Tips to break through 'bad karma'

“That's bad for your karma” you've probably been told before when you did something that you knew wasn't actually possible. Throwing a wad on the street, persistently ignoring that one colleague, accidentally not inviting your mother-in-law, eating your child's bag of M&Ms... You name it. But what exactly is karma? And why, for example, is karma 'ab*tch' (only if you are)? Here for you clarification, a video and tips to break 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 do has a consequence for life. 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 stomach ache and you have to run to the toilet. Bad karma. So you always get karma back. But does it really work that way? And can you score karma points if you do something nice for someone else? Yes, when it comes to karma, 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: “An apple seed does not grow a pear tree, the type of seed determines the type of plant. So if you do something 'bad', you cannot expect anything good to come from it. Or vice versa. People who are open and generous, for example, create more goodwill around themselves than people who think mainly of themselves.”

The law of attraction

So it comes down to being mindful in what you do, say and think - also regarding your unconscious beliefs or feelings. Because we can shout loudly about how successful we are, but if we subconsciously don't believe it, we're jinxing ourselves just as much. That's exactly how the law of attraction works. Other examples: 'no one 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 always happens 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 going against you, people keep treating you like dirt, you keep tripping over your own laces, or over more serious matters... Then try to look back: from consequence, to cause, to action. Maybe it's not karma that's the b*tch after all...

Break through your 'bad karma'

According to Marnix van Rossum, who studied Buddhism for years, this breaks your karmic patterns:

1. take responsibility for the things that happen in your own life,
2. view and accept your feelings and tendencies, without immediately accepting them as truth,
3. experience your underlying beliefs ,
4. be open to other people's opinions, even if the ones you have seem to be the truth,
5. Teach yourself an attitude of inquiry and interest . Nothing is wrong, everything is a moment to become wiser,
6. learn to accept changes and practice letting go like Elsa

Here is another interesting video about karma

How is your karma?

The author: Mariko Naber

Branding expert and online entrepreneur Mariko is the happy brain behind Happlify. Together with partner Mark, she runs Happlify, Sell your stuff online and branding agency Loaded ink BNO . She loves feel good, random acts of kindness, meatballs, chocolate mousse, family time, sea, piña colada, sugar & spice and everything nice.

Source: Mathijs van der Beek and Mindfulness.in
Cover photo is by Elia Pellegrini via Unsplash