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Four Ways To Outwit Karma

Karma is one of the fundamental laws of the universe. Basically, it states that every thought, feeling, and action has a consequence. In the Bible, it says, “As you sow, so shall you reap.”

Swami Sri Yukteswar said that the past lives of all men are dark with many shames. But that everything in the future will improve if we are making the right spiritual efforts now. Here are four ways to outwit our karmic consequences.

Move away from bad behaviour: Every action or thought is like a bolt of energy. The energy once sent out will inevitably return. If we shout at someone in anger, we will often, if not always immediately, get an angry retort in return. Karmic paybacks are life’s way of teaching us the consequences of our actions and nudging us toward alignment with God’s laws. In this case, the returning karma is meant to teach us not to act out in anger.

How do we respond the right way? First, become aware of how you are behaving. Awareness always precedes action. Next, take responsibility for your behaviour. Finally, put out energy in the opposite direction, the direction your karma wants to push you anyway.


Serve others: Service is one of the best ways to overcome karma, which is always initiated by self-interest. Simply put, when we think about ourselves, we end up creating bad karma. When we forget ourselves and think about helping others, we become freer and happier.

When we are self-involved, even a whisper of criticism can be devastating. When our hearts are strong and expanded through thinking of others, even an angry tirade can be shrugged off or provide an opportunity to help the irate person.

Meditate and do pranayama : Meditation is the fastest way to become free of ego, the root cause of all karma. All the whirlpools of karma reside in the astral spine. Meditation can neutralise those vortices. Paramhansa Yogananda said that each cycle of Kriya Yoga is the equivalent of a whole year of right living. Day by day, meditation by meditation, our astral spine is cleared of all destructive karmic tendencies.

We may have innumerable seeds of karmic tendencies waiting for the right circumstances to sprout. But pranayama, especially Kriya Yoga, fills the spine with positive magnetism and burns up the seeds before they can be planted.

Attunement with a guru : A guru will take away much of our karma if we stay attuned. A good friend had a fascinating dream. He was walking along a beach and came upon a huge pile of sticky tar, which he knew was his past bad karma. His task was to eliminate it, but all he had for the job was a little toy plastic pail and shovel. After a great deal of effort, he finally succeeded in filling his bucket one time.

As he began to despair of ever finishing the job, he heard a loud noise coming from the back of the pile. Curious, he went around and found his guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, driving a tractor with a large scoop on the front. Yogananda had a huge grin on his face as he dug into the mound of tar again and again and dumped the loads into the ocean to be dissolved.

When asked how we can tell the difference between good and bad karma, Swami Kriyananda said good karma takes us closer to God, while bad karma takes us away. Yet sometimes good karma can be difficult. Like bitter medicine, it is the best thing for us. We don’t have to enjoy it, but we would be wise to swallow it.

Ananda Sangha shares the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. Call 9899200605.

Authored by: Nayaswami Jyotish



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