True path to wisdom is recognized by three signs: It must begin with Comprehensive Love. It must find application in your life, otherwise wisdom will rust, like a sword that has never been used. And finally, this is a path that others can follow after you.

Paulo Coelho

It is difficult to understand the mechanism of influence of karma and the choice of incarnation. Each conscious action or inaction generates its own karmic residue, which will consist of traces - samskaras (impressions), leading to various kinds of consequences. Consequences - vasanas - are of two types: they retain the memory of the perfect action and create clichés - tendencies.
It is the tendencies that induce people to become entangled in the networks, creating more and more residual impressions. The memory of past incarnations further confuses a person, not allowing him to uncompromisingly play his role in this life. If a person remembers that his wife was an enemy in past life, then what kind of love can we talk about? That is why Nature blocks memory so that we do not depart from our dharma.

After the death of a person, his soul, along with all karmic traces, samskaras and vasanas, united in the field of consciousness of the individual (spirit), prepares for rebirth. This whole complex will determine in what place, social layer, in what body a person will be born, his life span and what he will experience as the fruits of karma ripen: pleasure or suffering. The nature of these fruits will also depend on how much our mind will identify itself with certain actions or inactions, which also depends on the ratio of the three gunas that make up individuality.
When a person attunes himself to the Pure Consciousness and manifests in himself the space of love, beauty and service, then he contributes to his liberation. God or a clear consciousness will shine in a person more and more brightly as he is freed from karmic bonds. If the satgva guna predominates in a person, then he is not attached to the results of his activities. Passion is rajas. Tamas is thoughtless action. And only those who have focused their minds on God and the highest blessings remain unaffected by karma.
According to Vedic sources, there are five unseemly actions that cannot be extinguished (prayed for) in this incarnation. These are: the murder of a father or mother, the destruction of a spiritual stream or ashram (this includes the betrayal of his spiritual teacher), distortion of information, rape and gambling.

KARMA TRANSFORMATION

Meditation technique

With all your heart, turn to the Deities of Karma, the Golden Buddha, Spiritual Parents with a request to help in a difficult transformation. The Lords of Karma manifest themselves in the mystical space of the Heart Fire. Their presence can be judged by the sudden unearthly silence, by the feeling of a higher presence, by the subtlest touch of the cool "cobweb".
Now, with your consciousness, collect everything that prevents you from living: vanity, unresolved problems, pain of loss, sorrow, greed, laziness, etc. Concentrate all this in yourself or around the body in a certain shell of the Illusory body, which you yourself will mentally create.
Turn again to the Lords of karma, the Golden Buddha or Spiritual Parents: “Lords of karma (Golden Buddha, Spiritual Parents), accept my imperfections, problems and illnesses, burn them out in the fire of karma and return what I need with pure energies of awareness”.

After this, the Illusory body is burned in the form of the dazzling white Fire of karma, in the very depths of the mystical center of the heart. The illusory body is drawn into the heart and there it melts into the fire of awareness. While the process is going on, observe your condition and body reactions. At this stage physical body may experience discomfort, or may feel unearthly bliss.
As soon as the mystical Fire of karma melts imperfections, you can feel unearthly lightness. After that, thank all the forces involved, the Lords of Karma, the Golden Buddha, Spiritual Parents and Space for this opportunity.
Effect: Release from the burden of karma as soon as you are ready, a feeling of relaxedness and freedom.

THE LAWS OF KARMA

Mental and physical illness, as well as curses and corruptions, do not affect the mind, which is committed to infinite Consciousness, they can affect it no more than a lotus flower can split a stone in half by its fall. Therefore, one must try with the mind to direct the mind to the path of purity, to direct oneself along the pure path. What the mind is tuned to, then it instantly materializes. With strenuous efforts, he can cause radical changes in himself, heal himself from a wrong vision, in which an illusion is taken for reality. Whatever the mind does, it senses as truth. It makes a person feel the pleasant moonlight as a scorching heat, and the one who burns to feel the comfort of coolness! This is the mystical nature of the mind.

Yoga Vasishtha

FAIR REALITY

Before doing anything, we must set a clear and achievable goal for ourselves, be reasonable enough, possess the necessary knowledge, have health and a resource of energy, and also have faith in the result. Without these conditions, it is impossible to achieve your dreams or goals.
The universe, in which we have the happiness to live, is our true Mother. It is it that recreates every moment of the visible and invisible world, our bodies, desires, memories and nourishes with the power of life. Indeed, all living beings and even atoms are our mothers and are connected on the subtle plane by the Single Consciousness.
This ocean of life is dominated by simple and extremely important laws for every creature. Following these laws makes it possible to be in a single stream of Unified Consciousness, which means a state of happiness, while their violation leads to suffering and ignorance.
Confused person perceives distorted the world and oneself, which leads to suffering, confusion and loss of meaning in life. This is already a misfortune. In different sources, these laws are called differently: karmic, cosmic, commandments, etc. In the material world, they are also reflected through the action of the laws of physics and quantum mechanics.
The law of higher justice states that everything that happens to us or the surrounding space in this moment time is going right.
Any event is the world's reaction to our requests, actions and inactions in the past.

