KARMA #2

NEUTRALIZING KARMIC SINS

Karmic Sins to God (or One's Higher Self)

and Sins to others

"To err is human, to forgive, divine."

 

"What are the ways of the Holy One. A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving, iniquity, transgression and sin.” Exodus

God’s love is not a test. God is not a test of love.

(Karma is the test.)

God's love does not seek worth, God's love creates worth.

I thought it opportune since the High Holy days for Jews is now that I would share some insights especially from Maimonides about how to clean the slate and "Return" to our Higher Selves.

The mantra that is said for this day is; "May you be inscribed in the Book of Life." This endorses the idea that karma is relentless and we don't get away with anything. In yoga the Akashic Records are the equivalent of the Book of Life - everything is recorded in some way.

We probably all need a dedicated day at least once a year where we exam our failings and take accountability so that we can return to our True Selves. To repent and make amends is to heal the soul.

This is also the parable of the prodigal son or daughter returning to the Creator to be made whole. God will forgive us for anything we have done to Him/Her (that part of us made in the image of the Divine) and Jesus died for our sins. These are the sins we have done to our Higher Selves that part of us made in the image of the Divine. However, according to Maimonides we are not forgiven for those sins we have committed to our fellow humans. For those we have to make amends.

When we cross over the veil between worlds we will be accountable to a spiritual tribunal who will lovingly show us the errors of our ways. There is no stern, judgmental day as such but we will continue to come back again and again until we reach a certain level of spiritual excellence - the ongoing wheel of Samsara - death and rebirth. Forgiveness can mitigate some of these errors.

“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

God will forgive us for those sins but not the sins to any of the Four Beings of nature - Talking, Wild, Growing or Still. Hence Buddhists also make painstaking efforts not to harm Nature.

When it comes to the sins we have done to other humans (the Talking Beings) we need to make amends. When it comes to the other Beings we need to do the best we can.

Maimonides five steps can guide us.

STEPS TO ASKING FORGIVENESS

 

It is important to accept total responsibility. Do not comfort your conscience with high-minded excuses, reasons or assurances.
Acknowledge the pain you have inflicted.

 

Consider

Is it how you would desire being treated?

If your answer is no, then the next step is how do you make this known to all who have been hurt, scandalized and diminished by this action.

  

1. Be aware of the action, admit to it and sincerely feel regret and remorse. If the apology is not heart felt it is karmically neutral or even negative.

2. Confess and ask forgiveness unconditionally without any excuses as to the why. Rationalizing one's action negates the intention.

If appropriate it may have to be a communal apology.

If it is an illicit relationship, it is discontinued; if it is stolen property, it is restored.

3. Return what was taken or compensate in some way if possible.

4. Picture a better way to have handled the incident.

Kabbalah first teaches that you determine whether or not given the same situation you would do it again – not because of the eventual consequences that may have turned out badly

but because of your assessment of the “rightness” of your actions.

Understood of course, is that the offense is not continued or repeated.

5. Determine never to repeat the action.

If the sin/s are repeated it may compound the karmic effect.

One must confess, admit, acknowledge any wrong

without justifying the action.

To ask forgiveness for it, is to repair in full

whether or not the pain is removed or the forgiveness granted.

When asking, allow the other to be where they are. Regrets may not be accepted especially if the damage cannot be repaired or allowing of compensation. At least show willingness to do so. If done with good intent it should unite and not divide.

As you assess and attempt to make amends you will risk ridicule, rebuff and refusal.

Maimonides adds that for complete karmic resolution – if the apology is not accepted – it should ideally be repeated. If a sincere effort has been made to ask for forgiveness, more than once and this is denied, the karmic burden shifts to the one holding a grudge.

If the person rejects your offer nothing is lost.

 

“… 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.” John O’donahue

  

The Ancestors teach that we should

repent with joy and forgive with joy because we are returning to the Self and are back on the path.

In addition we need to forgive ourselves and ask for forgiveness from others.

