Author: tejvan

Karma is a universal law that relates to  thoughts and actions which create a cycle of cause and effect. Essentially what we create comes back to us, in some form.

If we offer goodwill to others, this goodwill comes back. If we offer pain to others, the law of karma states that equally we will have to experience that pain. The law of karma applies to actions, words and thoughts. Even our inner thoughts also create karma.

The great Spiritual Masters teach ‘do unto others, as you would have done to yourself’. In a way this is the logical consequence of the law of karma. The way we treat others, is how ultimately we will be treated ourselves. If we are mean-spirited and unkind, we will experience this ourselves. If we are kind and compassionate, this also will have a karmic effect.

It has been said that karma is really an opportunity to meet ourself. It is only when we see the consequences of our actions that we can learn from them. If we could act in isolation, then we would never learn. Thus karma could be seen as an opportunity to learn, to progress – and not a ‘punishment’ for past wrongs.

Instant Karma.

The Buddha taught that our thoughts are like boomerangs which unmistakably come back to their creator.

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him.
If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought,
happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. “

– Lord Buddha

If we think negative thoughts, that negativity is our instant bad karma. We create our own heaven or hell by what we allow into our mind. If we offer loving thoughts, that is our instant good karma. There is a short analogy. Suppose someone tries to speak ill of you – they are in effect trying to give you something (let us call it a ‘gift’). But, if you totally reject their ‘gift’ of criticism, if we reject their offering, it stays with that person. Therefore, if we criticise others, that negativity becomes part of us. Our negativity is our instant karma.

Beyond Karma

The law of karma may encourage us to do good deeds on the basis – that if we do good to others, we will benefit in the future. This could make us rather calculating, we count up our good deeds and expect a reward. This makes our action conditional. A different spiritual attitude is to do an action unconditionally, i.e we are motivated by a selfless love – rather than an expectation of reward. This is a higher and nobler ideal.

Continue reading “What is Karma?”

It is easy to read a book on self-improvement, but it is much more difficult to actually implement the concepts into your life. If you really want to change your life, why not try some of these simple exercises.

Meditation

“Do you want to change the world?
Then change yourself first.
Do you want to change yourself?
If so, remain completely silent
Inside the silence-sea.”

– Sri Chinmoy [1. Sri Chinmoy, Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 40 Agni Press, 1982. ]

Find 20 minutes in the day, and make a commitment to meditate whatever else is happening. In these 20 minutes, you are going to try and clear your mind of thoughts and become aware of your own heart, your own soul. Meditation is essential to self-improvement, because in meditation we learn there is more to our being than our mind and thoughts. If we want to transform our life, we have to use the qualities of our soul. If we can bring the soul to the fore, all the situations we find ourself in, will change for the better. The great thing about meditation, is that we don’t have to mentally work out difficult situations, we just need to change our consciousness. If we can access a little peace and joy through meditation, this consciousness will permeate the rest of the day and help in every situation and personal relationship.

• How To Meditate.

A Day Without Criticism

The human mind has an almost addiction to criticism. It always see what is wrong with the world and with other people. Just for a day, try to live without criticism. Let go of any judgement and see how it affects your state of mind.

See: Life without criticism.

Gratitude Exercise

Throughout the day, see how many occasions you can be grateful. They can be for the smallest things. From the beauty of nature, to your good fortune in having enough to live on. The more you look for things to be grateful for, the more you will be able to appreciate life. This can go hand in hand with the exercise to avoid criticism. If we are grateful for the positive, then we can easily forget people’s failings and limitations.

• The Power of Gratitude

Physical Exercise

A commitment to physical exercise helps us in so many ways.

• Helps to clear the mind.
• Helps avoid boredom and listlessness.
• Creates  positive mental energy.
• We will feel stronger and more dynamic.
• We will sleep better and have a better appetite.
• It can be fun!
• It can help us keep in shape.

• See: Healthy Mind and Healthy Body

Don’t Rush.

