On Past Lives and Karma

Sanskrit writing for "karma."  Unlike this
beautiful artwork, our karma isn't written
in stone.  It is an organic, ever-evolving
story of how our souls have learned to love 
ourselves and others here.

        The word karma itself comes from the root karm, which in Sanskrit is the verb "to work," which is derived from kri, meaning "to do."  For instance, a "karma yogi" is one who works on helping others.  That's their "yoga," their union with Spirit.  

        Mother Teresa is a famous example of a karma yogi, but there are countless unsung heroes every day who work silently for the welfare of those around them.  With past lives, the concept of karma is used in the sense that all of us work, from one lifetime to the next, on balancing our soul's energies.  It's about cause and effect.

         It's not always that past lives come up in a reading.  Sometimes they do.  Our souls are constantly evolving and even if one doesn't believe in the concept of past lives, just the story of a past life he or she has lived could be of great value due to its healing metaphors and lessons.

Karma as a Tool of Balance

        The concept of karma is often taken out of its true meaning in Western culture.  Contrary to how people here often use that word, karma is not about "payback," getting what's "coming to you" and all such sentiments.   Did it get skewed this way because Western thinking might tend to be subconsciously burdened by a deep-seated, Judeo-Christian-based obsession with fear and retribution, a fear which tends to color the average Westerner's thinking on just about everything?  Who's to say?  But if so, then Western culture's tweaking of the original concept of karma in this way is quite understandable. 

        Balance is what our souls (and everything else in the natural world, when you stop and look around) truly strive for.  For example, we want to love, but at the same time we want to be loved.  We want to do for others, but at the same time, we'd like others to do for us, too.  Whenever we give too much, it doesn't feel right because it's not balanced; likewise, whenever we take too much, it's not balanced, either. If we killed many people in a lifetime, as for example a military commander, then we might come back to Earth to work on balancing that energy by, for instance, being a healer in some way, bringing life rather than taking it.  So karma helps us balance ourselves, and by extension all the energies around us, because we're all connected. 

Compassion for Self and Others

        I think the key to learning the rich lessons that past lives present us is to view the past life characters, and whatever they did, with objectivity and compassion. Otherwise, it's easy to judge, and thereby miss entirely, the metaphors, the lessons that past lifetimes present us.  We all learn through trial and error.  The characters in past life stories, and the things they did, represent the best those persons knew to do at that moment.  Mistakes shouldn't be viewed as shameful or needing punishment or retribution.  Again, that's not what "karma" is all about.  Mistakes should be viewed as opportunities for learning and for growth, guidepoints indicating where we could make corrections and adjust our paths.

        It's also very important to handle yourself with the utmost compassion and understanding, as well.  In some lifetimes you may have really blown it!   Though it's often hard to laugh when a past life's circumstances were quite dire or traumatic, a thoughtful sense of humor wouldn't hurt.  Be kind toward yourself when you see how you've been through a lot.  You too were doing the best you could, with what you had to work with.  Simply learn from the story your past life presents, then let all these stories go, and move on....with gratitude.

.