THREE HIGHER LAWS OF KARMA

Those in whom the spirit of knowledge is constantly awake, fill the world with light, enlighten everyone who comes to them, disperse ghosts created by an ignorant mind, understand the falsity of sensual pleasures and objects that cause them. O Rama, in the light of questioning, an understanding of the eternal and unchanging reality of the Supreme arises. Having achieved this, a person does not strive for anything more, but he does not push anything away from himself. He is free from delusion and attachment. He is not idle, but he also does not drown in business. He lives and acts in this world, and in the right time achieves a blissful state of complete freedom.

Yoga Vasishtha

The three highest laws of karma, according to their importance for myself, I have distributed in the following order: the Law of Reflection, the Law of Free Will and Choice and the Law of Abundance. This division is purely conditional, since everything is one essence.
The question of understanding the intricacies of the Law of Karma is difficult not only for ordinary people but also for mystics, theologians and philosophers. If we turn to it from the standpoint of linearity of time, then we will not clarify anything at all. Realizing that everything has a cause and an effect, a beginning and an end, we thereby reject spontaneous enlightenment. Although spontaneous enlightenment with people happens not so rarely. It does not choose smart or stupid, noble or evil. It just happens. It happens as a kind of coincidence, inspiration, creative take-off or spontaneous insight, after which a person suddenly becomes different.
The other is a person who has dropped out of the cycle of everyday events. The other is the one who realized that all the events of the outer world are collected by our inner nature, conditioned by karmic necessity. The other is the person whose kundalini power, albeit for a short moment, has risen to the sahasrara chakra.
Falling out of the cycle of events is also karma. This does not mean liberation from the actions of karma itself. It's just that a person temporarily felt freedom from the oppression of his habits and ideas about himself and the world. This state of impartiality to all that exists is so incredible that it cannot be described in words or images. It is simply present and is above all the games of the mind.
It is believed that if one has reached the Sahasrara chakra, then a person has achieved enlightenment in his lifetime. It makes no sense to keep the kundalini constantly in the sahasrara chakra, and this task is practically impossible to solve. An enlightened person is a person who understands that it is impossible to repeat God. His knowledge is necessary in order to direct all his efforts towards gaining and rebuilding superior qualities consciousness. Enlightenment is just the beginning deliberate work above oneself.

THE LAW OF REFLECTION

When you come into the world, you cry and the world laughs. You have to live your life so that when you die the whole world will cry and you will laugh. Kabir

Each of us lives in a just world, where everything is built according to the Law of Reflection: “we reap what we sow”. How we are arranged, it happens around. The Law of Reflection is at the same time the Law of Attraction or Mirror. Whatever we wish (consciously or unconsciously) will come true sooner or later. Sometimes quickly, and sometimes very long. It all depends on the degree of our inner purity, development and clarity of mind.

In other words, the Law of Reflection is the Law of Resonance: "like attracts like", or "tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are." Money goes to money, poverty to poverty, joy to joy, heaviness to heaviness, etc. Everything to which we correspond or what we stand, sooner or later, is clothed in the form of events, states or things. This is how the power of Manifestation or the power of Retribution works. Each person or creature is an individual magnet that collects only its own world from the world plasma and has only its own sound. This law in the material - dual world is transformed into the Unity and the struggle of opposites. Cold is hot, light is darkness, etc.
Of course, first of all, it is worth understanding what the law is. In a human - limited understanding, these are the rules of a joint community. Clear rules playing together... In nature, it is the law of conservation of energy and the law of perfection. Natural selection - the strongest, smartest and fittest survive. Nature plays according to one - once established - rules. One has only to change one millionth part of any physical constant, as physical world disintegrates into primary elements. From the point of view of the highest expediency, the law is the rules of justice - correct (knowing) joint knowledge (consciousness). Fortunately, the Russian language has not yet lost its figurative interpretation of the essence of things, and with a certain conscious effort it is easy to understand the true meaning of words. Then the word "law" will explain the meaning inherent in it from the point of view of the very foundations of the universe. The law is hidden behind the law or in another - invisible to us - reality. The one who is in law is the law itself.
We humans are not free from the game. Freedom is at stake. Having played his role, a person no longer depends on her karmic attraction - he is free. Therefore, the law is something that should not be violated in any way at this stake or round of play. On the next, everything can be the other way around.
Everything that happens inside and outside of us is due to the law of karma - cause-and-effect relationships. Almost every person knows or already guesses that there is a cause and effect for everything. Nevertheless, it is not at all easy to know, understand and correctly apply knowledge in practice. This is predetermined, again, by karma - the ability of our mind to discern truth and act in accordance with it. Knowing how to do the right thing should be accompanied by the courage to act and the awakening-accumulation of energy for this action. This is the most important moment of awareness for every person.
The reason for doing something is always generated by desire, and the effect is the result of efforts to realize this desire. All living beings strive for pleasure, but for some reason this striving always leads to suffering. In an effort to avoid suffering, a person struggles with the obstacles that give rise to them. And there is no end or end to it.
The ignorant mind sees the "red rag", not the "bullfighter" - true reason current events. We see "bad" people and fight them, forgetting that these are our problems reflected in others. This is our self-loathing. But what to take from the mirror? Everything that we reap now is the seedlings of those seeds that were sown by us in the past. All meetings are karmic. We sowed the seeds in the past, therefore we have met in the present.
Our way of life is a role in playing with ourselves. In the game with yourself, in fights without rules! The rules are still to be learned and how to use them. Therefore, we blindly beat ourselves with a backhand, since we do not know what we are doing. The carrot and stick method works. Progress by touch does not cause optimism.