Giving or asking for forgiveness does not have to be associated with any obligation to return to the relationship.

Especially when it comes to our parents, grandparents and loved ones it is always best to ask or give forgiveness before death.

Sangoma wisdom and Kabbalah imply that if someone is forgiven sincerely for a sin commit to him/her they are released from that particular Karmic sin. The onus is on us to forgive our parents because they gave us life. Hence the commandment "Honor you father and mother ..." (with forgiveness.) It does not state love or even like them, just honor them with this. The mandate should be extended to the grandmothers and grandfathers because they also had a hand in our existence.

This is why our dead loved ones sometimes haunt the living hoping for forgiveness since this will somewhat improve their karmic profile as well as the next incarnation.

Forgiveness not only mitigates against bad karma but also facilitates healing by enhancing our immune systems and releasing the 'albatross' hanging around our necks.

 

  

KARMA #1

“Know not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you.” John Donne

The rules of karma need to be viewed with the back drop of four main factors.

The sensory body and its temptations, combined with the challenges of ego, monkey mind and shadow (evil inclination.) We are here to fully enjoy the senses but responsibly. Being in a sensory body is a gift which we lose when we leave for the 'elsewhere.'

Most are unaware of the wiles of our “Evil Inclination” who is a master of disguises, all appealing to our lesser self. His job is to make the rigors of spiritual growth seem wearisome, dull and drearily repetitive rather than exciting, adventuresome and cherishingly ritualistic.

Everyone will ultimately achieve the spiritual perfection for which we are created, and this may take many lifetimes because of free will. 

Free will. We are fully entitled to do whatever we want. Many believe we come around only once and so why not make the most of it - live for today for tomorrow we die. We may think that we negotiate our desires responsibly but still be karmically liable because we have no awareness of the laws of karma and spirit. Or we may be irresponsible and take a wrecking ball to our karmic profile not realizing there are consequences. God's love is not a test and God is not a test of love. Karma is built as a default into the soul and karma is the test. God does not micromanage. S/He knows our weaknesses and is alway hoping for our redemption. Free will is always a choice which can be an onerous responsibility.

Impermanence. Every thing is in the process of decay and anhow we cannot take our stuff with us into the afterlife. The only things we take are our experiences and our karma. The one who dies with the most toys does not win, s/he loses. Attachments impede not only our crossing the veil between worlds when we die but are an issue when we face a spiritual tribunal and our actions and attachments are taken into account.

" A net is set out for the living, everything is given on loan and all is preparation for a great celebration." Rev Akiva

The net that tests our free will is that of being tied to a sensory body in the face of the hypnosis of materialism and all the other enticing and sometimes toxic temptations. Samsara is the ongoing cycle of death and rebirth, where we come back again and again in an attempt to purify the soul. We have had countless bodily containers, always given on loan. If we play our karmic cards correctly there will be a celebration. However, the cards are stacked against us for many reasons. Steve Jobs said it in a nut shell - Apple is not here to give the public what it needs but to tell it what it wants. Planned obsolescence is back, as is 'fast fashion' with a vengeance playing on our 'desirous attachments' and hampering our spiritual progress. There is nothing wrong with having things but there is, when they have us. Its the want that is the enemy and not the need.

Attend to you needs and not your wants.

The play of light and dark outside of us.

"Shit happens!" Bumper sticker wisdom

The sages teach that without the sacred there is no mundane and without the mundane there is no sacred. They are different sides of the same reality. They are unique but not separate from the whole.

We are meant to coexist with but not assimilate the dark. The only way to overcome evil is with good.

 

The light and the dark each exist. We may choose to go towards either and will always be pursued or lured by the other.
The ambushes, the side paths, the pot holes are all clearly marked and may be guarded against if you choose to read the map, scope the terrain, plot the journey.
The contest is fiercest when the stakes are high and so we may expect to be challenged, tempted and dissuaded in any and all manner of our weaknesses – be they physical, mental or emotional – all of which are attributes of the spirit.

