Category Archives: Karma

Is It the Flu or Karma

Posted on by

Is It Just the Flu? Or Is It Your Karma?

By George A. Boyd© 2016

Many aspirants are puzzled why illness and misfortune visit them, and they wonder if this is their karma acting up. One of the key determinations you need to make is whether this is a simple illness—unrelated to any karmic issue you are working through—or whether it does have karmic underpinnings. Here’s how you can tell:

Karma adds additional layers to a physical injury or illness. For example, physical symptoms accompany illnesses. These symptoms can include inflammation, fever, swelling, pain, throbbing, abnormal growth of tissue, formation of scar tissue, nausea, or dizziness—there is something you recognize isn’t right, and you don’t feel well.

Illnesses that are the expression of karma have seven additional layers:

  1. Etheric blockage – your life energy (chi, prana) doesn’t flow through this area
  2. Emotional reactions – underlying the symptoms are dysphoric feelings such as emotional pain (suffering), shame, worry, fear, anger, depression, or desperation
  3. Desire or craving – the symptoms may embody wishes or desires: what you want, but aren’t getting; or what you are experiencing, and you don’t want to deal with anymore
  4. Imagination – there are the images, dream-like reveries, and animations of the subconscious mind that personify the issue
  5. Beliefs, memories, and thoughts – this is the cognitive expression of the issue—the beliefs, thoughts, and memories that the issue generates
  6. Mental impressions – These appear like iron or copper filings that adhere to the causal body. You feel these impressions are imbedded in the helix of the mind. This is the actual substance of karma, which Buddhists call samskaras.
  7. Seed at the core of the issue – This is the essence upon which all other aspects of karma are anchored. When this seed is burned away through transformation, all of the karmic layers dissolve.

You can do an inquiry through a structured process meditation to determine whether your physical symptoms have a karmic foundation or not.

If the symptoms are localized—for example, you have a throbbing pain in your right elbow—you would ask that part of your body these questions. As you do this process, you are going to put your attention on that part of your body that doesn’t feel right.

If it isn’t localized—for example, you feel achy all over—you would just ask your whole body these questions. Your attention is going to just touch the edge of the symptoms of malaise as you do this inquiry.

Here are the questions and process requests you can make to probe the symptoms of your illness to determine whether they arise from karma:

  1. What physical symptoms do you cause in me? Your illness might not “tell” you this, but you will simply note what these symptoms are through paying attention to what your body is experiencing in the present time and labeling them: congestion in the nose… aching in the cheeks…
  2. Show me the blockage that you represent. If your condition is karmic, you will feel a blockage or obstruction somewhere in your body that feels directly connected to the symptoms you are experiencing. If you wish to explore this more deeply, you may wish to trace with your attention where this blockage begins and ends.
  3. What emotional reactions do you embody? Note if any feelings come up, and what those feelings are. If memories of specific incidents arise as you do this, notice what those incidents are.
  4. What do you desire or want? [You can also ask, what are you rejecting or avoiding?] You will note what it is you want at a deep level that you are not getting. If you don’t get a response to what you desire or want, ask the alternative question, “What are you rejecting or avoiding?”
  5. What image represents you? You might get a simple image here, or you might get a wild internal drama enacted before your mind’s eye. Simply pay attention to whatever your question evokes from your subconscious mind.
  6. What beliefs, memories, or thoughts are associated with you? Here you will pay attention to the cognitive layer where these beliefs, memories, and thoughts express, and simply note what arises.
  7. Show me the impressions that underlie this karmic pattern and the seed at its core. If your subconscious mind has been giving you information as you asked each of these questions, at this stage you will a see a pattern and a black or golden seed at the end of it. If you get this vision, you will have definite confirmation that the symptoms you are experiencing are rooted in karma.

If you don’t get a response to questions two to seven, it is likely that you have an uncomplicated illness, not related to a karmic substrate. But, this could also mean that your subconscious mind is as silent and mysterious as the sphinx, and doesn’t wish to tell you anything!

