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"It Is Karma Or What You Deserve."
Last blog we saw the many ways platitudes and sayings can be off the mark and distort our understanding of karma. We also saw the difference between simple and simplistic. Here is one statement that is outright dangerous when used inappropriately. Especially when a tragedy happens, please do not tell the victim, you got what you deserved. This shows an absolute lack of empathy. Imagine telling a child that she or he was raped, or worse, deserved to be raped because in some past life she must have been a rapist - that this is her karma. I remember one of the teachers speaking at a conference said that, to which a student sitting next to me was triggered and asked me after if it was so. I said that even if the guy was such a gyani (or all knowing person) the fact that he used that example put me off him.
I rarely travel on busses in India, not because of vanity but because I do not want to expend energy being hyper vigilant about which stray hand is going to cop a feel. Thankfully I own a car there and have other resources where I have not taken transit in decades.
However in Vancouver that is not a worry at all. Even the most vagrant looking person sitting next to me has been very respectful and there has been a mutual acknowledgement and kindness. So if it is only my karma playing out, then why did I never get molested in Vancouver on a bus, yet the few years in India, when I went by bus in high school and college, that was an eventuality. I wanted my freedom in school and did not want to have my bossy chauffeur or "driver" as we say in India dropping me at school. Plus my brother would always get up late and delay our departure. So I told my grandfather that it was best not to over protect me and to let me see some of the world by letting me travel alone. He thankfully agreed and I saw what most Indian women on transit were contending with.
Does that mean I got what I deserved and these men were merely giving me what I deserved? The circumstance itself is not karma. But how we respond in this situation is what perpetuates karma. For example if I did nothing and was complacent to these invasions then I am acting against ahimsa (non-violence/non-harm). Or if I see this happening with another, do nothing about it and do not let my healthy anger drive me to protect them, again I am not doing the right thing. I could not be privy to someone or myself being invaded. I have supported a lot of women in cases where police support was required but not easy to get. And unfortunately it has become the norm for many to turn a blind eye to such things.
You Manifest Your Reality... Really?
I saw a similar situation unfold when I was teaching a class a few years ago and there was a girl posing to be someone enquiring about class. She claimed she was waiting for her mom and then she took a couple of people's purses and wallets that were out of our eye line and disappeared. I felt really bad that I had not seen her as a thief and prevented this. Two students lost credit cards, one of them lost a 100 dollar note and car keys. So though the damages were minimized and Ross, Kiana and I were looking to support the ones who were traumatised by this theft, as class started I had a question pop up:
“Do we not manifest our reality? And therefore, didn’t these two who got robbed somehow manifest this?” one person asked.
The timing was off. Yet I let it take its course during discussion as I wanted to see how many subscribed to that thought process. Thankfully some were shocked and rightfully so.
I could not help but see how a few in class were disconnected and lacked empathy. And because of this they were inappropriate without even knowing it. What we needed to do as a community was to support the ones who were affected. If one did not have energy to support then one was welcome to have a boundary around one's energy and rest. However, it was inappropriate to get into an intellectual discussion to assert one's higher understanding. The girl who lost the most was sweet enough to take no offence and said that,” yes, I had an intuition to put my purse away and not leave it in front, yet ignored it.”
She was introspecting, yet I could not help but see the need to bring in empathy training or only allow those with a certain base line of empathy into the course the next time.
The light bulb went off in that teacher training. I could not afford to certify teachers who lacked that core value and capacity as it is so foundational to being a teacher. If that disconnect is there then they will end up hurting their students or being invasive, from that position of authority. If you lack empathy, then please do not apply to the 300-hour Arkaya teacher training as it is a self-awareness program which requires you to be kind and communicative to yourself and others. It is for one with a maturity of understanding or at least someone who has the humility to want to understand. And a big part of that is not losing your humaneness to concepts and staying stuck in the head.
You are, however, welcome to all community classes and the online programs, so you can slowly take in the necessary nourishment to honour your humanness. This might seem very basic, yet I see the ones who think the program is too basic are the ones who are most disconnected, want high flown intellectual concepts and lack the basics or foundations of respectful communication.
It is not how many asanas and assignments one gets done quickly in the teacher training. Though the left brain aspect of being able to follow structure and complete assignments is also necessary in the program. Over the two year program, finding cohesiveness between the left and right side of the brain is necessary. Prioritising emotional awareness, as basic as it sounds, is very necessary.
Where This Statement Of Karma Applies
We have already seen how our thoughts, words, behaviours and actions impact our lives. If we are eating junk food, living in high stress situations, living in mouldy spaces, having company that leads us down the wrong path or feeds our negativity, then we see that that is surely going to impact our lives. That is why on a practical level we become aware of all our choices right from what we think to what we drink.
So if we have not dealt with trauma and have not cultivated a capacity for self observation, we will likely project that pain onto an unrelated incident if we are not careful. This also perpetuates or creates a cycle of karma as we are harming another emotionally.
We can shift karma for the better by making conscious, aligned choices. It enables us to take responsibility for our actions
Kar and Kara
Kar in sanskrit is an action word as we saw in the previous blogs. Kara also means “hands.” So as much as our thoughts, words and deeds impact karma, our hands or kara execute actions and therefore karma. In many Indian languages kartha, karo, kar, karya, in ayurveda, indicates the physician's actions to bring the patient back into balance. These are words indicative of doing.
That is why when we wake up in the morning we have a beautiful manthra we can practice in order to implant the will of the divine mother onto all we do.
Morning Manthra To Enable Moving In The Right Direction
Karagre Vasathe Lakshmi
Karamadhye Saraswathi
Karamoole Sthitha Gauri
Mangalam Karadarshanam
Translation:
LINE 1
Kara = hands
agre = front
vasathe = resides
Lakshmi = mother of abundance; from root word lakshya or “supreme goal”
LINE 2
Kara = hands
madhye = middle
saraswathi = mother of divine wisdom arts and spirituality; from the root word saras which means “fluidity,” “water,” “water body;” vathi means “to have.” So, “the one who has or possesses fluidity” is Saraswathi.
LINE 3
Kara = hands
Moole = base/root as is moolam or mooladhara chakra
sthitha = stay or reside
Gauri = another aspect of Parvathi and Durga; the root word here is “white,” “shining,” “brilliant.” She is the energy, she is the driving force at the base and wrist.
Mangalam = auspicious
kara = hands
darshanam = to see or have the vision of
SUMMARY
This manthra reminds us that the different aspects of the divine mother reside in our actions and in our hands. It reminds us that, through intention or sankalpa, we can allow the highest to work through us.
We will learn this manthra during this week's community class.
What better affirmation and sacred ceremony to wake up to. We invite the divine mothers to guide our actions and therefore change our karma for the better.
How To Say This Prayer
Usually, with starting a chanting practice, there will be guidelines to: have a shower, stand in a particular direction, sit in a particular posture, etc. However this manthra has no guidelines except to not rush out of bed and simply lay there savouring the divine mothers, looking at one's hands and chanting. Maybe that is why I love this manthra so much as I feel the benevolent presence of the divine feminine in all her softness and power. As this feeling settles and is absorbed into our system we move through the day with this confidence and reassurance. We can move away from conditioning that creates more disharmonious karma rather than perpetuating unhealthy parts of the past.
On a practical level as well we will not be rushing out of bed, but taking time to wake up smoothly. The incidence of heart attacks increases when people rush from lying to standing.
So let us bless our kara and have our karma blossom into a space beyond negative, positive or neutral karma. May our being be a vehicle of righteous doing.
