KARMA 
&

 DOING NO HARM !
to The Four Beings of Nature
The Gaia hypothesis (James Lovelock) proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic & complex self-regulating complex system that helps to maintain & perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet.
All Beings deserve to be there for their own sake and not for what they can bring or do for us. The Amazon rain forest must not be just preserved because some of the plants may be able to cure cancer but because they deserve to exist & remain as part of Divine creation.
The Four Beings are:

STILL

GROWING

WILD 

(includes domestic which used to be wild)

TALKING

The Ancestors teach

When it comes to doing no harm this applies to all the Beings. In the eyes of the Creator there is no hierarchy - we are all animated by the breath of the Divine, yet each has a different vibration -

all one though not the same. We are, however, held to a greater responsibility because we have a greater consciousness. All the other Three Beings are innocent and are doing exactly what they were created to do unless they have been polluted or exploited by us. Only we deviate and are held Karmically accountable. Only we are responsible for destroying our planet.

The Ancestors

The Law of Correspondence tells us; as above so below, as within so without, as is the microcosm so is the macrocosm. We are all stardust and made of the same carbon atoms, 

...dust to dust, ashes to ashes.

To the extent we harm the other three Beings we not only affect our individual Karma but there is a global Karmic affect as we are now seeing with climate change. 

The "Butterfly Effect" states that when a butterfly flaps its wings the affect goes far and wide.

"In chaos theory, the Butterfly Effect  is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state."  Edward Lorenz

When we use pesticides and eat genetically modified foods we create "dis"-ease or disease. When we abuse antibiotics we get superbugs that defy future treatments.

Aldo Leopold writes eloquently about how we are destroying our own habitat (and we are now realizing devastating global Karmic effects.) 

“The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, "What good is it?" 

If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. 

If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? 

To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” 

“Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of the wolf.” 

Aldo Leopold

The whites, too, shall pass - perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your own bed, and you might suffocate in your own waste.Chief Seattle

No doubt, moreover, when it comes to our own individual Karma...
Ahimsa 
do no harm to any of the Beings !

See yourself in others then whom can you hurt, what harm can you do. Dammapada

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

Ubuntu (Zulu) 

I am only a person through the existence of other persons.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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

Free will is the cosmic law and choice is directly related to Karma. Skillful choices result in good consequences, unskillful ones - the opposite. These consequences, part of the law of Cause and Effect, are not localized in time. The law demands we do good for its own sake not for consideration of getting a reward and that we don't do bad things out of concern for spiritual damnation. Nevertheless it disappoints most of us that what comes around often doesn't go around quickly enough. 

                                 
                                        The Ancestors  

We must be free to follow our Divine given destiny as much as  possible in our complex but democratic Western environment.
Fate is not the same as destiny. Destiny is our own Divinely inspired gift that we are given with the promise we made before we came into the planet to carry it out. We are here to help and correct injustice for all Beings;
"Still, Growing, Wild and Talking" 
with that gift. 
We need to choose helping which of these Beings suits our Archetype best.

Fate essentially is the cards we are dealt in life which depend on our human conditioning; the family we were born into and into what circumstances, our schooling, our religion, our friends, relatives and associates, and the work we end up doing. We are meant to try and rise above our fate into our Divine given destiny.
Our Karma will be adversely affected to the extent that we interfere with anyone's Free Will - hence possibly altering their fate and preventing them from finding that destiny. 
Even a well intentioned parent who manipulates a child's fate to conform to a projection of his or her own image of whom the child must be, will be held accountable. At the end of the day, however, only we are accountable.

