble hitting the water (action) and the ripples are the effect. Because of that pebble, it has set the water in motion, one ripple affecting the next ripple, and so on.

Of course, there are many cultural understandings about karma, but the premise is that your actions cause a reaction.

However, it's not a matter of some guy in the sky determining who gets blasted with the 'bad outcome' and who gets 'good'. It's actually a natural law, and it all has to do with vibration/energy.

As I have relayed in other postings, everything is energy. Everything! So, thoughts, words, and actions are all energy as well. When we send out a thought and emotion (this is an action, by the way), and consistently think/feel the same way, we are building a consistent vibration, and, therefore, we will see the effect of this action.

However, if you feel you were wronged by a person and that they should get what's coming to them...that person may never 'get' what you think should come to them. Why? Because the person who 'wronged' you may not feel that what he/she did was wrong. In that person's eyes, he/she is right. That person is vibrating at a level of being right and, therefore, won't suffer any ramifications for what you thought was wrong.

In the same breath, if they feel terrible about what happened and their perception is that they deserve a bite in the backside, then that is what they will get. It's their vibration that will create what people call 'karma'.

"Here's a rule of thumb that will help you: If you believe that something is good, and you do it, it benefits you. If you believe that something is bad, and you do it, it is a very detrimental experience." --Abraham Hicks

"But wait," you might say, "I'm a good person. I make sure I do the right things; upstanding citizen, and all that, and I still get the shitty deal."

It goes back to the old saying, "You reap what you sow." So, if you are planting seeds or feelings/emotions/thoughts of unworthiness, not deserving-ness, and negativity about yourself and who you are, then those are things that will come back to you. It has nothing to do with life lessons or that you had it coming because of something from a past life. It has to do with your beliefs and vibration about who you are and how you feel about yourself, which can be rectified with deep love for yourself.

One last important thing before I go: We Are All One. So, yes, the actions we take do affect others and ourselves in some way because of our connection to one another.

"In other words, what you sow you do reap because Law of Attraction says that which you offer vibrationally is that which you bring back. But it does not pass on from lifetime to lifetime to lifetime in the negative sense that people mean because when you re-emerge into nonphysical, you re-emerge into pure positive energy, and when you come forth into your next incarnation, you come forth from that place of pure positive energy." --Abraham-Hicks

It's pretty simple: Respect and love yourself, and respect and love others. The vibration it sets off can change the world!

I think Bill and Ted said it best:

Be Excellent to Each Other~ Namaste!

Life is Supposed to be Fun...Suffering is Optional

The other day I was thinking about life, which I often do. How to make it better, make it richer (in all areas) and experience the things I want to experience. Then I thought to myself, why am I not living it? Certainly, there are things that I want to do that will require certain resources, like money, but there are ways to enjoy life that I can enjoy right now.

So, why can't we have fun? Why are we always worried? Especially when worrying is non-productive.

There's a song by Trooper called We're Here for a Good Time; it goes like this:

We're here for a good time

Not a long time

So have a good time

The sun can't shine everyday

"But," you say, "but, I have this going on and this and this...I can't have fun! Life is serious. Life is unfair. My life sucks! If only I had this and this and the other thing. And if he/she would do this for me or say this, then things will be better. But till then, I can't have a good time!"  

But. But. But...you could but yourself to death...it still doesn't change the fact that Life is Supposed to be Fun.

I love the following excerpt from an Abraham-Hicks workshop. It puts into perspective the belief system of most of the planet:

"We love the feeling of this stream. So many humans--you take your boat down to

the river's edge and you point it upstream and you begin paddling very hard. And

we say, "But wait! The stream's going thataway. Why are you trying to go

THAT-a-way?

And you say, 'Everyone virtuous and hard working does this. We go

this way. It's hard. Of course, it's hard, but nothing good is easy.

  

You have to pay a price for everything. And so, we're really good at it. Look

how good we've become at struggling against the current.'

And then you go on to explain all of the reasons that you do it, all the

monuments, and trophies are given to those who try really, really hard. And,

'After we die,' you tell us, 'AFTER WE DIE, that's when the REAL reward for this

struggle kicks in.' And we say, 'NO IT DOESN'T. NO IT DOESN'T.' There

is not a reward later that is different than the reward now. There's not a

punishment later, that's different than the self-punishment you are applying

NOW.

There's you becoming, and you going with who you've become, and not. And that's

all. And you don't even need to worry about it."

Basically, the only struggle, the only suffering is what we put on ourselves. Either we like the negative attention, or we feel it's karmic payback for a past life we don't even recall; or we feel if we work hard enough, we will get our reward; or we enjoy the victim mentality; or someone instilled this belief system into us and that's the way it's supposed to be; or....well, fill in the blanks.

Photo credit: Tamara Hanson

So, how does one let go and have fun? Here are ten ways that Abraham-Hicks suggests:

• Seek joy --- first and foremost.
• Seek reasons to laugh.
• Seek reasons to offer words of praise --- to self and others.
• Seek beauty in nature, beasts and other humans.
• Seek reasons to love. In every segment of every day --- look for something that brings forth within you a feeling of love.
• Seek that which uplifts you.
• Seek opportunity to offer that which uplifts another.
• Seek a feeling of Well-being.
• Know that your value can only be measured in terms of joy.
• Acknowledge your absolute freedom to do any of these things or to not do any of these things --- for it is, without exception your choice in every moment of every day.

"That is the recipe for eternal joy. And it will provide a format for a life of dramatic, magnificent creating also. That feels like the "bottomline" to you: "How much success, or how much acclaim...how much value can I offer here and now?" And we are wanting you to understand is that your value can only be measured in terms of joy."

Fact is, Life is Supposed to be Fun!
Suffering, of course, is always optional.