THE THREE DEADLY SINS OF KARMA 

JUDGMENT OF ANOTHER OR OTHERS (B)

 

“When you see a worthy person endeavor to emulate him, 

when you see an unworthy person 

then examine your inner self.” Confucius

 

Frequently when we judge others we project our own shadow onto someone else so that the ego can feel better about its little self. We would not be able to find fault in another if it was not already part of our own shadow. When we point fingers, there are often three fingers pointing back at us.

 

When you no longer need to be 'right' the purity of your soul will shine through.

We are all one but not the same.

"You are me, and I am you.

Isn’t it obvious that we 'inter-are' ”? Thich Nhat Hanh

“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose, I am here and you are out there.”  Roshi

 

There are only two feelings, love and fear, but many emotions. Fear is mostly negative and contracts, love mostly positive and expands. They each have their dark and light sides. 'Love' your neighbor as yourself does not mean you have to like him or her but to be able to see the divinity in her because we are all made in the image of the divine. Love here is not an emotion or a sentiment but a commitment. We can help our neighbor in the present moment and give him/her a helping hand. We are not obligated  to take him home with us.

 

Emotions run high – feelings run deep. Emotions require discipline. Feelings require nurturing. The better one controls emotions the more one can express feelings.

 

We are responsible for our unskillful emotions. These are usually a property of fear's Narrow, (Monkey, survival) Mind. Our feelings of love (or the acknowledging, but not submitting to fear) is that of Spacious Mind. Our thoughts lead to our words, our words seed our intentions which manifests our deeds, either positively or negatively, thus influencing our virtues (Gandhi.) We all dance to the beat of different drums. As long as someone is not doing harm we should be accepting of his or her 'beat.'

 

“Actions arise from conditions. Do not judge then the former until the latter is well understood. If you have eaten what the judged one has eaten, and worn his clothes, and thought his thoughts, and felt both his joy and pain then you may say you have stood in his place but only briefly compared to the length of his stay. So still you may not know the past or present plights that plague him. Our judgments are frequently fraught with error and usually tainted with arrogance. Compassion and love are our salvation and joy.” Hillel

 

"Do not judge a person until you have walked a mile in his/her moccasins.” Native American saying

 

Judgment accentuates the duality we already carry. 

 

“Despise no person and consider nothing impossible, for there is no one who does not have his/her hour and there is nothing that does not have its place.” Talmud

 

“Judge not, that you not be judged. 
For with what measure you judge, you shall be judged, 
and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matthew

 

This wisdom has several levels of meaning as in:

What goes around, comes around. If someone is perceived as being judgmental their associates or friends may wonder what s/he is saying about them. When we are judgmental, others listening may not trust us or our friendship and we will then also be judged.

We will also be judged when we cross the veil and face a spiritual tribunal which is governed by that one truth - love. 

The more you do for love, the more love will do for you.

Our karma will control what is meted out to us again. 

 

"As you sow, so you shall reap." Jesus

 

Karmically we get away with nothing. If our judgment has done harm to others the consequences of cause and effect will be severe.

Take care not to give scandal nor to do harm.

We also prime our subconscious negatively with judgmental thoughts. We should wish people well and good things will return to us by the Law of Attraction baring in mind that no good deed goes unpunished and we should not depend on the hope of results (Thomas Merton.) In other words just do it for its own sake.

Forgiveness which is a remedy for judgment, is to return to our true Selves, whether it's forgiveness of ourselves, or of others or asking forgiveness from others.

“The time will come when with elation you will great yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the other’s welcome and say sit here, eat. You will love again the stranger who was yourself. Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life whom you have ignored for another who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, the photographs, the desperate notes, peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life.” 

Derek Walcott

 

THE THREE DEADLY SINS OF KARMA 

JUDGMENT AND MERCY (A)

“Behind my work was ambition, behind my love was personality, behind my purity was fear, behind my guidance the thirst for power. Now they are vanishing and I drift. I come Mother, I come, in your warm bosom – floating where-ever you take me – in the voiceless, in the strange, in the wonderland. I come a spectator, No more an actor.”   

Swami Vivekananda

 

The Tree of Life has 10 sephirot or energy centers; 5 (as designated by the hearts above) are called the 5 Loves. The others have been called the 5 Judgments or Fears. Fear related to judgment follows us all the way up the Tree (as do the other sins of karma but maybe to a lesser extent.) The right side expands the left contracts, the center column holds the balance.

THE LOVE TRIAD IS ABOUT COMPASSION, EMPATHY

AND FORGIVENESS 

 

“When a deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive.” Alan Paton

 

It is all about cosmic union. Go forward with forgiveness which is essential to substance and joy. 

“Forgiveness is the most completing gift we can experience for we all have its sweet need.” J. O’donahue

“In forgiving and letting go we can then exalt in treasuring what we truly most treasure.” J. O’Donahue

“…What you give to if not received is still not lost. Not getting back what you give and or not having what you give being received – neither way is a waste or loss.” J. O’donahue

"Forgiveness is part of the treasure you need to craft your falcon wings and return to your true realm of Divine Freedom.” Hafitz 

Judgment is part of both the Love Triad and the Triad of Ego for good reason. It may become one of our greatest challenges. Judgment becomes more subtle when we raise our vibration and open our hearts. Subordinating judgment may require a greater level of inner awareness as we ascend the Tree rung by rung. It is more difficult to temper our judgments than our egos. It helps to judge the action rather than the person. We all have a pure soul. 

Non-Attachment (Netzach) on the Triad of Ego is key to spiritual evolution beyond our survival needs. Netzach is not only Non-Attachment to the material or to the self-cherishing persona but also emphasizes the importance of interpersonal relationship between the Four Beings of Nature and especially the Talking Beings. In other words: Namaste – I recognize the divinity within you (and my-Self.)  This means having a relationship for its own sake and not for any selfish agenda or advantage.

If we cannot embrace the other,

 do not think to embrace God. 

 

JUDGMENT OF ONESELF

Self-recrimination can cause harm to the Soul or the Higher Self. 

 

“Self-condemnation strengthens guilt which is one of the greatest obstacles on the path of realization.” Sri Swami Rama

 

Self-condemnation puts our higher consciousness in the prefrontal lobe of the brain in lockdown and allows Monkey's primal, survival Mind  to prevail, shutting out Spacious or Big Mind. We need to practice an unconditional positive regard not only for ourSelves but also for others. No-one is perfect. Self-condemnation can create shame which is feeling bad about who one is - one's essence. Remorse and regret are about feeling bad about what one did, and is more easily corrected.

Do not condemn yourself, or let others condemn you!

 

Be patient with yourself, kind to yourself and, above all, release yourself from what you are not accountable.

 

“Just as its presumptuous to put ourselves above others, so is it pretentious to put ourselves below them.” Unknown

And if your friend does evil to you, say to him, “I forgive you for what you did to me, but how can I forgive you for what you did to yourSelf?”  Nietzsche

 

The Creator and Jesus will forgive those who have inflicted harm on their own Higher Selves, on the soul that is pure. This is the parable of the prodigal son or daughter returning to the Father-Mother and being forgiven. However, for what we have done to others we have to personally ask forgiveness from them to clean the slate. 

Self-Compassion 

does not mean self-enabling - enabling the small self. We need to admit to our unskillfulness and correct it. This reduces anxiety, depression, and increases equanimity and Self-worth.

“Do not weigh things, a soul of the person that weighs suffers harm.” The Talmud

How we treat the sentient body and manage its challenges will govern to what extent the soul separates from its container, which should also remain pure. The soul of a person that severely judges it-Self (or others) may begin to separate from the body creating Soul Sickness or even loss. Shame is the enemy of the soul. 

The Soul being pure can return to the body and be redeemed. Judgment, which is ego driven, arises out of our ongoing sense of

duality – a judging of the other as different when we are all one but not the same. This implies being kind to our own Selves as well as to any others. We should try to be a good friends to our Self while at the same time managing our egos. 

Cherish and guard the Self.

 

 

THE THREE DEADLY SINS OF KARMA #3

 DESIROUS ATTACHMENT

You cannot control results, only your actions. 

You cannot decide outcomes, only your choices.

 So, it is best that you practice 
non-attachment to any concern related to outcome.

Impermanence is at the heart of nurturing Non-Attachment. 

Desirous Attachment is antithetical to the principle of impermanence. We cannot take “it” with us. At the end of the day we will be evaluated on how we dealt with our experiences. Only karma, love, truth and the soul live on. Everything is a test - its not what happens to us but how we handled it that counts. 

“More possessions - more worry. More generosity - more peace. There is nothing wrong with possessions, only to being possessed by them.” Hillel

When we cross over we take nothing with us. Material attachments can also hamper the soul’s journey during transition after death causing the spirit to either become earth bound (lost between the worlds) or to inherit a lower vibration in the Astral.

Everything we acquire should be scrutinized against the polarities of need and want. We release more spiritual energy if we get rid of clutter. Every now and then we need to look through our belongings and make sure they belong to us and we do not belong to them. If you have not thought of or used anything in the last few years, give it away, sell or dump it. You will surprised how much lighter and freer you feel. 

Keep to the source of living waters.
Do not think to store in cisterns; they will break and crumble and the water will be lost.
Cup your hands and drink deeply and often and you will have health and joy.

There is nothing wrong with desire, it is the attachment to desire that is the issue. 

It is the want that is our enemy and not the need.

Steve Jobs once instructed his employees that their task at Apple was not to give people what they needed but to tell them what they wanted. Many bottom liners follow this mantra. 

 It can be challenging not to be overwhelmed and trapped by the allure of materialism and all those new, shiny, compelling commodities that inundate us. They are designed to wear out more quickly than previously and be replaceable rather than fixable - the latter often being more costly. Planned obsolescence has been taken to a much higher level of sophistication. The excuse is the ever ongoing, so called improvement of technology. Is this just a trap to give us less control and make us lazy or technology for the sake of technology itself rather than practicality? 

Or we may be compelled to buy the latest version and dispose of the older one because the new is contrived to be sexier but not necessarily any better and sometimes worse. We have to be aware of the fact that we are being manipulated to continually borrow and spend more money than we should.

"Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without" Unknown

“Where there is too much, something is missing. - Chassidic Saying. 
Yes, the disguise of plenty. The Grail is not there.” 
Gene Kelly

Kabbalah also talks of The Bread of Shame… If we have too much while others have little we may feel shame especially if it was easy to attain and we have not earned or worked hard for it. Those that are fortunate can make use of this “bread of shame,” by becoming philanthropic and giving it away, preferably by doing so anonymously.

 

We should be attached to our spiritual transformation and all that is involved in our Becoming but not to the deadly sins of ego that get in our way. 

Consumerism is designed to build the market at the expense of the planet's sustainability. 

“By attributing worth to tangible objects man becomes attracted to them; attraction brings desire for them; desire leads to competition and dispute. These create anger and the result is delusion. Delusion completely overcomes man’s sense of right and wrong.” Srimad Bhagavatam

The more "stuff' we accumulate the more time, money and energy we spend maintaining it rather that doing something meaningful for our spiritual growth. Stuff and especially clutter get in the way of our spiritual work. 

There is always enough as long as one is free from the compulsion for more. Narrow mind is about having – Spacious mind is about being.

K.I.S.S.

Keep it Simple, Stupid

“Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill, keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt, chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench, care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back, the only way to serenity.”  Tao Te Ching

Re  "... care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner...”  Tao Te Ching

We should not concern ourselves about those who have much more than we do. 

“Should the other climber steal your sack and your purse and wax fat on the one and heavy on the other, you should pity him. The climbing will be harder for his flesh and the burden will make his way longer. And should you in your leanness see his flesh puffing upward, help him in a step, it will add to your swiftness.” Unknown

Many of us feel we need to keep up with the Jones'. Ego can make us inherently more competitive in order to impress or prevent feeling like a loser. This is often because of a delicate ego and a feeling of inferiority. 

"…you are accepted by the sun, you are accepted by the moon, you are accepted by the trees, you are accepted by the ocean, you are accepted by the earth. What more do you want?
You are accepted by this whole universe. Rejoice in it!” Osho

Universal Self- Acceptance - U.S.A. of ourselves (and others.)

Both can be difficult.

“Everybody feels inferior in some way or other. And the reason is that we don’t accept that everybody is unique. There is no question of inferiority or superiority. Everybody is just one of his/her kind - comparison does not arise. 
The moment you accept yourself as you are, without any comparison, all inferiority, all superiority, disappears. In that total acceptance or yourself you will be free from these complexes - inferiority, superiority. Otherwise you will suffer your whole life....


Just be yourself, that is enough… Osho

God want you, to be truly you. You were created for that.

For many, the attachments are are to sensory pleasures. We are here to enjoy but enjoy responsibly. Being in a sensory body is a gift which we lose when we cross over the veil between worlds. Sensory deprivation  is antithetical to our spiritual trajectory. We are here to savor the senses and will be held accountable to the extent we did not. Rev. Nachman taught; "Joy is not incidental to one's spiritual path, it is vital."

The way to God is through the senses. From the senses will I behold the Creator.

Excesses and addictions to; alcohol, drugs, raves, gambling, certain genres of discordant music and food, especially sugar etc. may also compromise health and sabotage spiritual transformation. We do not want to spend most our energy bailing out water from a leaky boat that we have to navigate down the river of life. We need to maintain our bodies to the best of our bodies's abilities.

 

“… Abundance is not an achievement of the acquisitive but rather a legacy of the perceptive – a realization of plenty – not an acquiring of more – a delight not a desire.” Hillel

Our focus should be on the basic necessities and our wants should be in line with spiritual transformation.

“Give up owning things and being somebody. Quit existing.” Rumi

 

Rumi tells us not only about being wary of grooming our persona by "being somebody," but not also not to be enraptured by owning more stuff. “Being somebody” also speaks to grooming the persona with objects that display ones pride, prestige, opulence as well as a desire for recognition or fame.

 

THE THREE DEADLY SINS OF KARMA #2

EGO'S sELF CHERISHING (of the small self) 

The challenge is relief from ego, how to be free from its tyranny. 
The way is relief from ego, surrendering and releasing one’s instinct for protection and cultural conditioning; subduing its tyranny but with respectful and grateful acknowledgement for its appropriate worth.  
The "prize" - the place of arrival - is relief from ego and a true sense of the pleasure of its place.

Ego is our power center and how we make our way in the world. Ego's self-cherishing can comprise, arrogance, pride, prestige, opulence and fame.

Karma depends not only on what we do, but how we do it, why we do it and how we feel about it. If the last is grudgingly or if it benefits us only materially it may be karmically neutral or there could be a karmic consequence.

Determine well your heart’s desire for in releasing your intention its energy will affect its holiness or unholiness.

The Ancestors teach that ulterior motives are greatly under-rated. It is good to donate money in order to build a hospital or anything else that can help humanity but for karma's sake it should not be attached to an agenda. It is better to give charity – even if it is to get one's face in the media or for a tax deduction - than not to give it, but the act may not have spiritual merit depending on the intent. It should be given anonymously or, better still, instead of giving a person a fish, rather teach him or her how to fish.

All must be done for its own sake, not for reason of an outcome.  All is a journey not a destination and it is a continual arriving.

We need to do things for their own sake and not because of any ego driven agenda – hidden or not. If rewards were always immediate there might be a huge incentive to always perform correctly because of the gratification we would expect from our actions. We would be no better than anyone driven by a Pavlovian response.

The results of cause and effect (karma) are often not immediate because they would influence free will. The Creator wants us to do things for the right reasons, not out of fear and shame or because of what may result, but out of justice and love.

Ego is slippery, it is like a chameleon, always changing colors or shape shifting to disguise itself. The higher we get up the energy hierarchy the more devious Ego becomes. It is supported by the Shadow, Monkey Mind and our Tricksters who will play on our weaknesses. 

“The Light of lights looks always on the motive, not the deed… the shadow of shadows, on the deed alone.” W.B. Yeats

The light of lights is our inclination to do good and there are spirit forces outside of us that seek the same on our behalf. The shadow of shadows is our evil inclination. Our own inner light and our dark sides are affected by those light and dark forces on either side of the veil between worlds. These are operating in opposition either to subordinate, or to enhance Ego and these compounding negative inclinations. We should also remember that the imprint of our soul's "Store Consciousness" is also operating in the background of our subconscious. The challenge is always more complex than just the Ego alone.

Yeats recognizes the “enlightened” implications of doing things for their own sake which is a Higher Self, Good Inclination, Spacious Mind motivation. If its for the deed alone, it may for be a self-cherishing, ego-bound, narrow minded agenda related to our shadow or evil inclination. Karma dictates we do things for their own sake and the means never justifies the end.

God does not measure results, only the trueness of intent and the fervor of effort. This is why there is such joy in daring one’s best.

 

If God were after numbers he would have made the way to Him abundantly apparent and attractive – enticingly so, ego free and forever lasting. And of course, S/He has also granted us our own lens for seeing and our own will for choosing what we see.

