Karma As Action

by Beth

Let’s start with a joke because to paraphrase Mary Poppins, “A spoonful of laughter makes the medicine go down.”

Have you heard about the new restaurant called Karma? There’s no menu: You get served what you deserve.

That’s a funny line but it’s not literally true that if you do good all your life only good things will happen and if you do bad only bad things will happen. We can look around our country and the world and see terrible things happen to good people who live their lives on the straight and narrow, follow the rules, care for the less fortunate, and keep faith with their religious or spiritual path. Then without warning—BAM!—disaster strikes and they find themselves caught up in a pandemic, a man-made catastrophe, a terminal illness, or a war.  How often have you heard someone say in so many words, “But I’m a good person, how can this happen to me?” Others blame karma. How often have you heard someone say, “Karma is a b – – ch!” The reality is, it’s not fate. Stuff happens and sometimes it’s no one’s fault.

On the other hand, we see people who do great harm, who continue to amass wealth and power and are never held accountable for actions that hurt so many. If bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people, how can we explain karma?

To understand what karma is and how we can work with it to navigate the ups and downs of life, we start with the true meaning of the word. The literal translation of karma, a Sanskrit word, is ‘action.’ It refers to both the actions we take and how we address the consequences of those actions. Here’s how Nischala Joy Devi explains it in her book The Secret Power of Yoga:

“The concept of karma depicted in the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad-Gita is in fact a neutral energy that when activated by the mind and emotions, manifests into action. This action leads to a reaction that in turn spawns new action and continues the cycle. It is our choice, though not always a conscious one, whether to move karma into fruition or let it remain dormant. While most of us choose to believe that the actions of others have the greatest effect on us, it is actually our own deeds that have the most profound influence.

Reactions can be productive or unhelpful. Unhelpful reactions happen when there is an event or situation that sets off our internal alarm bells and we react in a way that may be aggressive, impulsive, out-of-control, or shortsighted. These types of reactions can lead to consequences that are, all too often, not in our best interest or aligned with our goals. This pattern of action may eventually morph into complicated life issues, which can affect us and our significant others in unhelpful ways. There are no guarantees but stuff happens, so it’s wise to consider our actions and how they may affect present and future outcomes.

A productive reaction, or response, on the other hand, follows an event or situation that sets off our internal alarm bells but we have learned to pause, breathe and think before addressing the event or situation. Responding in this way often produces a calmer, value-centered, and productive solution. Self-awareness enables us to hit pause in the space between what is happening and how we might respond. All too often, the pause is not seen or sensed and what happens is a blind reaction instead of a considered response. You can read a helpful article on the differences between reactions and responses here.

Usually, we have no problems responding to positive events and situations. Responding calmly and productively when uncomfortable, disturbing, anxiety-provoking stuff happens, as it inevitably will, takes more work.

Nobody’s perfect and it’s impossible to always respond in positive ways to stressful events.

One way to condition your mind to respond more positively, more often, is to practice self-awareness (see Five Layers of Self Awareness). Another is to engage the energy of intention (see Creating Intention). These are two key techniques to understanding and working with karma as action, not as fate.

Relaxation Breath can help you hit pause in the space between what is happening and how you might respond. This breathing technique automatically brings awareness to the breath, slows the rate of breathing, and lengthens the exhalation. It can be done in any position, seated, standing, or lying down. It calms the nervous system.

Instructions:

1. Try to soften the chest and shoulders.
2. Take a normal breath in.
3. Let your breath out.
4. Before you take another breath, silently count “one thousand one, one thousand two.’
5. Repeat this practice of taking a normal breath in, letting your breath out, and pausing for two seconds after the exhalation for a total of 2-3 minutes or until you feel the worst of the tension leave your body.

It helps to practice this technique when you are not feeling stressed so it will be a top-of-mind technique to use when you are facing uncomfortable, disturbing anxiety provoking stressful  situations.

 

Beth’s self-awareness newsletter is published six times a year. It features informative, inspiring and entertaining tips for finding clarity, contentment, and resilience in a complicated world. For more information and to sign up for the newsletter go to www.bethgibbs.com.

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