Ignorance of the rules by which the game of life is played is the notorious ignorance and ignorance of the real goal of the game and who we are. Buddha taught that all our suffering is from ignorance - a clouded mind. Confusion is ignorance of the rules of the game called life. When we do not know the rules of the game, the result will always not be in our favor. Unfortunately, this is what happens.
The law of karma is hard to learn for only one reason - our mind thinks that it knows the rules of the game. Our mind seeks to be useful to its master and helps him in every way. This is where the understanding arises that no good deed goes unpunished. Our "good enemy" hid where we not only do not see him, but we can not even imagine that he is. And so two people create a family and defend their rules of the game. The results are suffering.

LAW OF FREE WILL AND CHOICE

Responsibility presupposes the ability to respond - the ability to live, perceive, feel.
We often turn ordinary responsibility into an obligation not unlike megalomania. We take responsibility for the other person.
But in reality, responsibility only means that “I am me. I just developed in myself what I can be. " That is, responsibility is the ability to be responsible for oneself, to be completely responsible for oneself - and for no one else in this world. And this is the main character trait of an adult.

Frederick Perls

The chronicle of each person's life is scrupulously recorded by an internal observer (witness). Capable of hypnotic trance or in dreams, memory can reproduce to the smallest detail any scene not only from this incarnation, but also from past lives. The computer is controlled by programs that are not externally visible to the owner. Some of the programs are transmitted genetically, the other part is laid by the family, some are deposited at the level of the memory of the people or race; the lion's share of the software, I will make a reservation, consists of the memory of past incarnations. Programs like these can be not only positive but also destructive.
An array of experiences, reflections, knowledge, emotions and feelings acquired in the process of many lives builds the physical body with its individual qualities. The inimitable energy and field structures are built in the same way. This complex determines the individuality of a person. In the East, it is called karma, according to which its own palette of colors for a given incarnation is revealed.
We are not free from life! The most important, indisputable and powerful law of karma - we are not free from life! We are not free from the Game. It's impossible to escape! We are in the law! Getting out of the game is a conscious task of the Spirit (our essence), to which it stubbornly leads us.
Then a person breaks out of the limits of his human nature and becomes the Law himself! And already He sets the rules that govern His Game.
The greatest victory over the terrifying manifestation of karma is the victory of your mortal consciousness. In Christianity it is: "... trampling down death by death." As soon as you touch your immortal consciousness, the illusion of death disappears. A person understands that he is not free from life! He is at the mercy of a powerful consciousness that brought him to life.
All those who were convinced that outside of physical death life only begins (as a rule, through the experience of the stages of dying), discard all habits that darken consciousness and become purposeful people. Their goal is to reunite with themselves, or to reunite with their Spirit.

ROSTOK

Only he can be called a husband, whom the fair wind will not carry away, and the counter one will not break.
Titus Livy "History"

Grow through the limitations of your consciousness: habits, idealizations, stupidity, delusions, fears and other "genius" is possible only on one condition: we must passionately want it. Wanting not just because we are tired of walking in circles in our lives, but because we really want to define our ceiling of possibilities and even super-abilities. To push through the hypnosis of the routine, you need to make super-efforts. Actually, only from this volitional overcoming does the transformation of consciousness begin.

Exercise to awaken consciousness

Choose a well-ventilated and quiet room for your studies. Try to do your practices always in the same place, on your meditation mat and in comfortable clothes for classes. If you cannot be at home, then practice anywhere, mentally imagining yourself in your room. It is important here not to interrupt classes for a single day. This exercise goes well with morning practices and will serve as an additional stimulus for awakening. Exercise, in addition to expanding consciousness, disciplines the mind, strengthens the will and fearlessness to any life situation.

Place a grain of wheat in your palm and squeeze it firmly. Close your eyes and make a fist so that your seed hears your mental and physical super-effort. When squeezing, imagine that you are a seed and a wave of inertia presses you with incredible force. The pressure is created by fears bad habits, delusions, vanity, anxiety, lusts, illusions, addictions, overstated obligations and everything that can only crush you.
You understand that what has overgrown your consciousness does not allow you to breathe freely and to communicate harmoniously with yourself and the world. Everything that puts pressure on the grain is so familiar that there is not even a thought to break free. Year after year, our consciousness accumulated layers of protection, until our soul - a grain - found itself in the prison of self-hypnosis. But within the smallest grain, all the power of life is hidden.
It's time to feel this power in yourself. This power is immortal and boundless, even the most ideal castles are powerless before it. You are a seed that can sprout through all obstacles. You have accumulated in yourself the strength that you need to give into the world. When you feel that the seed has awakened and is ready to throw out the sprout, concentrate all your attention on its power to grow. The sprout easily pushes the asphalt thickness apart. Likewise, he should open your palm. Feel and absorb this power, this triumph of life. This is your immortal essence.

THE LAW OF ABUNDANCE

The basic law of the Universe is the Law of Abundance. From the cornucopia, you can take as much as our consciousness contains. Holds a lot - take a lot, hold a little - take a little.
Everything that we are and everything that happens around us is the result of our mental activity and mood. The predominant mood of the individual consciousness unconsciously creates a mental and emotional background in which we live. This background is invisible to its owner, since he lives in it. It is for this reason that "you cannot see the log in your own eye." In accordance with this background (karma), one person collects a negative picture of the world, while the other - a positive one. The one who lives in a positive picture of the world is usually called happy person... Such a person is said to have positive karma. The person who lives in a negative picture of the world reaps a negative harvest, and, accordingly, he has negative karma.

