Introduction to Karma
As you’ve lived through life, there is bound to have been a time you heard the phrase, “What goes around comes around.” Spoken generally as a reference to Karma and karmic energy, you can also find references such as “you reap what you sow” that are utilized as well.
Stemming from Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, Karma has spent its centuries traveling by land, sea, and sky and cementing its legacy around the globe. Mentioned in Western media countless times, you can find karmic references such as “Credit Karma” or different songs named “Karma” from various artists.
Despite its origination in two particular spiritualities, “karma” is a word spoken and believed by people of all types today. Any person you ask will likely know what you are talking about, regardless of their spirituality or location. If they do not use the word “karma” itself, they have a word or phrase with a near-identical definition.
Is Karma Real?
Viewed as a topic of debate for some, the status of how “real” Karma depends on the person that you ask. If you’re looking for a scientific answer, the phenomenon is not scientifically proven, which means in the science world, Karma is not real.
However, even with this knowledge, you can’t deny that each person you come across has a special kind of magic to them. They interact with the life around you differently than you, utterly unique in their actions and thoughts. Keeping this in mind, the energy you put into the world is often reciprocated somehow.
This roughly means that you are more likely to get positive energies back if you put out positive energies into the world. This can also be said about negative energies.
Even those who have no personal belief in Karma should take a moment of consideration. Though you may not believe it because you have not experienced it, you should try to respect all spiritualities and their views so long as their views do not speak against another person’s existence.
Hinduism and Buddhism are two popular spiritualities housed in people’s hearts all over, and there is no single spirituality that is correct. Due to the uniqueness in spirit and genetic composition, what may be “fake” to some is astonishingly real to others.
What is Karma?
Karma is an unseen force that originates from Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. It is an element that exists on its own plane, but it has the power to affect things in our realm as well. A simple definition for Karma may read, every single thing you do will affect your future in some way.
Every single thing you do includes every thought you have, decision you make, word you speak, and action you take. There is no hiding or avoiding karmic energy.
Talk about pressure, right?
While some cases may seem like Karma came instantly, there is a growing period that varies based on the different karmic energy you have. You may experience some Karma soon, some Karma will come much later in life, and some Karma will even follow you over into your new life if you are reincarnated.
Karma follows no one’s rules but their own and with the various stages of Karma you may have, it may help to learn about the different types and Laws of Karma so you can have a better understanding.
3 Types of Karma
To better understand the different types of Karma, think of them as three different stages of gardening. Some of your Karma will be ready to bloom in the imminent future, while other karmic energies are still maturing. You will even plant some seeds of Karma yourself along the way, even if you don’t intend to. These three types are known as Prarabdha, Sanchita, and Agami, respectfully.
Prarabdha
Prarabdha Karma is the karmic energy that is ready to bloom and soon. There is no stopping the bloom, either. This Karma has gone through its stages of growth as required and it is about to reach its maturity. With the maturity will come an effect to a cause that you produced at some point. If the cause made was negative, the effect will match. The same can be said for positive causes.
There could have even been an intentional planting of the seed that lead to this. Perhaps you planted the seed in hopes that it would bloom at a certain point in your life. You may have held the door open for someone and you have hope that it will bloom whenever your hands are full. You raise everyone around you up with compliments in hopes that one day, if you need it, someone will repay that positivity.
Karma does not abide by any schedule but its own, however. This means the karmic energy will reach maturity based on its own likings and growth, not on the speed at which you hope it prospers.
Sanchita
Karmic energy that has not yet matured but is in the process of growing is known as Sanchita Karma. When you plant a karmic seed, it has to grow before it can produce its effect. The seed, planted on the karmic plane, is stored in the earth and slowly nurtured into its full abilities.
There is no exact growth pattern for karmic energy, so some Sanchita energy can be from your past life, or it could be from the previous month. This is because every bit of Karma that you produce has its own unique makeup. These unique makeups also will affect the “seeds” that are growing around them, sometimes hindering their growth and other times accelerating it.
This is why there are some cases known as “Instant Karma.” If you’ve ever been in a situation or witnessed a situation where someone does something wrong only to deal with the consequences within the next few minutes of an equal or worse degree, that is Instant Karma. A great example would be if someone trips another person and laughs at them, only to either trip or be tripped themselves less than a minute later.
Agami
The very beginning stage of Karmic energy growth, Agami, is when you initially plant the seed. This ties back into Karma from earlier, explaining that everything you do will affect your Karma. Agami Karma is the Karma that you are creating right now in these exact moments and every present moment after. The flow of Agami Karma is consistent and never-ending, a river of the energies you create that will water your garden.
When you are gathering the Agami, it may be stored away for an undetermined amount of time. This undetermined length of storage would turn the Agami Karma into Sanchita Karma. When that Sanchita Karma matures, it becomes Prarabdha Karma. Each stage of Karma has to happen, as they are all connected. In fact, everything is connected and Karma can teach you how.
12 Laws of Karma
The Great Law
The First Law of Karma is the Great Law. The Great Law states the energy you put out into the world is the energy that you will receive back. If you are putting negative energies out into the world with your thoughts, words, actions, or decisions, you will receive negativity from your surroundings. In the same way, if you exude positivity, Karma is much more likely to treat you with kindness.
