Monday's MeditationMom Moment - Karma

Q: The more I think about the idea of karma, the more I get confused. Isn't cultivating good karma for oneself in itself selfishly motivated?


MM: Forget cultivating good karma. Instead cultivate a calm mind. The calmer the mind, the more you will become who you truly are and go beyond dual concepts like selfishness and unselfishness, good karma and bad karma, etc. Once one is truly oneself one can neither be called selfish nor compassionate. Just like the sun which causes both skin cancer and makes our food grow - we become who we are and move beyond worry. To become oneself does not mean the Western idea of "do whatever you want". It means peacefulness, serenity and full presence in which all things get done that need to get done - no more, no less.

Strangely enough, Buddhism which teaches about Karma, the cause and effect of good and bad deeds over lifetimes - also teaches about non-dualistic thinking. When non-dualistic thinking is fully attained there is no karma. At that level time and space also disappear. Therefore, without time and space, whatever is happening now, is happening all throughout time.

One way to reach to non-dualistic thinking is through contemplating the idea of karma. The idea of karma, if followed logically, eventually turns into a koan and can free the mind.

Until then - think of karma as "you shall harvest as you sow". Tend your garden with awareness.