March 20, 2005 | |
The
Grace of Karma. What Is It and How Does it Effect Me?
Being from California, I think one of the most over used and misunderstood words is Karma. What is Karma? How do I create my Karma? Is Karma good or bad? Am I coming back as a cockroach in my next life? These are all questions that come up anytime the word Karma is mentioned. So what is Karma exactly? Karma first came into being as a concept in Hinduism. Karma literally means "deed or act" and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction which governs all life. Karma is not fate, for man acts with free will creating his own destiny. Most karma comes in two "flavors" - "good" karma, which leads to positive and pleasurable experiences and "bad" karma which leads to suffering. There is also a completely different type of karma that is neither good nor bad, but liberating. This karma allows for the individual to break negative cycles of suffering. Christian teachings do not usually include the idea of Karma, although some parallels can be made, as exemplified by biblical verses of God is not mocked, what a man sows he must reap and Vengeance is mine says the Lord. It is also worth noting that most interpretations of Christianity do not emphasize the religious importance of thoughts and intentions, that are usually understood to be a major form of Karma by the doctrines that use that concept. In a recent email I received from Deepak Chopra I was really moved by his interpretation It is as follows: "Everyone performs millions of actions every day—strictly speaking, every thought is a karma, along with every breath, every bite of food, etc.—so the billiard game in this case has a nearly infinite number of balls. But something unfathomable is at work here: grace. In short, grace adapts itself to each person. We make our choices, some of which are good for us, some bad, and then grace shapes the results." "You can use the Law of Karma to create peace, love, abundance, affluence, and the flow of all good things to you any time you want. But first, you must become consciously aware that your future is generated by the choices you are making in every moment of your life. And since every decision we make is a choice between a grievance and miracle, we have -within our souls- the ability to dance from miracle to miracle with every choice. Theses threads of individual miracles can be woven into a magical karmic fabric that allows us to sow the seeds of happiness, peace, and compassion throughout our daily interactions with the world. In that process, we can create happiness, peace, and compassion in our lives and in the lives of those we touch. Choose light over darkness, peace over violence, grace over entitlement, and ease over force, and in doing so our conscious choice-making as well as our subconscious choices will be aligned with the timeless energy of the universe." With that in mind I suggest that you exercise a little good Karma today. Do something unexpected and nice for somebody for no reason whatsoever except to be nice. Remember if it is good... "Pass it Forward". Thank you for your patronage. Have
an excellent day.
Do you have any ideas or attitudes about yourself and your abilities that may be holding you back from great success and happiness? As it happens, everyone does. In her wonderful book You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay says that each one of us has feelings of inferiority that are manifested in the conclusion that we are not good enough. We think that we are not as good as other people, and we feel that we are not good enough to acquire and enjoy the things that we want in life. Very often, we feel that we don’t deserve good things. Even if we do work hard and achieve some worthwhile objectives, we believe that we are not really entitled to our successes, and we often engage in behaviors that sabotage our successes. The fact is that you deserve every good thing that you are capable of acquiring as the result of the application of your talents. Overcoming
Obstacles The most
harmful beliefs that you can have are what we call “self-limiting
beliefs.” These are beliefs about yourself, most of which are not
true; but they hold you back nonetheless. Sometimes you, or others, will
say that you cannot achieve certain goals because you did not get enough
education. The starting point of changing your beliefs is to get up the courage to question them seriously. Question your basic premises. Check your assumptions. Ask yourself, “What assumptions am I making about myself or my situation that might not be true?” It’s a fact that we fall in love with our excuses and our negative assumptions. We fall in love with our reasons for not moving ahead. The author Richard Bach wrote this beautiful line: “Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours.” Very often, we become the prosecuting attorney in the case against ourselves. We dispute and argue and attempt to prove to ourselves and others that our limitations are real. And the less justification these ideas or beliefs have, the more adamant we become in attempting to prove them to others. Whatever they are, resolve to challenge them. Hold them up to the light. Imagine that you had absolute confidence in yourself in a particular area. Then, act as if it were impossible to fail, and it shall be! Action
Exercises First, accept that you are as good and as talented in your own way as anyone else you will ever meet. There is nothing you can’t accomplish if you really want it. Second, challenge a belief or idea about yourself that is holding you back. What if you had extraordinary ability in that area? What difference would that make in your life? Third, stop making excuses for lack of success. Instead, start making progress. Think and talk about what you want and then get busy making it come true. Click here for your Free CD of 21 Success Secrets of Self Made Millionaires
Summer's almost here and that means bathing suit season is right around the corner. But even if you've been a little neglectful about your workouts, there's no need to panic about having to face the world nearly naked - you still have plenty of time to get in shape before you hit the beach. Most fitness experts agree that it takes four to six weeks to see results from any new exercise plan, so if you start today you'll have five weeks before the those lazy, hazy days officially start. Here are 10 things that can help you reach your beachy best.
"We don’t laugh because we’re happy, we’re happy because we laugh." -- William James Why laugh? Laughter nourishes the soul and triggers joy. It’s a natural stress reliever. It stimulates the immune system and increases oxygen, stamina and our breathing capacity. Medical literature is full of reasons to laugh for the health of it. Don’t rely upon your funny friends, favorite sit-com or jokes to tickle your funny bone -- just laugh for the joy of it! "Laughter is like the human body wagging its tail." -- Anne Wilson Schaef
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