You've heard people say "He's got bad karma," or It's just her karma." What most people don't know is what karma actually means. In English it translates to action. All of our actions since birth are recorded in the soul or "subconscious." What we can ponder on is the possibility of taking rebirth, or another word for it is reincarnation -- which means we may have lived many lifetimes. This means that there have been a lot of actions! Even if the concept of reincarnation doesn't sit well with you, consider your current lifetime and the storehouse of experiences you are carrying now. Bet you can't remember everything, can you? Imagine having to figure out karmas of many lifetimes!
If you want good fortune, then your actions should come from a place of pure and virtuous thinking. If your actions and your thoughts behind your actions come from ALGAE -- anger, lust, greed, attachment, and ego -- the result will be what you give out. It will feel never enough.
Karma is analogous to Newton's third law!
Karma effect: For every deed you do (good or bad), there is an equal result you experience.
Newton's third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
While speaking about karma, it is essential to mention karma yoga. To put it simply, karma yoga is the art of performing actions without expecting the results. Karma yoga focuses on the adherence to duty while remaining detached from the reward. Performing actions out of the goodness of our hearts will bring us good things. Sometimes, however, since we are in such need of instant gratification, we are not patient to wait for the results of our generous actions. We would rather get what we can get now, get a lot of it and make sure it is feeding the ego! What we fail to recognize at the time is that this happiness, this reward, will be temporary. Then we will go back to seeking yet another and another and another... always wanting and needing something to fill me from the inside. The reality is, I have everything. When I turn inside and begin to become self-realized, I begin to understand that my happiness is really within and that I truly create my fortune by giving! So go inside, pause for peace at least twice a day and begin to create your fortune that will last a lifetime (or many!).
Let us all try to do good and be good all the time.
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