What is "KARMA"?

 Karma is one of the natural laws of God’s creation. Just as God created gravity to bring order to the physical world, He created karma as a divine system of justice that is self-governing and infinitely fair. It automatically creates the appropriate future experience in response to the current action. Karma simply means “action” or “cause and effect.” When something happens to us that is apparently unfortunate or unjust, it is not God punishing us. It is the result of our own past actions. The Vedas tell us if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Thus we create our own destiny through thought and action. And the divine law is: whatever karma we are experiencing in our life is just what we need at the moment, and nothing can happen but that we have the strength to meet it. Even harsh karma, when faced in wisdom, can be the greatest catalyst for spiritual growth. Understanding the way karma works, we seek to live a good and virtuous life through right thought, right speech and right action. This is called dharma.

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 Karma can be thought of as energy. I throw energy out through thoughts, words and deeds, and it comes back to me, in time, through other people or events. Karma is our best teacher, for we must always face the consequences of our actions and thus improve and refine our behavior, or suffer if we do not. We look at time as a circle, as things cycle around again. Professor Einstein came to the same conclusion. He saw time as a curve, and space as well. This would eventually make a circle.

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Karma is a very just law which, like gravity, treats everyone the same. Because we understand karma, we do not hate or resent people who do us harm. We understand they are giving back the effects of the causes we set in motion at an earlier time. The law of karma puts a person at the center of responsibility for everything he does and everything that is done to him/her. Karma is a word we hear quite often on television. “This is my karma,” or “It must have been something I did in a past life to bring such good karma to me.” We hear karma simply defined as “What goes around, comes around.”

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In some schools of thought, karma is looked upon as something bad— perhaps because we are most aware of this law when we are facing difficult karma, and not so aware of it when life is going smoothly. Even some people equate karma with sin, and this is what evangelical Christians preach, karma is sin. Many people believe that karma means “fate,” a preordained destiny over which one has no control.

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 The process of action and reaction on all levels—physical, mental and spiritual—is karma. Here is an example. I say kind words to you, and you feel peaceful and happy. I say harsh words to you, and you become ruffled and upset. The kindness and the harshness will return to me, through others, at a later time. This is karma. An architect thinks creative, productive thoughts while drawing plans for a new building. But were he to think destructive, unproductive thoughts, he would soon not be able to accomplish any kind of positive task even if he desired to do so. This is karma, a natural law of the mind and actions. We must also be very careful about our thoughts, because thought creates actions, and actions make karmas—good, bad and mixed. BUT, if you desire to become free from the results of all past negativity, and make solid progress in spiritual life, the Vedas prescribe the chanting of the Lord's Holy Name:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare