THIS IS THE SIXTH BLOG ON KARMA 

Last week we dealt with destiny. This week we will focus on healing the planet and correcting injustice. 
Its best if we do this through our own unique destiny or archetype but it will still count, however we do it. A vision of what our destiny and archetype is, can be empowering but we must also actualize the vision.

There are four main forms of Yoga; Service (Karma Yoga,) Devotional (...of God or Bhakti,) Intellectual (Jnana Yoga or knowledge of ancient scriptures), and Raja Yoga, the Royal path of controlling the mind through meditation and Self-realization. We can do service through one or more of these pathways but just as we have a main archetype 

(Healer/Teacher/Warrior/Visionary) 

we should also have a special affinity to one of these various Yogas, all of which are to be of service. 

There is a Zen saying; 

"before enlightenment chop wood carry water, after enlightenment chop wood carry water."

Also giving to our fellow humans makes us happy and 

self cherishing is a recipe for misery. 

It really isnt 

all about me! 

Seligman the father of positive psychology confirmed that the self-esteem movement was a dismal failure that led to a significant incidence of depression.

There is also no hierarchy here regarding the Four Beings of Nature; Still, Growing, Wild or Talking. Some would prefer to do service for one or more of the Non-human beings. Connecting with any of the others in a giving way can be karmically enriching.

We also make an Afterlife by what we give so we need to find time to give of ourselves regardless of reward.

Click on the link to highlight then download and play

_-_MP3s/07_Tilling_the_Soil_of_the%20Soul.mp3

THIS FIFTH BLOG ON KARMA WILL DEAL WITH DESTINY

Below - as far as I know in my limited understanding - are some of the variables that control Karma. 

We will do a blog on each beginning with destiny. 

Destiny is not the same as fate. Fate is the cards we are dealt with in life, beginning with the family and circumstances we were born into, and what happens to us along the way after that. Our fate also depends on our Karmic profile from prior life times.  For this reason some are "luckier" than others because they have earned their new more favorable predicaments. Nevertheless, no matter the barriers, we are all meant to rise above our fate into our own true unique destiny - that gift we were given to help heal the planet and correct injustice in one way or another.

Destiny demands we become congruent with who we are truly meant to be and this is preordained.

  "Lord of Athens. Faithful be to thyself & mystery - all else is perjury."  Dickenson. 

"I implore you to submit to your own myths. Any postponement in doing so is a lie."  William Carlos Patterson. 

"This above all to thine own self be true
 and it must follow as night the day; thou canst not then be false to any man."  Shakepeare

We need to be true to our myth and hold to this vision. This will bring us meaning, well being, equanimity, joy or happiness depending also on our unique emotional disposition.

There are four main archetypes and each can take many forms of expression. Many of us can manifest all four but we need to follow the one most true to us. Karmically its no use being a jack of all trades and master of none, no matter how gratifying.

Roshi said; "When you find your place where you are, practice begins" 

in one or other of these expressions.

The Healer 

and Teacher can take up many guises.

Apart from the military the Warrior can be the conscious C.E.O. or politician...

The Visionary can be the sage, guru, shaman, psychic, elder, crone, artist, musician etc.

To find one's destiny requires courage and forbearance especially since many of us do not have a clue what it is. We may need to keep our day job and learn to live in two worlds doing what is true to our heart in our spare time often without pay. There can be no excuses or room for complacency. This may require trial and error. When one road no longer seems to fit we take another.

The Ancestors warn us that anything or anybody that does not make us more of who we are make us less and that there is no staying the same. We need to free ourselves to be ourselves and release ourselves from what we are no longer accountable.

Click to highlight the link then play

-_MP3s/02_Your_Search.mp3

THIS IS THE FOURTH BLOCK ON KARMA

When we negotiate the law of cause and effect we need to realize that there are other factors working in the background to influence our Karma other than intention, free will and the choices we make.