Rather than rushing through life. Take time to appreciate what you are doing. Also, before doing anything, try keep a moment of silence to feel what is the right thing to do. For example, if you are buying food, take a moment to feel the vibration of the food. If you look at food and pass your hands close to it, you can see the different kind of vibration it gives. Just compare a deep fried takeaway and something healthy and tasty.

This moment of reflection helps us to make better choices, which we really benefit from. It takes discipline to stop rushing into everything, but ultimately you will save time, as you spend less time dealing with your wrong choices. It will also show you that you have much better intuition than you might have thought. The more you practise intuition, the stronger it becomes.

Treat Others How you would Want to be Treated.

Try  seeing life from the other person’s perspective. Are you treating other people how you would like to be treated yourself? This simple golden rule can be life changing, if we actually implement it. It is the key to sympathy, oneness and helping others in a positive way.

Smile

The simplest exercise is for the last. Just because it is so simple, don’t devalue its importance. Smiling makes us feel better, but also changes how we present ourselves to the world. If we grimace and scrunch up our face, it is a completely different world to offering the world a smile. To smile is to automatically choose the positive and avoid the negativity we are trying in many other exercises.

Related

• How To Avoid Negativity
• 7 Small Things that can make a difference

Photo credit: Unmesh Swanson, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries.

The flower gives nectar. The bee gives pollination.

The bee receives nectar. The flower receives pollination

Independent
Nobody is –
We just fool ourselves.

– Sri Chinmoy [1. Sri Chinmoy, Seventy Seven Thousand Service Trees #40,823]

Some people find it easy to give, but very difficult to receive; they feel they should remain aloof and independent.

Some find it difficult to give because they worry they will be worse off or gain no benefit.

For example, some people may be willing to offer support to friends, but when they are in difficulty they will feel they shouldn’t bother other people and refuse any support or help.

It is good to be in a position to give; but if we don’t allow ourselves to also receive, we can’t complete the circle. We deny others the opportunity to get joy from giving. We consciously deny ourselves the opportunity to get what we are happy to give others.

Giving is an opportunity to transcend selfish motives and feelings. But receiving is also an opportunity to transcend our pride and ego. Often we refuse to accept support from others out of a sense of personal pride. It may arise from a subtle sense of superiority. When we give, we may feel, perhaps unconsciously, that we are superior to the person who we are giving to. But, if we feel superior about giving, then we will also feel inferior when receiving. That is why we only want to be in the position of giving.

“Gracious acceptance is an art – an art which
most never bother to cultivate. We think that we have
to learn how to give, but we forget about accepting
things, which can be much harder than giving…
Accepting another person’s gift is allowing
to express his feelings for you.”

– Alexander McCall Smith

However, when we learn to both give and receive with equanimity, we will feel neither superior or inferior. We will get joy from both.

“Before giving, the mind of the giver is happy; while giving, the mind of the giver is made peaceful; and having given, the mind of the giver is uplifted.”

-Buddha

Don’t Keep Count

Another mistake is to think life is like a weighing scale. If we give 10 units to person A, we shouldn’t wait expecting 10 units in return. It is best to just give and receive in accordance with necessity and follow your heart’s prompting. If your giving and receiving is calculated like a weighing scale, you will lose all spontaneity and joy from the process.

Receiving and Dependency

There is a big difference between receiving genuine support and becoming dependent on the efforts of others. If we are in a difficult position, we should happily receive from others, but we should not abuse this help and become a drain on the other person’s good will.

It is the same with giving. Often when we give love, support and aid to others it can help. But, we shouldn’t be giving without discrimination. We have to keep asking ourselves is this actually helping the other person? If we give support which encourages them to have better self-esteem and self-confidence, then we are facilitating them to solve their own problems. But, if we just give sympathy and try to solve their problems for them, we may not be helping them to learn what they need to know. There is no right answer for how to help others. But, we should be careful of our motives in giving to others.

Beauty of Giving and Receiving.

As John Donne said ‘no man is an island’. When we give and receive unconditionally we remember our extended consciousness our inseperable link with other people. There is a beauty to giving and receiving.

“Beauty is in giving. Beauty is in receiving. Beauty is in giving and giving alone. Beauty is in receiving and receiving alone. When I give, I see that before I have given anything, Heaven is already smiling through my offering, my self-giving. When I receive, I see that earth is smiling in and through me.”

