Contemplating Karma

Sitting on my new light-grey sofa, looking out the window at my lush front yard, listening to the birds, sipping on my delicious bulletproof coffee this morning, I was contemplating the concept of karma. I was trying to get to its simplest form: the perpetual wheel of desires followed by actions and perceptions, and then more desires, the cycle we all are caught up in, by virtue of being in human form and desiring things. There is nothing wrong with wanting things, it’s just that what we want can’t last. For many of us, moving through this layer of letting go of desire feels like letting go of being human altogether. So contemplating that brings us to wonder: if we could interrupt the cycle of pleasure and suffering for a greater experience of existence, would we?

Desire is such a central and exciting part of being human. To let it go completely would be missing out on the sensuality and the pure pleasure of being a spiritual being living in a human body. After all, we came here in part to experience all the glorious things consciousness can’t without a sensing body. There is nothing wrong with desire, in fact, there is nothing wrong with Karma. It’s just that on the conscious spiritual path toward expansion to new levels of awareness, we come to realize that what we are chasing isn’t real. Our human mind, our ego believes that money, stuff, comfort, predictability, emotional and physical security, and status are real and must be acquired at all cost or else we might suffer or even die, when in fact they are only a part of a never-ending wheel of duality. So when the wheel comes around, and it always does, we experience the opposite perceptions: poverty, instability, precarity, unpredictability, and lack of perceived safety. The comfort we acquired leaves and we are again back in the seeking of it.

Again, there is nothing wrong with desire. It’s actually important to acknowledge them and go down the path of fulfilling them, as it is often our destiny to do so. We chose to create certain things to know what it is like to do so and we can move forward from that desire. Denying desires will make us sick. So it is not about ignoring our wants, but more about looking at them with our inner eyes and feeling where these wants come from. Are they a response to a feeling of lack or fear or do they actually come from a place of life-force-impulse within? If they come from a fear, the work is to be with and heal the fear. When they come from a place of life-force-impulse, we know the desire is already fulfilled and our job is to invite and allow the feeling to guide us in its outward fulfilment.

When we see the difference between the two desires, we often come to a place where we know that fulfilling our earthly desires no longer helps us see the deeper reality of existence. We want to go deeper into our expansion beyond earthly acquisition and manifestation but we bump against a new fear: that our human existence will cease. If this is your experience, know that this is not true. Once again, it is a fear, therefore not real. In an expanded level of consciousness detached from desire, we still have desires, and our needs are met. We don’t deny our desires, we simply are not lead by them anymore. They are fulfilled if they are aligned, transcended or transmuted if they are in dissonance with our dharma. In this state, the desires of our heart and our soul are fulfilled, from within. The fear of not enough does not lead our life. We know that there is nothing for us to do but to “be”, and engage from “be”, and serve our body, our minds, our friends, our family, and our community from a fulfilled “be”. That is the ultimate life of service, without lack as a driving force.

Then, a thought of doubt went across my mind, and like an instinctual reaction, a spontaneous illustration of my previous thoughts, my hands tossed my coffee mug in the air, and all that yummy buttery deliciousness splashed all over my new light-grey sofa… and couldn’t help but laugh.

For more information on Karma, please read this beautiful piece by Willie on a Little Spark Of Joy  https://www.alittlesparkofjoy.com/karma/

I hope your day is unfolding smoothly, or not, it’s all good ; )
💙