 

The Ancestors

Although this may not be directly related to Karma there are now numerous double blind medical studies that have shown that "distant" healing or prayer can favorably affect someone's health outcome, sometimes so significantly that if it were a pill and not dispensed one could be considered negligent. Due to the nature of the studies the folks that were in the treatment arm could not know that they were being healed or prayed for from a distance because then the placebo affect rather than distant healing could be operating. They had to be "blinded" from that fact which in a sense says they were not given informed consent. 
Maybe they did not want to get better? 
It has been argued that these studies may not be ethical. They had not refused conventional treatment but maybe some would have been unhappy with this unconventional treatment. Interestingly one of the first studies done was performed in a coronary care unit in the south of the U.S.A. where the cardiologist was frustrated with  religious leaders consistently coming into the unit to pray for the patients. He wanted to prove once and for all that prayer did not help. He proved himself wrong. The Ancestors say below that it is ok to share the "grace of well being for others..." However, for some, especially if they are obtunded, confused or pre-terminal and have had no say this might be different.
Sometimes I am asked in my divinations to throw the bones for someones son, daughter, sibling, ex etc... The Ancestors in light of free will do not allow this (as long as they are not a minor) unless that person has given his or her consent. The person of interest may show up in a certain light in the cosmology of the general reading of the client which is fine but the client cannot delve into the circumstances of another's life path. This is different of course if the person in point is harming the client in some way. Then these circumstances can be inspected because they are affecting the free will of the client.

The Ancestors
Witchcraft and sorcery that comes from a heart of envy which can affect free will in "creating a spell" applies here.

It is well to remember for those who do not believe witchcraft or sorcery can hurt or harm that if distant healing works so too must distant hexing.

These days it seems as if the world has lost its moral compass even at the highest level with our leaders and religious institutions. We see dictators like Mugabe in Zimbabwe literally getting away with murder and the maxim live for today for tomorrow you die seems to rule. Many of us feel helpless to do anything about the immorality that abounds, political paralysis, the effects of climate change and the crazed leader of North Korea who threatens the planet and human existence. We may feel hopeless. The Ancestors advise...

If we also can actualize them, all the better.

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FREE WILL AND KARMA

This first in a series of new blogs for 2018 is on Karma and Free Will. Before talking about the rules of Cause and Effect we need to address Free Will since choice is key to how we manage Karma. The current blog will supplement the upcoming talk in Santa Barbara on the subject (February the 10th.) The subject is huge so the intention here is to fill some gaps with the help of ancestral wisdom not only for those coming to the talk but to those who can't.

We have to recognize that when we deal with Free Will and Karma there are factors from within and from without that will influence our choices.

The shadow or evil inclination within each of us will have a lot to say about making us choose unwisely. The shadow is supported by our Monkey or Narrow Mind and the various shades of ego that can come in many guises in the form of self-cherishing, desirous attachment (being attached to the object of our desire,) and judgment which make us feel better about ourselves at others' expense. Tricksters and dark forces and even witchcraft from without can also affect choice to our detriment. 

Luckily our inclination to do good, Spacious mind, spiritual practice and our spirit guides balance these negative contracting forces.
I spite of this we need more than ever to realize that we have little control but that karma eventually will reconcile all worthy grievances.

The Ancestors

The Ancestors

The Ancestors also warn that...

and...

Choice is precious and without the tension between good and evil there would be no possibility for spiritual perfection, The Ancestors teach that we are all heading for this "becoming" but that for some (young souls) it may take many more lifetimes than for others (older souls.)

The Ancestors 

Anonymous

Its also important to realize that there are global karmic affects that sometimes affect those that least deserve it. This is particularly relevant for those of us living in Santa Barbara county where recently Nature's manifestations have had biblical like consequences. The elements of earth, water, fire and wind have shown us the power of Gaia who is pissed off with our behavior towards her. Hence we all share not only an individual karma but also a global responsibility to do all that we can to bring in more light to counteract the dark around us.

The Ancestors 

Looking forward to 2018 as a year of personal and global transformation which is seminal and more time sensitive than ever with the challenges we face on our small planet.

One of the key things we will be karmically accountable for is to what extent did we help correct injustices toward the Still, Growing, Wild and Talking beings.

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