Karma Blues

Everything has a purpose.  We simply need to align to  that purpose rather than our own judgment(s) about it.   Judgments are based on a very narrow, very limited way of looking at something.  For example (this is based on a belief in reincarnation) if a person needs to work through anger issues this lifetime, then he/she sill inherit a body, mind and upbringing that will challenge them (provide the opportunity!) to confront the anger and hopefully rise above it.

I’ve found Vedic Astrology to be a great guide in identifying current life issues.  The Birth Chart reveals planet placements at the time of birth that influence the disposition, body/mind, etc.  It is the portrait so to speak of the soul’s karma and the pattern of illusion in which we may become trapped.

karma means action.   We, on the whole, mistake ourselves to be our actions and not our true essence  This is what is referred to as ‘Maya’ or illusion.  Essence is spirit and spirit is whole in itself.  We are simply acting out the mind/body experience.

Now I’ll attempt to demystify the story I recounted briefly in the post entitled, “Thiru Neela Kantam is a weird sound. Where did it come from? What does it mean?”

It represents seeking self-realization through the  focus of the mind, and the control of the senses and desires and practice of self-discipline.

The gods and demons represent the positives and negatives of the personality. The involvement of both the gods and the demons signifies that integration and balance of the positives and negatives is necessary when  seeking bliss through spiritual practice.   Both the energies must be put to work for the common goal.

The ocean of milk is the mind or the human consciousness. The mind is like an ocean while the thoughts and emotions are the waves in the ocean.

Mandhara, the mountain symbolizes concentration. The word Mandhara is made up of two words Mana (mind) and Dhara (a single line) which means holding the mind in one line. This is possible only by concentration.

The snake used as a rope for churning, symbolizes desire. The snake used in the churning of the ocean denotes that the gods and the demons held desire-even though it was a desire to seek immortality, it was a desire non-the-less – as a rope and churned the mind with the help of concentration and withdrawal of the senses. Desire, if not controlled will overpower and destroy an individual.

The poison symbolizes suffering and pain which is a counter-reaction of the mind and body, that one undergoes at the beginning of spiritual practice. When the mind is subjected to intense concentration, the first thing that comes out of the process is intense suffering and great inner turmoil. These must be resolved otherwise further progress is not possible.

Lord Shiva symbolizes the ascetic principle. His role in this story as the consumer of poison suggests that one can deal with the early problems of spiritual life by cultivating the qualities of Lord Shiva, namely, courage, initiative, willingness, discipline, simplicity, austerity, detachment, compassion, pure love and asceticism.

Like a Bollywood movie, this story has many subplots.  I’ll give the long version soon with another complete explanation.  I broke it down in bits because that is how I learned it.

Karma is your pre-disposition and is one of the primary influences which decides whether you will have money, relationship etc.
karma is the fabric of your life, and it encompasses almost all of the experiences that we go through life after life. Ever wondered why some people have tons of money, great romantic life and vibrant health while many others suffer for the want of it? This is due to karma which rules all aspects of human life like health, wealth, education etc

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Food choice is an action with consequence, so you could say that eating is karmic.  karma is basically ‘you reap what you sow’, so think about this: Is what you eat free from the involvement of creating pain, suffering and death by eating another creature?  By eating meat, fish, poultry, eggs etc you are reaping suffering caused by your choice.  Even if you didn’t kill it yourself, the flesh carries forward the energy of pain, fear and death into the food.  The energies in the flesh may be affecting your energy field.

If you do kill and prepare the flesh yourself, is it done with consciousness around it?  Like native Indians giving thanks to the animal for giving up it’s life force for their benefit.

Think about the food you eat.  Consider the cook who prepares your food?  Is that person happy or are they angry and despise their job?  Are they an addict?  Or are they giving off good vibes of love and positivity while cooking?

You are what you eat.

karma is what governs life.  Mantra is what corrects it.

‘a priori’

I love this term!  Is this a philosophical explanation of karma?  Does your past decide your future?  Is your future nothing but your past?

A little excerpt taken from Wikipedia.

Eighteenth-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant  states, “although all our knowledge begins with experience, it does not follow that it arises from experience”^. According to Kant, a priori knowledge is transcendental, or based on the form of all possible experience, while a posteriori knowledge is empirical, based on the content of experience.

Kant states, “… it is quite possible that our empirical knowledge is a compound of that which we receive through impressions, and that which the faculty of cognition supplies from itself (sensuous impressions giving merely the occasion).”

Thus, unlike the empiricists, Kant thinks that a priori knowledge is independent of the content of experience; moreover, unlike the rationalists, Kant thinks that a priori knowledge, in its pure form, that is without the admixture of any empirical content, is knowledge limited to the deduction of the conditions of possible experience.

Interesting how Immanuel Kant is in the karma busting mantra!  Watch this youtube video and learn the basic similarities to Kantian philosophy and the philosophy of karma.

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“Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?”

~John Keats