The general unconscious mood of a person is determined by upbringing, the memory of past incarnations, genetic memory and certain conditioned reflexes on different situations developed during a given life. Mental constructions, which have become unconscious habitual impressions and habits, attract similar events, environments and states from space according to the law of resonance.
The world that we collect around us is assembled according to the matrix - the internal scheme of our consciousness. We are magnets and everything is magnetic in nature. The stronger our magnetic potential, the more events we will attract into our world. The strength of our magnet is called personal strength or self-confidence.
A person cannot attract to his world more money, pleasures or events than his personal strength. These are already developed - automatic - qualities of consciousness.
A person living in a positive picture of the world is responsive, flexible, optimistic, purposeful, simple and clear. His life motto is to serve clarity, beauty, love and harmony.
The secret to possessing power and all benefits lies in our prevailing mood and way of thinking. Consciously rebuilding and expanding the boundaries of individual consciousness, we are able to change our picture of the world or create the one we want.
For an awakened person - who has emerged from the hypnosis of a collective picture of the world or social karma - clarity, love, beauty and harmony are idealized. Such a person devotes everything he does to his Higher Nature, and for God it is required to do everything flawlessly. Such service brings the ascetic closer to perfection and makes him more alive and conscious.
God or Supreme Conscious Nature- this is the crystal clarity, love, beauty and harmony of the Primary Source. The fullness of this state of the Universe is the breath of God or the Holy Spirit in Christianity. This state permeates all Being. One Consciousness, God, Higher Mind or Spirit - this is the essence of one.
Everything that we expect or want will come true sooner or later. The law is at work here: much attracts even more. It is also true that losses lead to even greater losses. With what our matrix of consciousness is adjusted, then the Higher Mind materializes.

LAW OF DEVELOPMENT OR SACRIFICE

If I, while sacrificing something for the world, allow doubt, the law of sacrifice does not work. I tried in vain and only tied myself more strongly to the element of greed. But it is even better that no one comes and demands my debt; it is more important that I come and anticipate the requirements myself. But with this there are big problems... It is also important here to understand the measure of reasonable sufficiency. To close the karma and not to grow freeloaders. It also happens that we are given, but we cannot accept - there is no right to take or nothing. Often, one person loves, and another tolerates his love.

Memo

1. Life is control. Mindfulness is a shield and meditation is a sword. Those who do not control their emotions and thoughts doom themselves to suffering. Clarity and understanding of what is happening are lost. Loss of understanding leads to increased anxiety and loss of faith in the creative forces of the universe.
2. Anyone who gives control of his life to the wrong hands is doomed to secondary roles.
3. Power is concentrated not outside, but inside our consciousness. If there is harmony and order inside us, then outside there is harmony and order.
4. Harmony in outside world determined by our ability to control emotions and thoughts and the ability to direct them in a creative direction.
5. Life is a constant sowing of the field of the unconscious with mental images - new dreams, ideas, expectations, hopes, and at the same time - germination and harvesting of the past.
6. Without a clear understanding: "What do I want?" the field of life is sown with the seeds of vague expectations, vague hopes and illusory results.
7. Suffering can only be avoided by generating optimism, courage, hope, enthusiasm, clear goals, trust and faith. Relying on these qualities will allow you to gain clarity of mind, a flight of imagination, faith in yourself and practical skills to make your dreams come true.

Roman Share

On the spiritual path, we must remember that the material world, samsara, is a harsh place. This is not the place where the soul goes through life lessons playfully, only rejoicing and having fun. For those who think so, samsara is quickly sobering up by giving it a couple of sensitive lessons. Only avatars, saints and siddhis, whose spirit is absolutely free from the ego and absorbed by God, are entertained in the material world. Ordinary people are, if not slaves, then captives and tired workers of their karma. This is not the world of the gods, where desires are fulfilled by the power of thought, where you can simply live happily playfully. Everything in it is subject to karma, the law of cause-effect, and we cannot get around this law without changing. No one can escape the law of karma. Everything here, down to the smallest detail, is arranged according to the laws of karma. Of course, we can imagine that we are growing, learning, doing something, walking, working, falling in love, enjoying ... This is so, from a human point of view. However, this is all just karma.

The man himself - who is he? It's just karma to be human. We simply live out one karma and then accumulate a new one. That's our whole life. The rest is the details of our karma. There is no world outside of karma.

The world is our karmic vision. Change it and the world will change. To live means to be entirely from morning to evening, day and night, except for dreamless sleep in karma, to be a part of the global universal mechanism of karma. Because of our karma, we were born here on earth in a human body.

Karma is the basis of all events in our life.

How careless and stupid one must be so that, once in the power of karma, not to remember the law of karma every moment!

Believe in the law of karma, study and understand it

The first thing we should start with spiritual Path, except for gaining faith in God, Dharma and the path of Liberation (moksha) - to believe in the law of karma. Believe and then study in detail and thoroughly to understand it. When the opponent is clear, then the path to victory over him is clearly seen. But when the opponent is not visible, how can he be defeated?