 

The good news is that shadow, monkey mind, and ego are necessary for our growth and survival. We are not here to get rid of them but subordinate them to our higher consciousness.

 

“He who has no Evil Inclination at all cannot give perfect service. What counts is to restrain the blaze in the hours of desire and let it flow into the hours of prayer and service.”  The Talmud

Its not what happens to us that counts but what we do with it. We can accommodate, enjoy for the moment or resign ourselves to what comes our way or rise above it.

With right understanding and action, we can create the conditions for transgressions to become merits.

Everyone is capable of redemption, even those with the bad prognosis of soul loss. The Talmud teaches that someone who has sinned in the worst way but then repents or “returns" to his or her Higher Self gains tremendous karmic merit in the spirit world. Jesus' parable of the prodigal son or daughter returning to the Father/Mother.

 

“… This person stands higher in heaven than a righteous one. Their degree is above the degree of those who have never sinned because it is more difficult for them to subdue their passions than for the others.”

 

Everyone can be redeemed . For those that have reached rock bottom but manage to emerge like a Phoenix out of the ashes, their efforts are particularly worthy. They will be looked on favorably from above and will often be more powerful spiritually - if they choose to be - than those who may have had lesser challenges. This crisis and soul sickness once overcome has the potential to be a powerful Hero's journey where after a dark night of the soul, one comes back with the grail or gift to give back to others, often to those suffering under similar circumstances.

“May the hero awaken from forgetfulness and transcend all anxiety and sorrow.”  The Upanishads

What you touch touches you. What you let touch enhances or diminishes. Be careful of what you touch and where you immerse.

And as for your power, what are you doing in the wrong circle?

The Five Chapters (Portia Nelson, with poetic license)

1. I am walking down a path and fall into a hole. I have no idea how to get out. Its dark, I cannot see, I am afraid. Eventually after many hours of struggle I emerge from the hole.

2. I am walking down the path, again I don't see the hole. I fall in. This time it is still a struggle but it takes less time to get out.

3. I am walking down the path, I see the hole but not in time. I fall in but this time its easy to get out.

4. I am walking down the path. I see the hole and walk around it.

5. I take another path.

 

SOUL SICKNESS AND SOUL LOSS # 10

TREATMENT

And as for you power what are you doing in the wrong circle.

What you touch touches you. What you let touch, enhances or diminishes.

"One who guards  his mouth and tongue, guards his soul from troubles." Proverbs

"Guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceit." Psalms

Our Thoughts

"Our thoughts become our words 

Our words become our behavior.

Our behavior becomes our habits.

Our habits become our values

And our values become our destiny." 

M. Gandhi 

"The soul becomes dyed with the color of our thoughts."

"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." Marcus Aurelius

"What we speak becomes the house we live in." Hafiz

Avoid vexatious people and their thought talk.

We need to guard our words with care.

 Care as in carefully and care as in caringly.

We need to decide which Mind we are going to use, Monkey or Big Mind.

The Mind controls the heart

Imagination creates possibilities

Choice sets the intent

Will actualizes

 Our own thoughts are influenced by our words and the words of others which can be imprinted in our subconscious. No matter how we think we will speak or act, what happens may manifest out of our subconscious rather than our conscious minds. 

Imagination is a dormant power, usually removed from us by our schooling.  The subconscious can be primed positively, more especially around sleep or in a meditative state using healthful imagery. The senses empower the imagination and make us feel it in our body.

The soul's conversation is best heard with the senses.

 Everything begins with the thought and the word.

Imagining positive potentials can materialize positively, negative ones negatively. 

 First imagine and see yourselves in a new way. Not just as someone striving and trying but as someone already succeeded and 'arrived.' Free of negative energy with the power to do amazing things. Then take action and actualize that power 

to help others, 

ridding yourself of the slightest doubt.

