How Meditation Can Affect Our Karma
Written by: Jennifer Tomlin, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Karma, in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. Our Karma lives with us and is part of our lives from the moment of our birth to the moment of our death. Some would say it’s carried with us through our many incarnations here on Earth. Every time that we do something or every time that we stop doing something, that generates Karma, and it cannot be avoided in any way.
Not all the Karma that we generate is the same, there is the Karma that ties us or binds us to this life, and another kind that liberates us of the reincarnation cycle. The Karma that binds us, known as Vishayakarma, has as its fruits misery and lack of internal peace, while the Karma generated by selfless or impartial actions, known as Sreyokarma, allows us to reach true prosperity and happiness of the soul, much more than reaching simple and fleeting external happiness.
Every time we face an activity with the desire of obtaining a self-serving outcome, this throws us into the arms of desire, greed, and ego. Only the kind of pure actions that we do for love or service without considering the possible consequences of those actions, are the kind that move us, little by little, toward illumination and liberation. Those of us whose nature allows them to carry out these kinds of unselfish activities, have realized that the Divine provides them with all that they need along with inner peace. Another form of achieving inner peace is through meditation.
How will meditation further us on this journey? Humans can be said to act in two dimensions, the external dimension governed by the material world and the physical senses, and the internal dimension governed by inner knowing and the soul. This internal conscience cannot move for itself, but instead, needs intelligence and the body, for they are the oxen that pull the carriage. These oxen are anxious to begin to walk, but to take us to the correct destination they should be educated, for example, study the route which takes the internal conscience to the place it wishes to arrive. These are the roads of truth, rightness, peace, love, and compassion. As we grow in skill at meditation, these roads become more easily clear to see, as the distractions of the external material world fall away.
To liberate us from Vishayakarma, it is necessary to teach the intelligence and the body’s oxen the art of pulling the carriage of the internal conscience, and this can be achieved by means of the practices of meditation. And the conscience, to be able to guide the oxen of intelligence and the body, must through practice be capable of calming and controlling the conflicting desires of the material dimension that can infest the mind. This can be achieved when we learn how to point our mind to a single direction or focus.
It is easy to understand the benefits of meditation once you have developed a practice. Anyone that undertakes a task, for example, knows that only when they concentrate their efforts toward a single point or focus, can they achieve the desired success. Even the most insignificant tasks require concentration, and the power of developed, unshakable effort is so immense, that even the worst difficulties will surrender to it.
When we practice meditation, the internal conscience learns how to retire its attention from the material dimension, and life acquires a new splendor. We become aware of the Divine that is inside all of us. How sweet is a fruit? There’s no way to explain that appropriately, the only way of knowing that is to eat the fruit itself. How beneficial is meditation? There’s no way of knowing the taste of its fruits until we decide to experience them.
Jennifer Tomlin, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Jennifer Tomlin is the Owner and CEO of Three Paths Wellness Therapy. She is a lifelong learner, constantly working to improve and broaden her skillset. She is currently certified in Quantum Antojai Reiki, Crystal Reiki, Karuna Ki Reiki, and Usui Reiki, all at the Master/Teacher Level, and a member of the International Reiki Association. She is also certified in Angel Healing, Energy, and Chakra Work and as a Therapist with IAOTH for Wellness Therapy sessions. She has been trained in many different types of Oracle Card and Tarot Card consultations. Jennifer has a tremendous amount of lived experience and finds that helps her relate to clients in an authentic way.