We also need to subordinate:

 our Shadow or Evil Inclination to 
our Good Inclination

Ego, Narrow/Monkey Mind to the 
Higher Self and Spacious/Big Mind

The Trickster and Dark Forces to the 
Forces of Light and our Spirit Guides

The Ancestors

The tension between light and dark, sacred and profane, free will and Karma is a template for spiritual perfection and,
 Karma is built as a default into the soul.
Intention leads to choice which can be generated by fear or love.
Narrow/Monkey Mind resides in the more primitive regions of the brain on Functional M.R.I. and is focused on survival. It resides in the lower chakras which relate to our fear driven addictions, habits, compulsions, lustful desires and raw emotions.
If intention comes from Spacious/Big Mind residing in the prefrontal lobe of the brain on F.M.R.I. it focuses on love, the higher chakras and our lofty ideals, notions, beliefs, discrimination and discernment. It honors the essential feeling of fear but controls negative emotions like hatred and vengeance.
The Ancestors teach that 
"with right understanding we are able to convert transgressions into merits."
Good Karma depends on the choices we make from the intentions of Spacious Mind. Once we are living in this Big Mind and realize that discernment is choiceless - very difficult for most of us - we are attaining a level of spiritual perfection. We need to understand that this is not a straight line but rather a gentle sine wave from a cybernetic negative feedback system working much like the bodies diurnal  hormonal rhythms.  We are always deviating - but only a little - before we turn back. The trajectory of Narrow Mind is chaotic and frequently gets lost before hopefully coming back again to center. We must be very
"careful of what we taste and where we immerse" 
and stay the course by always quickly and gently self correcting. 
The prerequisite for this is the ability to balance the polarities of life while enjoying sentient pleasure responsibly.

The Ancestors

There can be no rose without a thorn, no sacred without the mundane, no light without dark.

The Ancestors

We have to learn to coexist among the polarities of darkness without assimilating them which in many way is more challenging than living in the protected environment of a spiritual community, ashram or sanga.

This formula and Samsara - the ever turning wheel of life where we are bound to a sentient body and keep coming back again and again until we get our responsibilities right - eventually will lead to spiritual perfection which we are all capable of achieving. Although seemingly a paradox there can be no spiritual progress without conflict. We are continually being tested for our resolve and intention. As we become more skillful spiritual warriors the tests become more taxing to see if we are truly worthy of reaching a Causal vibration.

When we cross the Veil between worlds to the other side and reconcile with our Karma we cannot say, the devil made me do it or the means justified the end.

The Ancestors

Click on the link to highlight then play

_MP3s/12_Coming_Home.mp3

davidcu

THIS IS THE THIRD BLOG ON THE FREE WILL PART OF KARMA

 Many believe that because there is nothing after death one may as well do as one pleases. The cyber world and social media have made it possible now to insinuate evil into the web without legal consequence and we do not have the laws to prevent it. Clever lawyers and lack of legal clarity have literally enable powerful people to get away with murder.
Free will governing karma in spiritual understanding is to have freedom to do whatever we want without harming or hurting anybody or anything or our own Higher Self. We are here to enjoy life responsibly.

For this reason Buddhists stress that the meditation on death is one of the most important that we can do. Our intention and choices governed by free will will determine our destiny. 

If we understand that the laws of spirit in the cosmic field are quite different to the laws we have in a sentient body on this earth we come to realize that selfish hedonistic thinking is untenable and can affirm the teaching of Krishnamurti that 
"Discernment is choiceness." 
and appreciate the teaching that 
"those that will be first will be last."
Buddhists believe that they are the true hedonists because their tenets are about true happiness. Positive psychology and neuroscience are now proving this to be true.

There are countless vibrations in the afterlife and we inherit the vibration we deserve spiritually - not materially. When we pass over the probability is that most of us will go to the vibration in the Astral realm that we have earned. 

In the Astral we undergo a reconciliation with our Karma under the guidance of a spiritual tribunal and then reincarnate back into the life we deserve. We are born to parents and into a situation that will best help us learn the lessons that we need to learn in the everturning wheel of life that is Samsara. We are all heading for spiritual perfection but this may take many lifetimes. 

Once we are in the Astral we lose free will and our Karma is set in stone. We can no longer act independently to correct prior misdeeds. We can, however, act through helping a living loved one through their free will 

and to some extent complete what we never accomplished in our prior life. 

The Ancestors

The few enlightened, perfected souls will go to the Causal vibration that they deserve. The Buddhists call this the Pure Land, the Kabbalists the Garden of Eden and the Yogis say this is bliss or Moksha (liberation.) All bodisatvas pray and practice so when they  reincarnate and then can practice Buddhism at a higher level. 

The Ancestors

Click on the link to highlight, then download and play

_Do_Not_Bend.mp3_MP3s/12_Do_Not_Bend.mp3