If one were to compile a spiritual dictionary and A were to stand for ascension, B for breath and C for consciousness, the letter K would probably denote karma. The K word — karma — is a convenient peg on which to hang and attribute all our troubles to, when we find no explanation for all life’s trials and tribulations.

So, whether it is an affluent parent bemoaning his plight with a wayward son, “I have never harmed a single soul in all my life, I have helped whoever sought my assistance and I have always generously donated to worthy causes. Why do I have to go through this agony?” Or a patient who is stricken with a disease that is painful, long drawn out and life threatening. Or an individual who has hit a really bad patch in work or profession or business, you come back to karma — it’s like this — you reap what you sow.
Somewhere in your past or previous birth(s) you are told you must have sinned. And it’s payback time now. Hence the pain, suffering, agony, whatever. Does that mean you don’t have a choice and that you have to lump it quietly, helplessly accept it, blame it on fate or destiny and just be resigned to it?
Not quite if you understand what the word karma actually means. In Sanskrit the word karma literally means action and also the result of an action. And action doesn’t just happen like that. There is a thought that precedes that or a feeling or a desire or whatever and all that also counts for karma — not to forget the intention (an important criterion in Buddhism).
While we only think of our past baggage as karma (sanchita), it also includes the portion of the past karma, which is fructifying in the present (prarabdha) and the agami or kriyamana is what follows from actions in the present or current actions.
Not so long ago I chanced upon the 12 laws of karma. The first law is called “The Great Law” and reads thus: as you sow so shall you reap. This is also known as the law of cause and effect. Whatever we put out in the universe is what comes back to us. If what we want is happiness, peace, friendship and love, then we should be happy, peaceful, loving and a friend.
The striking similarity between Hindu-ism and Christianity as regards the sowing and reaping part also hit me. For after all, doesn’t the Bible say, “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap?” Even Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, said, “What you do not want done to yourself do not do to others.”
To my mind one of the major differences between Hinduism and Christianity as far as the karma concept is that Christianity does not believe in the transmigration of souls and rebirth and the passing on of karma, good and bad.
Is karma something we should resign ourselves to? Is there nothing we can do to help our situation? The Dalai Lama once wrote, “Some people misunderstand the concept of karma. They take it to mean that all is predetermined, that there is nothing that the individual can do. This is a total misunderstanding. Karma is not resigned fatalism. There is tremendous free will and we are each perceived as masters of our own destiny. The very term karma or action is a term of active force, which indicates that future events are within your own hands.”
If you are looking to delve deeper into how this is possible, Annie Besant, second president of the Theosophical Society, offers answers. She said we can modify karmic action by knowledge. This means, “Not only the power to see the past and to trace the lines which connect it with the present, but also to calculate exactly the influence that the force one introduces will exercise. One may lessen or destroy the results of evil wrought by oneself in the past, by the good forces one pours forth into his karmic stream. One cannot undo the past, one cannot destroy it but so far as its effects are still in the future one can modify them or reverse them by the new forces he brings to bear as causes taking part in their production.”
And how does one escape this endless cycle of karma?
All our spiritual masters tell us we can achieve this by performing karma yoga —yoga of action. Ideally one should perform action without attachment and view it purely as the discharge of one’s duty. According to Annie Besant, this does not mean that the person has to be unfeeling or stone-hearted but on the contrary sho-uld strive to become a sensitive individual who is touched by and responds to everything, who because he desires nothing for himself, is able to give everything to all.
When confronted with difficult, hard-to-bear experiences, remember that eventually it teaches you something. It strengthens you, helps you grow and evolve, and has a definite place and meaning in the fabric of your life.
Swami Sivananda summed up the best approach to karma very succinctly. “Selfless work will not bind you. It will purify your heart and lead to the descent of the divine light and grace. Think rightly. Act nobly. Meditate regularly and attain bliss and immortality.”