The Law of

Karma

Law of Karma(Law of Cause and Effect; Action and

Reaction; Equilibrium)

Also called the Law of Equilibrium. Every action will have its corresponding consequences, whether favorable or unfavorable. It applies to all existent beings.

Personal Karma operates on the physical, emotional and mental levels.

“The only decree of Karma—an eternal and immutable decree—is absolute Harmony in the world of matter as it is in the world of Spirit. It is not, therefore, Karma that rewards or punishes, but it is we, who reward or punish ourselves according to whether we work with, through and along with nature, abiding by the laws on which that Harmony depends, or—break them.” (SD I:643)

Greeks – Nemesis and Fates

Christianity – Providence (minus design)

Islam – Kismet

Kabbalah – Tikun

Buddhism – Karma or kamma

Equivalents of Karma

• Karma in general – this the general law of cause and effect applicable to all manifested beings, whether human or not.

• Personal karma – this refers to the karmic links caused by a particular ego

Two Aspects of Karma

• Unripe karma – those not yet ripe for this life (part of accumulated karma [sanchita karma])

• Ripe karma (Prarabdha)– those which will happen in this life

• Present karma (Agami) – the new causes that we generate at each moment

Three Kinds of Karma

The Causes of Destiny

• PAST KARMA

DESTINY

Circumstances

Events

Relationships

Character & HabitsPhilos-ophy of life

• PRESENT ACTION - Thought – Feelings - Actions

Samskara

Cause and Effect

Benevolent deeds Good environment

Hurtful deeds Difficult environment

Aspirations Ideals

Aspirations/Desires Capacities

Sustained thoughts Character

Successes Enthusiasm

Experiences Wisdom

Painful experiences Conscience

Will to serve Spirituality

[Paul:] Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Gal 6:7

[Jesus:] With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you. Mark 4:24 (also Luke 6:38)

Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity. Hos 10:13

Pres. C.P. Garcia on Karma

“Life is what you make it. With the necessary consequences of your good deeds, you build the ladder of which rung by rung you climb to sublime destiny, or, as necessary effect of your wrong or bad acts, you build the dungeon of your own life’s imprisonment or bondage. There is no escape from the universal law of cause and effect. You always reap what you sow.”

Group Karma

• Family karma – Arroyo, Marcos, Bush, etc.

• Organizational karma – Catholic, Muslim, Ateneo, Sigma Rho, etc.

• National or racial karma – Filipino, Japanese, Indian, etc.

• Global karma – environment, world wars, etc.

The ONE LIFE is closely related to the one law which governs the World of Being—KARMA. Exoterically, this is simply and literally “action,” or rather an “effect-producing cause.” Esoterically it is quite a different thing in its far-fetching moral effects. It is the unerring LAW OF RETRIBUTION.

H. P. Blavatsky

The Lipikas or the Four Maharajahs

These are the mysterious beings involved in the workings of personal karma. They are sometimes called the “Lords of Karma.”

“They are the Recorders or Annalists who impress on the (to us) invisible tablets of the Astral Light, ‘the great picture-gallery of eternity’—a faithful record of every act, and even thought, of man, of all that was, is, or ever will be, in the phenomenal Universe.” (SD I, 104) This is the “Akashic Record.”

In Christian theology, they are involved in the “Book of Life” (Revelation). Also called “Four Recording Angels.”

“It is a law of occult dynamics that a given amount of energy expended on the spiritual or astral plane is productive of far greater results than the same amount expended on the physical objective plane of existence.” (SD I:644)

Inner Causes More Powerful

Understanding of life or philosophy of life

Actions/Words

Effects

Emotional reaction patterns/Habits

Thought reaction patterns

A w

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Karma in Daily Life

• Be aware of automatic reaction patterns (push buttons) and process them off

• Be aware of Habits and change those which are incompatible with highest ideals

• Let all actions be benevolent (with kindness and goodwill)

• Let all thoughts be objective, impersonal and benevolent

• Choose reading materials (food for mind) and conversation groups

• Daily awareness of thoughts, feelings, actions and bodily state

• Practice meditation to develop this peripheral awareness

Karmaless Action (Karma Yoga)

Vehicle Function

Higher Self (Spirit; Atma)

Spark of the Divine; True Self within

Spiritual Consciousness (Buddhi)

Seat of spirituality and true intuition; where illumination and enlightenment occurs

Higher Mental

Abstract thinking; formless

Lower Mental

Concrete thinking; with forms

Emotion Seat of feelings

Physical Etheric Dense

The double; vehicle of prana or ch’i Physical, liquid and gaseous

Impersonal

Personal

The Causes of Destiny

• PAST KARMA

DESTINY

Circumstances

Events

Relationships

Character & HabitsPhilos-ophy of life

• PRESENT ACTION - Thought – Feelings - Actions

Samskara