 The intention to use this power to help others is key to getting oneself out of the way. Because of free will we need to ask to receive, very specifically, in detail, and then the 'Field', your guides, Jesus, God can act.

MANAGING SHAME 

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

“Bring your sister grief by the hand and tell her to come and sit by the fire with you. Grief gives special honor to your losses and her tears are precious jewels that can be strung on strands of memory to be worn with pride and beauty by one’s spirit.”
Mpofu’s Grandmother

Submitting to guilt, and especially shame, tells us that we are no good. Shame can create a downward spiral leading to more shame. We all do bad things but that does not make us bad. Regret and remorse are feeling bad about one has done. Shame is feeling bad about who one is. It is possible to self-correct using guilt and even shame but they are best avoided.

"Shame is the swampland of the soul." C.G. Jung

“If we do not transform our pain we will most assuredly transmit it.” R. Rohr

The biggest danger is when we do not take accountability and self-enable or are enabled by others. We may then project our pain onto  others with malice, anger, hatred, envy and even a desire to do harm.

"Self-condemnation strengths guilt (and especially) shame which is one of the greatest obstacles on the path of Self-realization. " 

Sri Swami Rama

The Soul is pure and can be redeemed by corrective measures. The soul and body should be allowed to “return” to one another and be in harmony. 

Psychotherapy alone may not be enough to bring the soul back into the body and allow for self-forgiveness.  

 

"The voice of shame is self-judgment, silence, secrecy and invisibility." Brene’ Brown

  

“The wound carries the medicine.” African proverb

 

The only way out of it is through it. Restoring self-love and self-worth can be difficult. Being invulnerable is the enemy of shame.

"I am a rock, I am an island, and a rock feels no pain and an island never cries." Paul Simon

 This can be part of a 'Lone Ranger,' individualistic mentality and is not healthful  

 Being vulnerable is to be courageous which implies having the courage to be imperfect and to come out of the closet of shame. To have compassion and empathy for oneself – to treat oneself as one would a good friend. It requires not being stuck in damaging self-talk and self-blame. 

Isolation is antithetical to healing which in these instance requires community and and the sufferer being open and vulnerable. 

Empathy from a kind, skillful friend, witness or therapist who will listen to one's pain is key.  This is a seminal principle in rehabilitation or recovery programs where one shares one’s dysfunctions with a group in a safe, secure, empathetic environment. 

 

“Shame cannot survive being spoken. Find someone you trust and tell them how you’re feeling. Talking with a trusted person will give you a fresh perspective on what’s happening, which will challenge the spiral’s negative views.” Brene’ Brown

 

If possible, it is healing to forgive the perpetrator or at least have measure of compassion for them. We never heal completely from a deep injury until we forgive. Above all the sufferer must forgive themselves and get rid of any element of self-blame. Shift the blame to where it belongs. 

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

A skillful shaman and ritual, where the 'F'ield' and the Ancestors are invoked, can help subordinate shadow, Monkey mind and ego to their rightful place. 

Indigenous societies use ritual to heal grief and shame. Here there is Coherence in the tribe where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Coherence was first described by the Maharishi university who showed that when a critical number of people were meditating in a city the crime rate dropped. Group meditations are usually more powerful than when done alone. Coherence spreads out not only to the immediate group but possibly to the community and even beyond. It also has an effect on the supernal realms which participate through our guides and ancestors to help the healing happen.

 

 

SOUL SICKNESS AND SOUL LOSS # 9

TREATMENT

The way to God is with God.

Nature

The Wild Beings of Air, the Growing Beings of Water and the Still Beings of Earth

The Stiil Being can protect through crystals, semiprecious and precious stones and talismans - always through intention and asking to receive.

To experience the Still Beings we must touch them, Growing Beings, listen to them, Wild Beings dance with thema and the Talking Beings feel with them.

 We are all one though not the same.

The soul's fulfilment is through the senses.

From my flesh shall I behold God.

"Wilderness is an instrument for enabling us to recover our lost capacity for religious experience." Laurens Van der Post

The more we immerse ourselves especially in the soft fascinations of nature the more the Earth Mother can help us. We are never Motherless children and God is also always there as Kabbalah teaches, playing hide and seek. However, no one wants to play.

 "Search for me and you will find me, seek me with all your heart and I will let you find me" Jeremiah

The soft fascinations include; the sunsets/sunrises, moonsets/moonrises, the sounds of nature - the mantra of the bush, the gurgling of a creek, the wind in the trees, the aromas and scents, the daily and seasonal changes. We need to immerse and entrain ourselves into natures healing vibrations.

Use aroma, fragrance, incense, essential oils.

Eating or drinking something sacred strengthens the soul. Place a sage leaf in your water bottle. Use rosemary, lavender anything that brings joy. Plants with aroma are plants of power especially if they create incense when dried and burned. Cooking with aromatic spices empowers the food with prayer and intention.

.

Take a sacred bath. Enhance the vibration of the water by playing sacred music, burning incense, lighting a candle and placing sacred plants - juniper, cedar, sage, rosemarie, lavender - in the bath. Emoto's research showed that water has resonance, memory, consciousness and vibration and responds to loving stimuli.

80% of our cells contain water. Connecting our cells with the enhanced vibration of this water creates balance and serenity. One can  do the same where one finds a pristine pool, river or untainted ocean. Breath in white light and goodness and breath out thick black smoke of what you need to get rid of, into the healing water.

CONNECT WITH THE ELEMENTS WITH THE GROWING BEINGS

Smudging

(The Growing Beings of the Water Element Combined with the Air Element of the Fragrance)

This cleansing method is part of all ancient indigenous and other wisdoms. It repels negativity within and blocks any coming from without. Chanting or praying aloud while smudging empowers the plant's soul power to emerge and do its work. 

The Zohar says that the incense offering is the most potent antidote against evil forces. Plants can be used growing, cut or dried.

Breath Work and Sound

(The Air Element)

The Breath

 The breath like the soul is pure. The soul is single, it is never split but it can split from the body. Breath meditation is a powerful way of connecting body with soul and bringing it back to its sensory bound home. Yoga has eight pathways for  rehabilitation of the soul - two of them sensory; the asanas (postures), and Pranayama - breath meditation. 

Source of my power the breath You have given me the breath you have given me is pure.

Flame of the Infinite One is the soul breath of the human.

"What is god? The breath within the breath." Kabir

The soul yearns to do the Creator's will and clings to the body when all is well. A body caught up in sensory pleaures distances itself the soul.

The soul can be brought back to the body by breath meditation - Pranayama in yoga. Ujjayi and Alternate Nostril breath techniques can quickly help us find equanimity and balance. There are excellent dvd's on You Tube worth viewing and they are easily learnt. They can quickly pacify us and switch the brain from an agitated beta, sympathetic, flight of fight state into a relaxed parasympathetic, alfa state.

Sound

(The Air Element)

Sound shatters and crumbles barriers to the mind and heart. Sound speaks to one's vibrations. One of the best ways to cleanse oneself is with sound.

Tibetan gongs, drums, didgeridoos, thumb pianos, crystal bowls...

Sacred mantras that are chanted; bhajans, kirtans... 

 or any music that speaks to ones heart and soul. 

 Love laughter and song chase away the dark and all that is dreaded in your nights and days.

The Three L's

Light

Love 

Laughter

 Find them wherever you can and above all avoid, their opposites at all cost in toxic movies, TV, social media or elsewhere. High vibrations over low ones.

Gratitude

Find joy and gratitude in hidden recesses.

 Neuroscience has shown that gratitude creates happiness and facilitates a positive feedback loop. Gratitude creates more gratitude.

Gratitude is spiritual practice. Check out Robert Emmons research. Gratitude is prayer through thanks rather than supplication.