– Sri Chinmoy [1. Sri Chinmoy, Fifty Freedom-Boats To One Golden Shore, Part 4, Agni Press, 1974. ]

Related

• Scarcity and Giving

photo: Tejvan

There is an oft-repeated saying – Is the glass half-full or half-empty? It is a key issue in life – how do we perceive a situation? Give two people the same situation and their perspective / reaction may be very different. All through life we have a choice on what to see and what to choose. This is an attempt to consider how we can see things from a different perspective.

If a negative thought
Claims you as its victim,
Can you not immediately take shelter
In the embrace
Of a positive thought?

– Sri Chinmoy [1. Sri Chinmoy, Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants, Part 63, Agni Press, 1984.]

Maybe you’re not right.

It is human nature to think we are right and other people are wrong. This battle to be ‘right’ takes up much of our mental time and energy. Sometimes we will try very hard to prove we really are in the right. However, rather than just automatically assume we are right, we could look at the issue from another point of view. Maybe, it is we who are wrong. Even entertaining this idea involves a degree of humility. From their perspective and their world view, they probably consider that they are doing the ‘right’ thing. If we can have empathy that they are trying to do the right thing in their own way, it makes us more tolerant, more understanding. Sometimes it’s not about being ‘right’ but approaching the situation in the best way.

A teenager may think the right thing is to explore the world and have the freedom to make choices about life. A parent may feel the ‘right’ thing to do is to protect their children from unnecessary dangers. In a way, neither perspective is ‘wrong’ But, if we can understand where the other person is coming from it can help a good deal.

Guilt vs Learning Process

We often allow guilt to dominate our mind. We make a mistake and we then carry a heavy burden of guilt around. We feel bad, but we cannot undo what has happened in the past. Another perspective is to see mistakes as inevitable; we learn what we need to and strive not to make the mistake again. This is the positive approach, rather than focusing on what we’ve done wrong, we focus on what we are going to do right.

This doesn’t make us callous to our own wrong doing. It is just a way to concentrate on the positive rather than unnecessarily dragging ourselves down. If we hold onto guilt, saying I’m bad, I’m bad – it hardly helps us to do the right thing.

It is a question of perspective, do we feel bad for what we did in the past, or do we feel hopeful for how we will turn our life around?

Victim vs Non-Victim

It is easy to feel the victim – a victim of circumstances a victim of other peoples words and actions. However, rather than seeing ourselves as a victim, we need to remember we can always choose how we respond to situations. Then we empower ourselves; we can learn to reject negative words and ideas. We can remember our real self and ignore a mistaken identity others would try to impose on us. Then we no longer feel like a victim, instead we see difficult situations as an opportunity to have faith in ourselves.

Related

• Keeping things in perspective
• Why Life feels difficult and what to do about it

Why is it two people can say very similar things, but one comes across as much more appealing than another person? Instinctively we warm to the light touch, we struggle when things get ‘heavy’. This may sound quite vague, but some people and situations give a vibration of ‘heaviness’. A ‘heavy’ vibration comes when we are very serious, intense, judgemental, fearful, anxious and tense.

A ‘light’ vibrations comes when there is a feeling of friendliness, non-judgemental, calm and maintain a sense of humour and perspective. When we live in the moment, there is a natural spontaneity which gives a feeling of lightness and joy.

Non-Judgemental

When we are very judgemental, it creates a ‘heavy’ atmosphere. The other person feels guilty or defensive; there is a feeling of superiority or inferiority. If we avoid judgement, the mood is lighter. When there is a feeling of superiority or inferiority there is tension because people become defensive or seek to justify their position.

Do not judge,
But love and be loved,
If you want to be really happy.

Smile vs Non Smile

As I write this in airport lounge, I see a young child with a T-Shirt saying ‘Smiling is Really easy’ – it certainly made me smile. To grimace as you say something makes the atmosphere ‘heavy’. If you smile, you can convey so much (you could say get away with so much more). It is almost an unspoken signal to say – “I’m on your side. I like you, whatever I’m actually saying” It is worth bearing in mind that an email conveys non of this human emotion and human signals. It is very difficult to make emails light; they can easily be misunderstood. If you need to get a delicate point across do it in person.