It is very important. It is important to understand that we are now at the mercy of karma entirely, from the word “completely”. Moreover, we ourselves, apart from the Atman, our divine essence- this is embodied karma itself and nothing else. The whole world around is our karmic vision and nothing else.

If people only knew how relentless the law of karma is, how it fixes everything to the smallest detail and how all their thoughts, words and deeds turn into a boomerang, they would control every word, every thought and deed. The law of karma is total, permeating the material world, down to atoms and elementary particles.

It is only on a quantum, transcendental level that the law of karma looses its grip. Only fully awakened souls, soul and spirit living in a transcendental dimension, are free from the law of karma, as well as from many other laws of the material world.

The law of cause and effect obliges us to understand well the causes and effects in this world, to control feelings, to pacify worldly desires, to accumulate merit - good impressions, develop intelligence, will, qualities of the soul. He tells us to control thoughts and desires, to be very discreet in behavior, restrained, sober in a spiritual sense. This is not a law that can be ignored. It can be surpassed by tapas, jnana, but not ignored. Any attempt to ignore karma is wrong and futile. Those who try to do this fail.

They need to carefully study scriptures such as the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Garuda Purana, Tripura Rahasya, Yoga Vasishtha in order to understand the subtle elusive mechanism of the work of cause and effect relationships.

Having studied, one must learn to act in the spirit of karma yoga and bhakti yoga, so that actions do not bind, but lead to God and Liberation.

Mind and Karma

The mind in the subtle body is incredibly plastic, it is hyperplastic, it, being outside the body, for example, in sleep, meditation, can easily take any form. We can't even imagine how flexible it is.

One wrong thought, taking root and growing, can cause birth in a new body.

The Vedic ascetic living in the forest, Jada Bharata, due to misunderstanding and attachment to a deer, was reborn in the body of a deer.

Having studied the connection between mind and karma, we understand the subtle mechanisms of a possible victory over karma. By developing faith and awareness, we can change this state of affairs for the better, make the gears of our destiny turn in the direction we need. We can direct the streams of our consciousness to the dimension of happiness - for example, to the world of celestials - Deva Loku or to the world of the Absolute, towards Liberation, towards the world of gods.

For example, there is a type of mukti, liberation, called sarupya mukti - to have a body like a deity or salokya mukti - in the world of gods. Although the real goal of Advaita is sayujya mukti - merging with the Absolute and liberation, and sarupya mukti means reaching an illusory body in the form of your chosen deity.

Therefore, it is important for us to observe the principles of our Dharma, respect sadhus, tantric samayas, accumulate merit, perform seva, honor saints and gods, perform ritual sadhanas, purify the mind, repent, etc. This gives good results.

Karma is energy

Karma is not a poetic image. This is not a philosophical category. This is specific information in the memory structure of the subtle body, subconsciousness, like information on a computer's hard disk. This information completely determines our fate, health, life expectancy, environment, our achievements, thoughts, activities.

Karma is the memory of the subtle body, our physical body is the embodiment of karma. This is not just memory, but energy, as a force that binds the soul. This force dominates the soul until the soul dissolves it.

For one strength, another strength is needed that will conquer it.

Karma can be corrected by worship rituals and astrological methods, purified by yoga sadhana, can be sublimated, can be dissolved by the power of meditation and deep awareness.

But no one has yet managed to simply ignore karma or dissolve it with words and thoughts about Dharma, nonduality, and the illusory nature of the world. Words and thoughts have no power before the law of karma in the material world.

Here, only the energy of actions, the power of thought, will, the energy of awareness or the power of faith, devotion and love for God are important. Either you have the power to dissolve karma, or your karma has power and subdues you and you find yourself in its power. In a sense, the law of karma is ruthless, dispassionate and cold. He cannot be pityed, bribed, or persuaded, but he can be surpassed by faith, tapas and jnana.

Three types of karma

There is karma that can be changed, but only with great effort. There is one that cannot be changed in this birth. And there is one that can be changed easily. They are called drdra karma, adridra karma and adridra drdra.

So, having given birth to viveka - discrimination in the field of the law of karma, be vigilant, careful in the actions of the body, speech and mind, free yourself from worldly desires, pacify the mind, honor the saints and the Dharma, continuously accumulate merit and develop awareness to overcome the power of karma.

(Based on the satsang by Sri Swami Vishnudevananda Giri)

When we think, speak, or act, we use our own willpower to do so. And although we may not be aware of it, any action makes us suffer in one way or another.

This suffering, as you understand, cannot be avoided. But here's how to minimize it, how to preserve the ability to enjoy life - this is what the laws of karma tell about. Factrum publishes 12 of the most interesting ones.

1. The Great Law

- "What goes around comes around". Also known as the Law of Cause and Effect.

If we want to achieve happiness, peace, love and friendship, then we ourselves must bring happiness, peace, love to others and be a true friend.

Whatever we have created in the Universe, it will always give it back to us.

2. The Law of Creation

Life is not just that. It requires our participation and our efforts.

We are part of a single organism in the Universe. Our essence has not only an external side, but also an internal one.

The key to "right" internal state- independence from the outside world.

Be yourself and surround yourself with the people and things you really love. And deliberately want them to be in your life.

3. The Law of Humility

You cannot change a situation until you accept it first.

If we have enemies, and our loved ones have traits or habits that we hate, then the best thing we can do is to focus on something else. Think of your friends rather than enemies more often. And not that your husband swears, but that you love him for his cheerfulness.

4. Law of Growth

The road is more important than the destination.

The main thing for you is for you to change and grow, not the people, cities or technologies around you.

Our life and the time allotted to us is all that we really have.

If we change something in ourselves and our hearts, our life will change in the same way.

5. Law of Liability

Whenever something goes wrong in my life, it’s in me.

We are a mirror of what surrounds us. And what surrounds us is our mirror.

6. The Law of Universal Interconnection

Even when we do what seems insignificant to us, it is very important. Because all things and phenomena in the Universe are interconnected.

Each step provokes the next. This is how habits are formed.

For a job to be done, someone has to start it.

Your steps in the past are irrelevant and not worthy of analysis. You did the right thing, based on the data that you had at that time.

The past, present and future are always linked. You can't just take and start everything from scratch.

7. Law of Focus

You cannot think of two things at the same time.

If the thoughts in your head are focused on looking for something important or spiritual values, there is no room for greed or anger.

8. The Law of Giving and Hospitality

If you think something is true, then you should be ready to demonstrate it on own experience... If you are not ready, then you only have an opinion, not knowledge.

We only know what we have learned in practice.

9. The law "Here and now"

Analysis of the past and plans for the future distract you from what is happening right here and now.

Old thoughts, old behaviors, and old dreams keep you from finding new things.

10. Law of Change

History will repeat itself until you learn lessons from it that will force you to change your path.

It is foolish to do the same thing every time and expect different results.

11. The Law of Patience and Reward

Any reward requires an investment of labor.

Only those rewards that require constant work are of lasting value.

The true joy of life is doing what you have to do and knowing that sooner or later you will get your way.

12. Law of Inspiration

You will only receive what you deserve.

The true value of something is equal to the energy and strength that you put into it.

Any contribution to your own well-being is also a contribution to general well-being.

Only those who love to give are able to receive something inspiring.

Law of Karma

Paramhansa Yogananda

Your physical body is not created by God alone. Also, you yourself have worked hard to create it. God created you in His own image and likeness, but some of you have defiled this Divine likeness. Some faces reflect piety, but others reflect evil and cruelty. This happens as a result of your real life and your past life activities. What you have sown, you will reap either now or in your future. There is no other way out but contact with God and the realization of God. God does not punish you, does not reward you. You yourself are your own judge. Either you bind yourself with evil, or you are liberated through God. Karma is the law of action. Specific patterns of movement of the mind are called "actions." Every action, performed mentally or physically, consciously or unconsciously, has a specific effect on human life. The influences of these actions, both good and bad, in real life remain imprinted in the subconscious, and those that are transferred from past lives are hidden in the superconscious, like a seed, they are ready to ascend and adapt to the influences environment... Such traces or impressions do not remain in the subconscious or superconscious unless the actions are identified with feelings or personal affection. The ideal is not inactive, but it is rather the cognition of experiences, without the desire for the fruits of action. Activity is necessary, but it should be performed with selfless desire if you want to avoid karmic bondage. "Purushkara" is the name of the seeds created by our actual actions. Samskara means the seeds of the actions of our past. Actions performed by free will and consciousness are called “free action,” or “purushkara,” which means that the action is performed by free will. Samskara means action performed under the influence of something. Those actions that come under the name "samskara" are habits or actions of past lives, manifested in the habits or instincts of our present life. It is the inner environment that dominates our lives. Then there is also the external environment - the planets, the universe, nations, neighborhoods, books, etc. All this affects human activity. Freedom does not mean being able to do whatever you want. You must understand to what extent you are free and how much you are influenced by bad habits. It is not freedom to be good just because it has become a habit of being good. It is not bad to be tempted, but being able to overcome temptation is a high achievement and freedom, because then you are guided by free will and free choice. Seeing good without being good is just a habit, but acting only because you think you should be good and because you have the willpower to be good is true freedom. This will give you true freedom.

The law of action is based on the laws of cause and effect

The law of action, or the law of karma, is scientific (subject to the law of causes), philosophical, moral and practical.

For the Lord is the God of knowledge, and his deeds are weighed. (1 Samuel 2,3)

When all the embryos of evil aspirations are eradicated from the brain, then each microscopic brain cell turns into a wonderful throne of wisdom, inspiration and health, these cells sing and praise the power of God for the intellectual bodily cells. Such people are truly free. They are born only to dry the tears of others. Have similar people there is an invisible healing aura of light. Wherever they go, they spread the light of well-being and health everywhere.

Your karma cannot be eliminated without contact with God. When you achieve union with the Father, when you and your Father are One, then all the germs of karma will be eradicated. You must destroy the old germs of bad karma with the fire of wisdom, and then they will no longer sprout. Bring the light of wisdom within you, and you will eradicate all the unwanted darkness of your past affairs and you will be free in God.

Karma is mesmerizing. It evokes a feeling of closeness to mystery. Therefore, we all have questions. In this article I will try to answer some of them. But first, let's look at the basic principles of karma from a yoga perspective.

The law of karma. Translated from Sanskrit, the root "karma" means action - everything we say, do or think about. In general, the yoga tradition defines the concept of "karma" by three different ways... The first is the actions we are taking in the present moment, the second is the impact that our past actions have on our character and life experience, and the third is what is often called "fate" in the West. When we talk about any events in life "this is karma", we are most likely using the second meaning of the word, which refers to the fact that we are currently reaping the results of something done in the past.
The mystical yogic concept of karma is the recognition that thoughts and actions transform the world, it is created again and again by our actions and thoughts. This is the first principle of karma: actions have consequences. The law of karma, as the yoga tradition describes it, is primarily the law of cause and effect. This is what makes us change, grow and develop. This is the power behind all change.
Many people think of karma as our own actions and their consequences. However, we do not live in a vacuum. According to the yoga tradition, we are influenced not only by our own choice but also the collective karma of our time and place, as well as the forces acting on the planetary and even cosmic level. We can look at the Universe as a tapestry of karma woven from actions, intentions and their consequences. Examples are well known: the flap of a butterfly's wing in Hong Kong affects the hurricane that forms in the South Atlantic Ocean; financial crisis on Wall Street affects the life of a farmer in Argentina. Our personal life experiences are inextricably intertwined with the whole.

Change your habits. The second principle of karma: our past thoughts and actions have helped create our life in the present, our present thoughts and actions have a huge impact for our future. You may know the proverb: “If you want to know what you have done in the past, look at your life. If you want to know what kind of person you will become in the future, look at what you are thinking about and what you are doing now. " This is where karma gets interesting and maybe mysterious. The traditions of Buddhism and yoga, together with Orthodox Judaism, teach that our individual consciousness moves through many life cycles... In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali says that our past thoughts and actions leave an imprint on our subconscious. These impressions, known as samskaras, are stored in our memory. They are traces that show up as mental habits and tendencies.
Taken together, these mental habits and tendencies define our character and create filters through which we look at the world. Our past karma is expressed in these collected samskaras, which are also called karmic tendencies, causes, karmic imprints or karmic patterns. Samskaras reflect our past karma, and they also help determine how we will act in the future. By changing your habits, you can create new samskaras and thus new karmic consequences. But the opposite is also true - changing the way of thinking, samskaras, affects our actions. As the proverb says: "This thought - reap habits, this habit - reap character, this character - reap fate."
In short: the impressions stored in the mind are the subconscious memory of past thoughts and actions. They are the roots, the causes of our future experiences. Therefore, if we want to change our lives, it will be correct first of all to consider our familiar ways thinking.

Good karma is bad karma. According to the yoga tradition, our samskaras from past lives determine the environment in which we were born - parents, temperament, and so on. Of course, the basis of this idea is the concept of reincarnation, which may be difficult for some Western students to fully accept. But even if you do not believe in past or future lives, it is helpful to accept the basic postulates of karma: it will help you understand your life. Yoga teaches that your past actions and thoughts have created a certain template from which you can emerge, grow here and now. If you want to understand how it all works on a practical level, write down on a piece of paper three of your brightest abilities or successful areas of work. The yoga tradition defines this as good karma. Now write down three major problems in life — emotional or mental blocks, areas where life is difficult (for example, your health, family), or other sources of suffering and discomfort (in other words, your negative karma).
Consider how the intertwining of the positive and negative aspects of your life has led to your personal growth and transformation. How have struggles and wounds helped you grow? How have successful areas of life helped you experience success and luck? That is, how are your positive and negative karmas woven together to help you become who you are at the moment?

Choose wisely. At the same time, changing karma includes changing Everyday life... Often times, to change our habits that hold on to old karmas, we need to make small, cumulative decisions. Your actions are critical. After all, you are the result of your own actions. Actions are important not only for your personal relationships and personal spiritual experience, but also for the great karmic plexus - life on the planet as a whole. As you apply the karmic lessons in your own journey and transformation, you will be able to change the consciousness of the people around you - your family, your social environment, and even the entire world.

Correct action. Although the theory of karma assumes that your present is influenced by the thoughts and actions of the past, your future has to do with everything you do now. Yogi Vasishtha summarized the profound truth about karma by saying, “No more great power on earth than right action at the moment. " This is the third and most important principle karma: you always have the choice to act or think in a certain way. Even if not everything is turning out the way you would like right now, the law of karma says that the positive effort you make is bound to bear fruit.
It works on both material and spiritual level... It doesn't matter if you just want to change a habit or want to awaken your true Self. If you keep making the effort, you will achieve your goal. Your past actions may create some obstacles for you, but present actions will help you overcome them. So, according to the teachings of karma, every moment is the result of your past and the seed of the future.

