Karma
Recent events with Tiger Woods have me thinking about karma. I said to my mom, “Did you see what happened to Tiger? Hahah man karma's a bitch for sure!” She cringed, but she understands my hatred towards Tiger. For those of you that don’t know me well, I really really really dislike Tiger Woods. Yes, I know. “You can’t hate someone you don’t know.” “Look at what he’s done for golf.” “He’s the best player golf has ever seen.” I get it. He is good at what he does, but that doesn’t mean I have to like him. I despise him for what he did to his wife and family. As far as golf, yes he is amazing.
But this got me thinking...what really is karma? When you think about karma, what comes to mind? Scenarios where bad things happen to people who deserve it, right? I don’t know enough, and I wanted to find out.
The online dictionary definition of karma is
(in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.
destiny or fate, following as effect from cause.
According to the theory of Karma, what happens to a person, happens because they caused it with their actions. Also, Carmen Harram PhD, states that “Karma is the memory of our souls, which means it's often long-standing, even stemming from prior lives. Indeed, the course of our current life is mostly predetermined by earlier lifetimes: What we didn't finish then, we come back to finish now. Unpleasant situations are the consequence of lingering karma, which can always be reversed and resolved.”
More google searches go on to show that there are 12 rules of karma. I did not know all of this! There are 12 “universal laws” or karmic rules that run our lives. They are:
The Great Law
Law of Creation
Law of Humility
Law of Growth
Law of Responsibility
Law of Connection
Law of Force
Law of Giving and Hospitality
Law of Here and Now
Law of Change
Law of Patience and Reward
Law of Significance and Inspiration
In Ellen terms, these are as follows:
Overall Karma - you reap and sow, be treated how you would like to be treated, etc.
You create your overall life
You must accept your overall life
Your life expands as you grow
You take ownership for your life
You picked everyone in your life for a reason
You are energy. Where you put your energy is up to you
Practice what you preach
Be Present!
Your life can be Groundhog’s Day until you make the conscious effort to make a change
Great things take time, damn it
We are meant to share we we have learned in our journey
Everything in this life was something we already choose for ourselves, as our higher self. Our path was already determined before we were born, and karma is a part of that. So everyone in my life is here for a reason. I chose them; they are predetermined. I had to go through my years of addictive behaviors in order to get to where I am today so that I can help people through it. I had to go through years of infertility to show me that life is not that easy and simple. I had to watch Noah struggle with his issues to stop thinking about myself and be less selfish. All of these things happened because I chose it to happen for me. Now I am starting to figure out why. I am gaining deeper knowledge of myself, through my highest self.
So, was Tiger in a car accident because he slept with hundreds of women who weren’t his wife when he was married? What part of his current life is he making up for in a past life? What part of my life am I making up for from my past lives? Think about your life now and what you have been through. What karmic experiences have you had? Are they good or bad? Do you believe you have lived in more than one life? Start thinking about the why in what you do. According to karma, it is all because you chose it to be that way. How does that make you look at life differently? It’s all very interesting and something to think about. It may be scary and confusing, but it truly is a significant change for how I look at things. I hope this makes you feel the same.