• The easiest way to lighten a heavy situation, is just to smile and make people laugh.

Acceptance

“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.”

– Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

Similar to the concept of non-judgemental is the ability to accept people and situations as they are. Acceptance enables us to go with the flow, rather than fighting against the tide, we accept the situation as it is.

Humility

The easiest way to lighten up a situation is to not take ourselves too seriously. Don’t think we alone have all the right answers. Be willing to satirise ourselves and make light of what we say. Rather than being forceful and trying to change people, let them make their own choices and work out best course of action. If we have a feeling of indispensability then we will create a heavy atmosphere, if we are sincerely humble, it will be much more harmonious.

Avoiding Conflict

Sometimes, we can face a challenge in a confrontational way. Perhaps someone suggests an idea, which we don’t like. We could respond by very vigorously saying why they are wrong and why it won’t work. Needless to say this is a ‘heavy’ response. In most situations, this is not necessary. Rather than meet the situation head on we can say. ‘Very good, let’s see what you can make of it.’ – people often suggest impractical ideas. There’s no need to tell them, just let them work it out for themselves it doesn’t work.

If it really could create problems, you could suggest things like

• ‘it has some good ideas, but I wonder how Mr X would respond?’
• Perhaps you could consider this.

Silence before you speak.

We have to trust our inner wisdom. If we say the first thing that comes into our mind, we may soon regret it, and once said we can’t take it back. If we give chance to consider an appropriate response we will feel in our heart what sounds a good way to proceed. If we think, speak and act from this inner source of wisdom then we will be more in tune with a harmonious action.

Giving Rather than taking

Don’t look at every person and situation to see what you can get from it. Give what you would like to receive yourself. The power of giving

Simplicity

Don’t complicate things, keep it simple. Don’t always be trying to justify things or create added complications. Simplicity has a great beauty and power. Tips for simplicity.

Related

• Peace in the modern world

photo: Tejvan

Each thought
Is the creator
Of a new experience.

Imagine if whatever you thought became a reality instantaneously?

• if you thought of tremendous wealth, you would have it straight away.
• If you thought of conflict with another person, the conflict would happen immediately.
• If you thought of enjoying a beautiful garden, you could be instantly transported to enjoy its beauty and fragrance.
• If you worried about getting a fatal illness, the illness would appear immediately.
• If we thought of heaven, we went to heaven.
• If we thought of hell, we would go straight to hell.

One thing is certain, if our thought immediately created, we would be very careful what thoughts we allowed into our mind.

Self-Fulfilling Thoughts.

Thoughts may not instantly create a reality. But, if we persistently dwell on certain train of thoughts, they do lead to some kind of related experience. If we constantly cherish negative thoughts, this will create some negative experience. If we constantly worry, we will draw this experience to us. If we, however,

Thoughts Do Create

Thought is the bridge between heaven and hell. With our thoughts we really can create heaven or hell. When we are angry, fearful, resentful, is this not our own personal hell? If we hold only beautiful, inspiring and kind thoughts our life is enjoyable. Thoughts do create our experience.

If we have thoughts that ‘we don’t have enough’. Then immediately, we are creating that feeling of not having enough. If we have a thought of inadequacy, that is our present reality. If a millionaire is constantly thinking he needs money, that is his reality – he doesn’t have enough money. If an ordinary person is content with what he has, then that is immediately his reality. Here it is not how much money we have, but what we are thinking of. We can be materially rich, but think we need more. We can be materially poor, but feel we just have enough.

Behind Thought.

Thought is very powerful, more powerful than we realise. But, there is more to our self than thoughts that come across our mind. If we can silence our thought, we can get in touch with our deeper self, our soul. If we can move away from the mind to the heart, then we can allow the power of silence to create a more peaceful experience.

Related

• Irrational thinking – and how to overcome it.

photo, Sri Chinmoy Centre Gallery