If you are getting clear answers to questions two to seven, you may have some initial confirmation that the symptoms you are experiencing do have a karmic substrate. You may wish to hold this information you have received with some reservation, however, because some individuals have a truly wild imagination and make up all kinds of crazy things!

You may find this meditation may be helpful in teasing out whether some naughty thing you did in a past life—or earlier in this life—is catching up with you, or whether you have just caught a bug.

Types of Destiny

Posted on by

By George A. Boyd ©2016

Q: Are there different types of destiny that people experience? It seems there are lives of suffering and privation, and lives of great affluence; lives of the common man and those who are luminaries and leaders; and those who make spirituality their primary focus. Is there a rhyme or reason to these karmic patterns we observe?

A: The Lords of Karma set up the destiny karma for each individual is set up at the time of birth. Those who are conscious in the interlude between lives may be able to choose between different scenarios presented to them, this destiny is generally executed once one is born into life—although we may see the precursors of genetic conditions during the embryonic period of development.

We can describe seven general categories of destiny. They are not mutually exclusive: individuals may experience aspects of more than one category simultaneously, or during discrete episodes in their lives. These categories are:

  1. Karmic retribution – these are genetic conditions, chronic physical illness, intractable patterns of addiction, and mental illness that incapacitate an individual throughout their lives—these are lives of suffering and retribution for evil karmic deeds committed in former lives.
  2. Karmic reward – these are lives of privilege, wealth, and leisure founded upon charity and good deeds in former lives
  3. Lives of learning and achievement – these are lives which are based largely on an individual using their liberty to develop their knowledge and abilities and contribute something to their families, and to the community and the society in which they live
  4. Lives of power and influence – these individuals rise to become eminent in their field, and become leaders of institutions, companies, and governmental bodies
  5. Lives of aspiration and devotion – these individuals begin to have spiritual and mystic experiences, and pursue spiritual development as the first priority of their lives. Some will become members of monastic communities, some will become clergy, and some will study spiritual teachings and join spiritual groups, often becoming initiated into different spiritual Paths.
  6. Lives of Mastery – these individuals gain spiritual Mastery in a tradition and work to minister and disseminate its teachings.
  7. Lives of Mission – these individuals have their entire life track—the goals they must accomplish—predestined for them, and they must simply enact what is written there. This form of destiny does not appear until one has achieved Mastery, and is associated with those who are working on the Ascension Path.

Types one and two seem to have little control over their lives: much seems to be predestined and they just live through the nightmare or the good fortune they have been granted.

Types three and four bring to mind the ideas of an individual making their way in life or creating their destiny prevalent in wealthy, industrialized countries. They have much greater liberty and can make new choices that improve their abilities and knowledge and their position in life; they can also misuse their liberty and vitiate their lives.

Spirituality strongly influences types five and six. This can have different permutations: individuals who fight for moral values to be enacted in political and social arenas; individuals who retreat from life and embark on a spiritual quest; individuals who share the spiritual gifts they have gained through healing, counseling, guiding, or initiating others; and individuals who lead spiritual groups and movements.

Type seven is most rare; it is seen only in those Masters, who are enacting a mission on behalf of the Dispensation that God has granted them. An example of this is seen in the Bible, which hints that Jesus Christ may have had events of his life predestined—his ministry, his betrayal, and his crucifixion. Living through the episodes of his life, he demonstrated the Ascension after his resurrection.

We note that destiny karma can be all encompassing for some individuals, and condition nearly everything they experience. For others there is much greater liberty.

We encourage aspirants to contemplate what is their zone of liberty, and use this to do what they can, where they are in their lives, with an aim to improve themselves—both in their personal lives and spiritually. We are reminded of Dr. Steven Hawking, who despite living with a debilitating type one illness, is one of the pre-eminent physicists of our time. Whatever obstacles your destiny may be currently putting in your path, optimize the liberty you do have to achieve what you can and actualize your human and spiritual potentials.