The Law of Creation
If you desire to achieve your dreams, you have to put in the effort it requires to reach your goals. The Law of Creation is telling you that nothing is going to fall at your feet, no matter how much wishing you do. You need to take the proper steps and surround yourself with what you believe your dream life contains. If you begin doing this, you start crafting your dream reality and with positive energies, it will become your reality.
The Law of Humility
While you want to view yourself in a positive light to continue accelerating forward, you must also stay humble. To be humble is to have humility and the Law of Humility reminds you to not become full of yourself. There will be situations in which you think you have a better solution than what is being offered. However, you must pick your battles, as there are differences in the times you need to be a leader and the times you need to be a follower. You are not the best at everything, after all.
The Law of Growth
Despite how much energy we may put out into the world, the only life we truly have to grow and change is our own. While you can inspire people around you and change the atmosphere, you do not have control over anyone else and you can’t completely change their karmic energies. The Law of Growth reminds us of this, promoting a focus on self-growth to ensure you do not end up stagnant.
The Law of Responsibility
While Karma is often described as a villain or fiend when talked about, the Law of Responsibility points the finger right back at you. Karma is not an unjust force; it is actually quite the opposite. Karma is an energy that makes you face the consequences of your actions, whether it be justice for you or against you.
This means you are the reason the things in your life happen. Each seed of Karma that you plant is your own doing and how they come to fruition is based on the energy around it, the energy you provide.
The Law of Connection
Everything is connected to everything somehow, which is what the Law of Connectivity is based on. Situations that may seem like they have no correlation to each other could be closer related than you believe. Your actions of the past are connected to the activities and situations of today. Similarly, the actions of the present are going to lead to the conditions of your future. The Law of Connectivity exists to remind you that everything causes a change, no matter how small.
The Law of Focus
The Law of Focus speaks of how your negatives and your positives cannot coexist if you want to make progress. You have to make the decision to control your thoughts, encouraging the positive aspects of your thoughts and rejecting the negatives. This will slowly filter the negative energies that surround you until your mind is positive, allowing you to focus on progressing.
The Law of Giving and Hospitality
There will come a time in your long that you will have something to offer to someone. It may happen several times throughout your life and it can be intense or straightforward moments. You could be helping a friend move or you could be saving someone’s life with the CPR you learned. The Law of Giving and Hospitality relies on the help that you provide others based on the pieces of knowledge or abilities you have.
The Law of Here and Now
The Law of Here and Now reminds us that we cannot live our lives in the past or future. We can only live our lives in each passing moment. The present is where all of our potential lies because within the potential of today, we would not have the rewards of tomorrow. While everything is connected and the effects of your past may have left you with major side effects, there is sadly nothing you can do to change what has already become. If you focus on the present, you will change your future.
The Law of Change
A quote credited widely to Einstein states, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” This quote correlates well with The Law of Change, which basically says the same. The Law of Change says that if you do not learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it.
While it may seem stressful, it is true. As the times have passed, while things have advanced in technology, we seem to be in a loop of insanity (based on Einstein’s definition). This means in order for you to succeed, you have to make a change and do something you haven’t done if what you have done hasn’t worked yet.
The Law of Patience and Rewards
In a time where instant gratification is becoming increasingly accessible, the virtue of patience is growing ever thinner. The Law of Patience and Rewards reminds you that even if your patience is growing thin, it doesn’t mean that the world will change to accommodate your schedule. Everyone wants to be living their best life comfortably, but there are steps you must take to do so. The best way to utilize the Law of Patience and Rewards is by spending the time you need to be patient doing things you love. If you practice the things you love, who is to say you won’t gain rewards? The positive energies you put out will find you eventually; you just have to wait.
The Law of Significance and Inspiration
If you genuinely want to achieve something, you have to hold that something to a higher standard than other things in your life. The Law of Significance and Inspiration reminds you of this, as if you do not hold your dreams to a significance, you will lose the inspiration you have and it will slowly lose its importance. You may want to start a business of your own and if you do, you have to stay inspired to do so. You have to hold the significance of your dream where you can always see it and add your energies. If you do not, your vision may never come to fruition.
Can You Change Your Karma?
While the seeds will grow when planted, whether you want them to or not, you can nurture your Karma into something more positive if you fear negative aspects, but you have to do such with good intentions only.
If you commit a crime just to turn around to try to replace all that negative energy so you don’t have to deal with the consequences, Karma will be able to sense this. However, if you say something wrong and then recognize it is wrong after the fact, you may be able to change the karmic energy.
As stated before, Karma is a just judge, seeing the actions someone makes and providing consequences based on those actions. If you do something that isn’t unlawful or extensively harmful to another person, you do have the power to change the energy. You will have to make it a mission of good intentions to filter out all the negative with the positive energies you will create.
Conclusion to Karma
As you go forward now, remind yourself often that the energies you place into the world will come back to you somehow. This reminder will help you create new positive Karma only, ensuring your future will be bright. While there may be things along the way that try to stop your progression, it is up to you to maintain the same energy and keep moving forward.
At the end of the day, Karma is not scientifically proven, but there are many things that science has yet to confirm. There is no harm in respecting a nondamaging belief, especially if it means doing more good than harm. Try it out for a while, even if you don’t believe in it. Your karmic energies may be one of the keys you need to unlock your best life.
