Ultimately, Life is neither suffering or bliss. It is what you make it.
Sadhguru
Wow! I just finished reviewing Chapter Two of the below book. It was probably the most profound of all the chapters and it took me a long time to get through all the highlighting. There is so much to understand conceptually. I don't know where to even start in summarizing it all. The above quote helps! I also looked into my man Eckhart to see what he had to say about karma.
This is what I have come to understand so far:
Living in Suffering or Bliss?
Sure there is karma in our lives...some unconscious pattern of mentally, physically and energetically reacting to life...but ...what we need to know is that we have a choice in whether we let this karmic reactivity determine the course of our lives or not. We have a choice to continue suffering as identification with the resisting and reactive mind will ensure, or to live in bliss, as living in presence will ensure. Sure we may feel trapped and tangle dup in sme negative karma now, but we can take the reins from karma and control our own journey's forward.
How do we do that?
We can transcend and even put an end to accumulation of karma through three things: our recognizing , our volition, and our commitment to living in presence, and awareness. We start with recognizing what we are doing and seeing how it only keeps us stuck. Karma is accumulated by our internal tendencies...by the mind and identification with form. Know that. Karma, according to Tolle and so many others is more about reaction than action. How are you reacting and resisting life? ( and yeah...you are!!) Recognize that. Be vigilant! Ask yourself: Has what I have been doing so far been effective in leading me to bliss, or is it keeping me in suffering? See how entrenched you are in habit mind, in your wanting and not wanting. See how you are selectively choosing from life what you will allow in, and how you are resisting the rest. See how this only adds more negative karma to your life...more suffering! Observe your mind and see how you are creating your own karma!
Next use your volition ( effort and will) to break through this compulsive and cyclic wheel, this habitual way of reacting to life. Again be aware of what you are thinking, feeling; what you are saying and doing; and what you experiencing energetically ( I am a little stuck on that one...not too aware ,as of yet, of my energetic contribution to my life). Is it wholesome? Is it skillful? Be willing to notice, water, and nourish the seeds that will bring peace and bliss into your life (and that means the lives of others as well...eventually we will see that it isn't 'all about me'...we will see that it isn't about 'me' at all because 'me' is only a mental concept that keeps us entangled in karma.). Be willing to notice and remove the weeds that will contaminate your physical, mental and energetic garden. What seeds are you watering in your mind? What weeds are you pulling out by the roots? Keep your physical, mental, and energetic garden wholesome and nutritious enough to offer much needed sustenance to a hungry world. This takes effort and will and continuous vigilance.
After putting in the will and the effort to stop acting/reacting through selfish, compulsive and habitual mind tendencies which create negative karma and nourishing the thoughts, actions and energies that allow for positive karma, you need to become still, attentive, and aware as you observe life and how you are reacting to it through presence. Then instead of selectively resisting any of it, make a commitment to become an active participant in the great molecular dance of the cosmos, accepting all of it inclusively.
How do we participate fully in life rather than the half hearted way we have been doing in order to avoid karma? We embrace all of life, not through an identity as a seperate little self, but as Self. We fall beyond our roles, our identification with "me", our attachment to worldly things (including the 'fruits of our actions') and we become present and aware. We approach Life as the Observer of this 'little me' going around making a mess of things. ...knowing that is not who we are. And we open up to Life in presence rather than in ego.
There is no karma accumulation at the higher levels of consciousness and awareness. In presence we will be free.
Anyway, that is what I picked up so far in my studying of "karma".
All is well.
Eckhart Tolle (May, 2023) What is Karma Yoga?...The Bhagavad Gita. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3YRKMB-TIg&t=3s
Sadhguru ( 2021) Karma: a Yogi's Guide to Creating Your Destiny. New York: Harmony Books.
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