Question: When something bad happens to me, does that mean I did something to deserve it?
Unfortunately, some people make it very easy to understand how karma works. I can’t say for sure how many times I’ve heard someone say to a friend who’s going through difficult circumstances at work or personal life: "You must have done something to bring it on yourself." Of course, if you are stuck in traffic, you may miss your plane if you are constantly eating. junk food then you are more likely to gain weight. However, in many situations, the action of karma is not so simple and understandable. There are no easy, straightforward answers to the question of why bad things happen. Sometimes we are caught in the collective karma of time and place. For example, if you live in a country at war, these conditions will obviously affect your life. If you are fortunate enough to be born in a prosperous country, you will have opportunities not available in other parts of the world. Some things happen to us by accident or are the result of a combination of circumstances, including other people, political and economic situations, environmental factors, and so on. Any subtle understanding the causes of various troubles must include many factors - the weather, the mistakes of other people, genetics and often banal bad luck. That is, our inner attitude influences our inner experience. From a yogic point of view, most of us carry memories of the wounds and injustices of the past. We also keep the samskaras of our own wounds or pain caused to others. They can make us more predisposed to become a victim or an executioner at the moment. However, the more actively we bring our fears and hidden patterns into the conscious area of ​​the psyche through yoga practice and other tools for personal growth, the more chances we have to change our attitude towards the problem. This is the first step towards behavioral change that will gradually have an effect on the circumstances of our lives. False relief often comes from the thought that difficult circumstances are the result of past actions. In fact, one of the yogic points of view is that when you have a misfortune or you experience a loss, see it as a clearing of negative past karmas. I first learned about this concept 25 years ago when I was traveling in India and my shoes were stolen at the door of the temple. I complained to my Indian companion and he said, “Instead of getting upset, be grateful. Think - one more bad karma less. " In other words, one of my past negative actions was balanced by my misery of losing my shoes. The realization that unpleasant event can be a resolution of old karma, help you feel less like a victim.

Question: What is a karmic relationship? How do I know I'm in them?
In a sense, everyone we meet in life is the people with whom we have total karma... But a truly karmic relationship is one in which you have a strong, almost fatal sense of connection with another person. You may feel like you know the other person well, even if you only met. You know that you are in a karmic relationship when you are inexplicably attracted to someone when the person has strong influence on your life or when you try to get out of a relationship but you can't.
When it comes to relationships, an unexpected and quick attraction can be a signal that a karmic relationship has come into play. More often than not, the feeling of falling in love is a hook that pulls you to where karma will act. After a few years, when the feeling of falling in love has disappeared, you may wonder how you got into this situation with your partner. The answer is that you need to work something out together. From a yogic point of view, karma is the magnet that brings people together and the glue that holds them.
Another sign karmic relationships- a natural sense of duty. Sometimes you feel like you owe another person. Another time you feel that the person owes you. Pay karmic debts rests precisely on this balance. If you experience the relationship as karmic — whether with a partner, child, parent, or boss — try to understand the inner dynamics of the game. If you understand that the internal dynamics in certain relationships has negative aspects, you can make choices that will break this cycle. Begin to form a strong intention to make a turn in your mind or behavior, and then figure out what steps you can take to start making those changes in your life.

Question: I have a money problem. It is said to be the result of bad monetary karma. What can I do to change it?
Changing negative karma involves working with your attitude and your behavior. From a practical point of view, it is important to acquire necessary knowledge in the area that you think is problematic. In your case, you can learn useful budget planning skills, take refresher courses, and so on. Then, instead of punishing yourself for financial setbacks, you can remind yourself that you are learning to cope with difficulties. Instead of thinking, "I have bad money karma," tell yourself, "This is the area of ​​my life in which I study."

Question: Can Yoga Help Change My Karmic Attitudes?
Your samskaras determine how you interact with others and how you react to what is happening in life. The more you can purify and change your samskaras, the easier it is to change behavior. Yoga and meditation practices can be powerful tools for transforming these inner tendencies.
In yoga, the principle of active change of karma is called tapas. Tapas is like an inner fire that dissolves the inner karmic patterns and the underlying samskaras that are trapped in the body and mind. Asanas can clear our blockages in the body, and the practice of mantras can help clear away mental patterns such as destructive internal dialogues and deeply rooted self-images. These patterns are often expressed in the form of repetitive thoughts (eg, “I cannot succeed at anything,” “I am alone in this world,” “Life is not fair”). The mantra will replace these thoughts and create new mental patterns. Meditation can give you access to pure perception, the essence of which is freedom and joy. As many meditation practitioners claim, this can lead to profound and spontaneous changes in your way of thinking, attitudes, and even the direction of your life.

Practices that can sow the seeds of positive change in your life

1. Start your day with a positive attitude. For example, “I fill the lives of others with happiness,” or “I am here and now when I communicate with people,” or “I am doing my job effectively, so I can spend free time Outdoors". Notice how intent determines your entire day.

2. Be clear about your motivation. One of the keys to creating positive karma is to act with positive motivation. For example, when you are about to make a critical comment about someone, check why you are doing it. If you notice a hidden feeling of envy or your own superiority, it is better to shut your mouth or, conversely, say a compliment.

3. Act for the benefit of others. Some actions and thoughts create positive samskaras, which inevitably lead to positive life experience... Make a decision to do something kind every day for a week. Ditch the extra latte and invest that money in a personal charitable foundation help. Have lunch with someone ignored in the office. Pick up debris from the curb. Help distribute food or toys at the shelter. At the end of each day, write in a journal what you did and how you felt.

4. Get rid of the bad habit. Sometimes the banal giving up of a small habit can change the karmic pattern and lead to subtle but profound changes in life. For one week, decide you won't indulge one of your bad, unproductive habits. Start with something simple - for example, the moment you decide to sleep for "another five minutes", instead of getting up and practicing, do it differently - just spread the yoga mat and start practicing. Be patient with yourself when working with your own habits. If you fail, forgive yourself and try again next time!

5. Take care of others. The root of most negative karmic habits is selfishness. One of the antidotes in this case- care for others and good deeds. One of the most powerful existing ways create positive samskaras - doing something not only for yourself, but also for the good of the world around you.