Nature Of Karma
The literal meaning of karma is action. Action in this case needs to be defined not as an impulse at the physical level, but an impulse at a subtle or psychological level. Hence, thinking is action. Everything that you think creates vibrations and leaves impressions. The Buddha said that one’s whole life consists of one’s thoughts. This is the best definition of karma I have ever found. You caused the life that you are now living. You may think that the reality that you have created is very ugly, but at the moment you created it you thought that this was the best that could be accomplished. That’s why you created it. When did you create it? You created it in a number of previous births. The desire to create this reality was so intense that you ended up creating it. Nobody was responsible but you. Why did you do this? You did not know any better at the time you created it.
Once a psychological reality becomes a material reality, it is very difficult to undo it. I am not saying it is impossible, only very difficult. At the thought level, the reality is like water, but at the material level, it has become like ice, very solid and very real. It takes time to diffuse it. The reality that has become material is called prarabdha in Sanskrit.
and constitutes your destiny as far as the body-mind is concerned. It is the part of psychological reality that has assumed materiality. This prarabdha karma is very difficult to change. For example, Clyde is an attorney. It is very difficult for him to become a neurosurgeon. And why is he an attorney? Because he longed to become one. Some people have created a nice prarabdha and some haven’t. The individual soul is confused when it desires something. When something has manifested into material reality, then it is difficult to change it. But the challenge of life lies in changing your prarabdha karma. Changing this prarabdha is diffusing karma.
In order to understand how to diffuse karma one must understand what life is and how karma is related to life. One can challenge karma, including the prarabdha, this very moment by making a very strong decision. The Buddha has a very strong prarabdha karma to become a king, but he had no interest to play this part. To be a ruler and wield great power might be of interest to others, but the Buddha wanted no part in this kind of drama. How did the Buddha challenge this karma? He made a decision to quit that life, and he took nothing from that life with him. Kingdom, wife, child, even food or clothing, nothing mattered to him, but the search for consciousness. In this way, the Buddha challenged his karma. Will everyone be able to do this? No. Bodidharma, the enlightened teacher who started Zen Buddhism, was able to do this by sitting facing a wall for eight years. The mind disappeared, and with its disappearance, everything disappeared.
How can the thoughts from one lifetime be remembered in the next? The soul remembers it and seeks to be born in an environment where these thoughts can be realized. The soul is just a collection of electrical energy. Through breath awareness, you can access to your soul; you can see and understand your future possibilities. Once you recognize the things that are waiting to happen, you can diffuse a lot of desires that are not life-supporting which you had created out of ignorance.
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