"That's bad for your karma" you have probably been told when you did something that you yourself knew was actually just not possible. Throwing a ball on the street, stubbornly ignoring that one colleague, accidentally not inviting your mother-in-law, emptying your child's bag of M&Ms... You name it. But what exactly is karma? And why is karma for example 'ab*tch' (only if you are)? Here for you clarification, a video and tips to break through your 'bad karma'.
Where does karma come from?
The term 'karma' comes from Hinduism and Buddhism and means 'action' in Sanskrit. It is also called the law of cause and effect. In other words, every action you take has a life effect. Compare it to a stone that you throw into standing water. The effect of this spreads over the entire water surface.
good and bad karma
Suppose you secretly steal the last piece of banana bread from your colleague. Then you get a stomachache and you have to run to the toilet. Bad karma. You always get karma back. But does that really work? And can you score karma points if you do something nice for someone else? Yes, when it comes to karma, yes, but it goes a little further than that...
Ah, that's how it works
Imagine that with every action you plant a seed. As vipassana teacher SN Goenka says: “No pear tree grows from an apple seed, the type of seed determines the type of plant. So if you do something 'bad', you can't expect anything good to come out of it. Or vice versa. For example, people who are open and generous create more goodwill around them than people who mainly think about themselves.”
The law of attraction
So it comes down to being mindful in what you do, say, and think – including your unconscious beliefs or feelings. Because we can shout how successful we are, if we don't believe it unconsciously, you jinx yourself just as loud. That's exactly how the law of attraction works. Other examples: 'nobody loves me', 'people leave me'. If your deep inner conviction is there, it will subconsciously influence the situation in such a way that something similar keeps happening and the feeling is revived.
💡 Feelings are strong karmic forces and can therefore be held for a long time.
So if life seems to be deliberately against you, people keep treating you like dirt, you keep tripping over your own shoelaces, or about more serious matters… Try looking back: from effect, to cause, to action. Maybe it's not karma that is the b*tch after all...
Break through your bad karma
According to Marnix van Rossum, who has studied Buddhism for years, you break your karmic patterns with this:
- take responsibility for the things that happen in your own life,
- view and accept your feelings and inclinations, without taking them directly as truth,
- experience your underlying beliefs ,
- be open to another's opinion, even if the ones you have seem the truth,
- teach yourself an attitude of inquiry and interest . Nothing is wrong, everything is a moment to become wiser,
- learn to accept change and practice letting go like Elsa
Here's another interesting video about karma
What about your karma?
Author - Mariko Naber
Mariko is the happy brain behind Happlify. Together with partner Mark she runs Sell your stuff online, branding agency Loaded ink BNO and Atelier Naber . She loves feel good, random acts of kindness, meatballs, chocolate mousse, family time, zee, piña colada, sugar & spice and everything nice 💛
Source: Mathijs van der Beek and Mindfulness.in
Cover photo is by Elia Pellegrini via Unsplash
Wim van Zeijl
September 11, 2023
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