Resolving Karma

Karma means action. According to the Yoga Sutra, the cause of suffering is grasping at events we want more of and resisting what we don’t want. 

Part of the art of living is learning to “go with the flow” and avoid getting in the way of where life wants to take us. This doesn’t mean not acting, but rather learning how best for us to act in the world. There are common principles but also variations due to our nature and gifts. For example, it’s natural for one to be outgoing and another to be more inner-directed. But all types need relationship in some form.

This way, we act in harmony with life, and with ourselves. We notice what’s supported and what’s not, in the moment. And we stop leaving a trail of incomplete experiences and pain. 

Another part of the art of living is resolving that history. Not just learning how to be now, but resolving the residues of what we could not meet in the past.

Those unresolved experiences and the seeds of karma seem very similar. But they’re different temporally.

Our unresolved experiences now create seeds of action in our future. But if we resolve the contractions sooner, they don’t become those seeds.

Our unresolved experiences and karma seek resolution. Thus, they come up over and over. We experience the circumstances arising – through others or life itself – repeatedly. But when we’re caught up in it and resisting, it’s not seen and completed. It remains unresolved and will cycle back again.

We see the same repeating problems in our relationships, or whatever. For example, we change jobs and get the same style of boss. We can’t escape it, so it’s better to learn to work with it.

Actions out of harmony with life can also create the seeds of karma. Yet even here, it’s not about blame. These types of actions are often caused by the state we’re in because of past trauma; those unresolved experiences.

When we’re less conscious, we make unconscious choices based on reaction or impulse. As we get more conscious, we can better recognize the dynamics and make more conscious choices that are more in our own interest. Even deeper, we can make choices in alignment with our nature. 

This is all so much easier as we develop presence. We become more conscious when our nature as aware presence becomes more active. This may initially be an observing (and judging) mind. But in time, it becomes the neutral, observing awareness. With regular transcendence, we develop that inner presence. Then when events arise, we’re not as caught in them. We’re more conscious, maybe even witnessing them. 

Then it’s much easier to see the dynamics, to experience what needs to be processed, and to resolve the repeaters.

Also, our capacity to process experiences grows. And we step more deeply into who we are. We stop acting out of alignment with ourselves and the world around us. We stop resisting. And thus, we stop producing unresolved experiences. We stop creating seeds of future events, aka karma.

Then, what remains is our unresolved history. The key is getting to the unresolved core that is driving events. Usually, that’s emotional, somatic, or both. We could say they’re of two types: the reactive vasanas and the somatic samskaras or impressions.

At first, events arise to be experienced and resolved. But in time, we can feel the impulse arise within, before it turns into an event. Sometimes, we can resolve it on that level, energetically. But when it involves others, we may still need to live it out.

Yet if we’re just observing, we’re not caught in it. We’re healing and resolving those seeds of future events.

Further, as our energy no longer feeds the old patterns, they’re weakened and can fade. The light rises and the shadows dissolve.

Yet this healing process can go still deeper. It’s hard to have a golden age of light when collectively, we have a long history of violence and pain. Even if we’re fully healed and neutral about our history, that memory is still a shadow. 

Even the shadow of our history can be healed. Deep enough and even our historical behaviours are healed, changing history. For example, if we went on a killing rampage in a prior life and we heal the trauma that caused it now, it may even remove the original motivation. Then the rampage doesn’t happen, and history is changed.

We could say that dark ages “forget” golden ages, as now. And golden ages “forget” dark ages. Our history reflects consciousness and grows with it. 

We could say memory is a function of reality. When our reality evolves, so does expression, including history. 

It’s not that the past goes away; it’s that everything adjusts to the new reality. Time expresses our reality.
Davidya