KARMA | May 2014

What do you think of when you hear the word Karma?   Whenever I have heard the word karma it has usually been associated with some sort of negative event. If something bad happened there was this impression that I must have done something bad in a past life therefore I was having to pay the price in this lifetime. Even my own teacher, Mary Ellen Flora, said that though most people believe that healers are so special and born with a gift from God, from her perspective, healers have so much negative karma from past lives that they must do a lifetime of service as healers to make up for it! That really is a humbling thought now isn’t it?

In a nutshell, I always thought that Karma was like a bank account. If you did wonderful loving kind and compassionate things in past lives you then have a positive balance in your bank. If you did hurtful and thoughtless things in past lives then you have a negative balance in your account. Then each deed or action in this lifetime either adds to or takes away from your bank.

On March 7, 2014 I joined my brother and sister in law at the University of Washington to hear Garchen Rinpoche speak on the topic of Karma. He is from Tibet and became a Tibetan monk at the age of 7.   When China invaded Tibet he became enraged and angry, and was compelled to put down his prayer wheels and pick up a rifle as he joined the Tibetan army fight the Chinese. He was arrested and spent 20 years in prison.   A beautiful documentary was made about his life and his own journey of his spiritual practice in a human body. Follow this link about him.

In his opening statement, via a translator, he said, “you have come to hear me speak as if I am someone with special qualities. However, I am not special. I am a simple man who fell down and got up, then fell again and got up again all of which created experience in life. I have come to share my experiences with you.” He said his fall, his arrest, his torture was his Karma. Using his spiritual tools and teachings of the Dharma assisted him to get back up again.

I quickly searched my bag for something to write on. I had an envelope and began to write as fast as I could, making brief notes on the front and back of this envelope. I had intended to simply sit and be present however the “Ah ha” moments were coming through so quickly and those moments are what I would like to share with you.

From the notes: We live many lifetimes. This lifetime you are in is your Karma. Karma is the spiritual blueprint that creates everything about you. Your body, its shape, your eye and hair color, how you walk, speak, your personality, and what work you do is all of your Karma. If you have a lot of fear in this life, that too is your Karma, and if you are easily kind that too is your karma.

He talked about his observation of the animal world as being his biggest teacher about Karma. He said some animals must attack. They just come into being as the type of animal that jumps out an attacks everyone and everything.   He gave examples of snakes and scorpions. He clarified that it was their Karma to attack. Then he said something that sent a surge through my body. IF, you must kill that snake or scorpion to save your own life…that too is THEIR karma! That snake or scorpion’s karma created the event that also caused their death. Wow, did my head spin on that one!

Hate, and jealously are two emotions and energies he mentioned as causing karma that will create more hatred and jealousy in future lives. Love, compassion, kindness create happiness in future lifetimes. Then he went on to say, that love, compassion and kindness are not natural ways of being. So another big “ah ha” moment was when he said this, explaining that we must cultivate and grow love and compassion. We cannot just sit back and expect love to show up when we need it, we must cultivate by thinking loving compassionate thoughts.

Garchen Rinpoche then went on to say, when he has difficulty and experiences suffering or becomes ill, it makes him very happy because he has another opportunity to release more of his old Karma. He told a story, which it seems to me, is many peoples story; many suffer because their parents were mean and abused them. Then the parents die, but we still suffer because our parents abused us. Each moment we remain in these suffering thoughts we are creating many perpetual moments of suffering to come in our future lives.

We were very touched by his talk, and talked nonstop on the drive home about how each point touched our soul in our own unique way.   This journey we are on is expanded through knowledge that allows our limited beliefs and thoughts to be shaken up a bit and pulled into our daily consciousness. Karma now has a deeper meaning to me and yet I feel left with so many more questions to be answered at another time.

In gratitude, love and compassion to Garchen Rinpoche who fell down and got up again over and over so that we could learn from his experience! This newsletter is dedicated to the upliftment of all beings and their ability to create happiness in their life!

Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ!