What is karma?

I don't know about you, but the way I have always understood karma has been along the lines of "do good and good will come back to you, do bad and bad will come back to you." After spending a lot of time reading different sources about ancient texts, including the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedas, I have come to realize that the modern Western understanding of karma is incorrect.

The modern Western understanding of the karma is that it is an all-powerful force that helps right wrongs and rewards the righteous. And it is no wonder that that is our understanding. Much of Western ideology is motivated by doing good to get good things and punishing the wicked. And to be fair, there is a sense of satisfaction in the thought that someone who has hurt you will be punished by the universe for doing this bad thing, especially when you can't get any recourse for said pain.

However, this concept of karma is not accurate. Karma is not a gumball machine, you don't put in good deeds to get back good rewards or put in bad deeds to get back punishment. Karma works internally on a person. It is written in the Yajur Veda, "According as one acts, so does he become. One becomes virtuous by virtuous action, bad by bad action." (Karma and Dharma – Connecting the Divine | Sanskriti - Hinduism and Indian Culture Website)

Clearly, to me, that means that the way we do things impacts upon ourselves.

I like to think about karma in terms of having a metaphysical karma slider inside me. On one end is a bright blue circle and on the other end is a dark orange circle. The blue end is the "positive" side and the orange end is the "negative" side. When I do things for the right reasons in a positive manner, I slide my karma bar toward the blue. When I do things out of anger or am mean I slide the bar toward the orange.

This doesn't mean that good things are going to happen to me because I get closer to the blue end. It means that I, personally, am happier and more at ease because I have moved my karma bar toward the blue end.

Bad things don't happen to me if I move my karma slider toward the orange end. In my experience, what happens as I do things less authentically and from a less altruistic place is that I start to feel more anxiety and start to feel icky (I know that is a super scientific term.). Think of it as the Dorian Gray's portrait. As he did more and more terrible things, the portrait showed what it was doing to him internally. (The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde | Project Gutenberg)

Sometimes, I think that we see people that are doing truly horrific things, getting away with them, and seeming to be happy, and we actually believe that they are happy. But it is my belief that those people actually aren't happy. They are searching for happiness, (I totally get that money does provide happiness, to a degree) and are tearing down others that they either a) see as being happy, unjustly, or b) are trying to make others miserable in the hopes that other people being unhappy will make them happier if only in comparison to more unhappy people. I'm not a psychologist or sociologist and am not qualified to really dig into this topic but think it could be interesting. (Maybe they aren't as in tune with themselves as we should all strive to be.)

I digress. Since I really like to feel happy and at ease, I have chosen to do as much as I can from a positive place for myself and for others. Again, not because I expect good things back, but because it makes me feel good to do it.

By this point, you might be thinking, "But, Kris, how can I know that I am acting in a karmically positive manner?"

I get that. The Yoga Institute actually has a great breakdown of this under Karmic Yoga (What is Karma Yoga? Essence of Karma Yoga Philosophy). The basic idea is to always do things to the best of your ability with a positive attitude while note expecting anything in return.

I would say that this folds neatly into mindfulness. If you are focused on only the task at hand, you will be able to ensure that you are doing it in a good karmic manner. And, if you are mindful of your emotions and your body, you will start to notice your karma bar sliding toward the blue.

As you become more in tune with your karma bar and with doing things karmically, you will also be able to more quickly notice when you are doing things in a less-than-ideal manner. You will actually be able to feel your actions not sitting well with yourself.

As with all new things, it takes time and practice.

Until next time, keep spreading love and happiness everywhere you go,

Kris