Humility, Modesty

"Don't be so humble, you are not that important." Unknown

We needs to first have a level of self-mastery and hubris to be able to merit any ability to be humble. Renunciation is easy when there is nothing much that we have earned to renunciate.

Kabbalah teaches that humility is truthful acknowledgement about the wonders of yourself, taking appropriate credit for your part but recognizing the Infinite One's gifts to you. 

Our task of course is to find and pursue those gifts, be it our core strengths or true destiny.

Modesty … has more to do with realizing how small the container is for the overwhelmingly great gift, yet trusting in God's offering and so accepting and using it without pretense.

True humility should make others know God better through you. One ought to marvel at what God can accomplish through you.

There are things that the Creator cannot do without our cooperation. We are here to co-create with the Divine's unlimited Intelligence with our own limited but potentially divinely inspired imaginative abilities. We should not hide our talents under a bushel. 

God gives the talent but He would not have an Antonio Stradivarius violin without Antonio's hands.” Stradivarius

It is easier to get ourselves and any sense of unworthiness out of the way if we use our gifts on behalf of others. That gift that is given is not about us but given so that we can benefit the planet.

"Just as its presumptuous to put ourselves above others, so it is pretentious to put ourselves below them." Unknown

“This is what God asks of you, only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah

Pride 

“God cannot be realized if there is the slightest trace of pride.” Upanishads

"Pride comes before a fall."

"Until you empty yourselves of pride God cannot be realized."

Talmud

“There is no room for God in him who is full of himself. The sages tell us concerning the proud man; God says; “I and s/he cannot dwell together in the world.” Talmud

Fame versus Honor

As fame can enslave, so can the costs of money impoverish. Make sure the need is worth the price. To overpay can rob the Self.

Mother Theresa did not go to Calcutta to help the poor, sick and downtrodden to become a saint. She became one while not seeking sainthood.

Its a sad state of affairs when we hear the media celebrating some Rap artist's birthday instead of someone like Gandhi who was born on that same day.

Fame is a fickle food

Upon a shifting plate

Whose table once a

Guest but not, The second time is set.

Whose crumbs the crows inspect

And with ironic caw Flap past it to the Farmer's Corn 

– Men eat of it and die. Emily Dickenson

Fame is a bee. It has a song— It has a sting—Ah, too, it has a wing. Emily Dickenson

There are distinct karmic advantages to not being on top. Even if we are first and strive to stay there, it will not be long before someone else overtakes us or we are forgotten. When we pass over to the other side of the veil between worlds to reconcile with our karma, humility will be even more critical.

 

“Those that will be first will be last.” Jesus

 

Let them be king.

Let them come along and shout

- they will shout their name last.

 S/He who does good and does not pursue honor, him honor overtakes. 

In seeking fame honor will be lost …” Hillel

Wealth

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus

When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ And Jesus said, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 

There is nothing wrong with being wealthy but it can monopolize vital energy that could be devoted to a spiritual life. The opposite is also true. Wealth can give more opportunities for pursuing the Self as well as being philanthropic but it may require an element of renunciation - the Buddha is as an example.

Knowledge

Those who exploit knowledge are lost to wisdom. Wisdom is born of humility and is nourished by compassion. It is grace in action. When knowledge is used for self-gain and control it is conceit in action.

If study and prayer do not serve justice and mercy they are but  the hollow sound of one's own arrogance. 

Truth can be ego clinging to its own image.

"Whoever undertakes to set himself as a judge of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods." Goethe

The self-Cherishing Persona revels in the same indulgences when ego is centered around having more knowledge than others.

When the Ancestors say with all your strength get knowledge they are talking about knowledge that serves your spiritual path and not the Ego. 

… in seeking knowledge wisdom may be forgotten.” Hillel

Information is not to be equated with knowledge, knowledge not to be equated with understanding, understanding not to be equated with wisdom and wisdom not to be equated with virtue.

Although Ego is necessary for our self-mastery and self-actualization there comes a time when it gets in the way of spiritual growth and Self-Realization. Attachments to Ego's self-Cherishing, Desirous Attachment or Judgment create karmic burdens. Being tied to these will guarantee more wasteful, future lifetimes where we come back to correct the errors of the past instead of going forward. 

Non-Attachment to ego is commendable. 

Attachment to ego will guaranty us more reincarnations. 

A path that is attached to pursuing a life that embraces spiritual transformation will bring happiness and inner wealth.