The theme for this month is “Transcending Karma”. A discussion on karma will reinforce the reality that my experience of “life” is of my own making. My destiny is a creation of my own making, the product or result of my actions.
Most people tend to think that the results of good karma are desirable whereas the results of bad karma are not. A person may then seek to perform good deeds and avoid bad deeds in the hope they will experience happiness. However, this position is not supported by the great yogis because it is rather child-like and uninformed. In his Yoga-sūtras Patanjali states:
परिणाम तप संस्कारदुःकैरगुण वृत्ति विरोधाच्च दुःकं एव सर्वं विवेकिनः
“To the discriminating yogi, all the fruits of past actions (both pleasurable and painful) are considered sorrowful because they all result in further bondage and suffering.” – Yoga-sūtras 2:15
It is wonderfully empowering to understand that it is my choices, my actions, that ‘create’ my future. As the saying famously goes – “As you sow, so shall ye reap”. This all points to the need to make really good choices and perform enlightened acts.
