Often we talk about karma in the world of yoga. It is more than just what we understand as what comes around goes around.
Karma relates to the deeds – good or bad – that you do, have done, will do as well as those of your ancestors going back to the beginning of the existence of your soul. If you believe in God as a Christian or any other formal popular religion then this is a bit new age. However, it can be somewhat related to how as humans we continue to pay for the sins of Adam and Eve even though it was at the start of the world as we know it.
In the spiritual realm, karma relates to our souls that get reborn into new bodies. In some spiritualities these souls can be reborn into animal bodies; however, in most cases with yoga we talk about it in human forms.
I am sure there is a proper scientific study out there somewhere on this to explain why some people seem more “mature” than others or the person who is “wise beyond their years”, etc. Within the philosophy of yoga, we talk about that in terms of our karmic cycle.
While I am still working out the depths of my belief in this philosophy, I do believe that I am an old soul. Whether it is to justify to myself the early life that I have had or to give some sort of comfortable explanation to life, I do believe that I am the end of whatever karmic cycle my soul had started years ago.
In some ways I look at my adoption as a way of breaking away from the family cycle that may have been or still continues. I consider my lack of desire for children as another way of finishing the cycle. I feel that surviving my negative life experiences as a child was a way for my soul to work through the negative karma and to bring forth a positive end to the soul within me – allowing me to share love and compassion to others in my older years instead of growing old and bitter towards life as so many do and will.
Whether or not one believes in karma or these spiritual aspects does not matter. What matters most is how we cope with the life we were given and what sort of action are we taking day by day to improve ourselves to create a world of peace, love, calm and serenity for ourselves and those around us. Each person in our lives whether it is for a brief moment or a lifetime is affected by our words, our actions, our emotions, and even our breath. My wish is that the effect I have on others brings us a step closer to contentment and not towards chaos.
What effect are you having on those around you?
~T 😀