On Dec 3, I posted a meme that included the word Karma in it. Vinay Gupta then ripped me a new one (for real, the Facebook comment thread is over 200+ deep) explaining how this is a very technical Hindu spiritual term that is being grossly misused in the West. Like yoga or tantra, it’s becoming meaningless and even destructive through misuse.
Ultimately he recommended I read a book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Hinduism. I don’t mind being called an idiot when it comes to traditions that have existed for many thousands of years before me, and I’m actually enjoying the read. I’m 150 or so pages in, and this is what I’ve highlighted about Karma so far:
“Karma is the law of action and reaction at work in the moral universe. Every thought, word, and action produces an effect that rebounds on the person who generated it.”
“There are three kinds of karma:
- Sanchita: All the karma we’ve accrued during all our previous lives.
- Prarabdha: That portion of our karma destined to play out in our present lifetime.
- Kriyamana: The fresh karma we’re producing in this incarnation.”
“Here are another three ways to look at karma:
- Adyatmika: The karma we incur in our own right, as an individual soul.
- Adhibhautika: The karma we incur as a member of a group, our collective karma.
- Adhidaivika: The karma we experience due to living on this particular planet, the karma of nature itself.”
“Never assume that when something bad happens to a person, then because of the law of karma “he had it coming.” Only great spiritual masters are in a position to know all the complex karmic factors involved. It is not up to us to pass judgment.”
“Here’s another three ways to understand karma:
- Adridha: Flexible karma we can easily deflect.
- Dridhadridha: Karmic patterns we can alter if we make a substantial effort.
- Dridha: Inflexible karma. We can do nothing to prevent this karma from playing out. Only God and a guru can change fixed karma.”
So, yeah. Enjoying the book so far.
My body is, for some strange reason, still waking up to see the sun and do some stretching.
And yes, I’m still hopeful we might someday create a world we all want to live in with no masters and no slaves and, maybe even more important, we become that which does not desire to be enslaved.