Some suggestions on dealing with karmic bondage

The last few articles have been dedicated to karmic accounts. In this last article in the series, I will give some general suggestions based on my own experience.

While BK knowledge may give some importance on this topic, their advise on practical issues may leave a lot to be desired: Basically, “yoga with Baba” and “Do not” type of procedures geared towards avoiding the creation of “new karmic accounts.” Nevertheless, it is a safe response when dealing with many followers, but not enough in my experience.

According to time, there is a need to learn the art of enjoyment. A yogi life style is known for a steadfast almost stubborn renunciate attitude of not deviating from “a mental ideological line.” That line can be anything. When we deprive ourselves from many things in the belief that this mental idea will give us a “better” spirituality; we are putting ourselves to a challenging life style which will take away any sort of taste of Life. Certainly, if we are addicted to sugar and someone says that we need to stop eating sugar completely, then that is understandable. But if there isn’t any sort of addiction, then we are merely blindly following something which we have not experience and we will go through that commandment in a repressed mode. To recognize addiction in us, requires a certain level of awareness and raw honesty.

If a karmic bondage takes away your health, enjoy Life from another perspective: Learn ways to heal not only the self but others. Enjoy the moments when your health is better. Use your taste buds to enjoy food. Enjoy the company of another. Enjoy the specific circumstances that you are living which makes possible that other new things appear in your Life which otherwise, wouldn’t be there. Duality works in that way: Something is taken away from you, but something else is given instead. Discover that which has been given and enjoy it, for it will change. If healing is needed, I strongly recommend alternative medicine as much as possible. This is usually known as pseudo medicine or quackery; as this cannot be scientifically proven. The catch is that at this time we get “help from up above.” Our artificial life style away from Nature, requires that we receive special help to live, and there are some therapists being helped to help others. In some countries they may be known as “shamans” or “healers,” or “therapists.” How do you know if these individuals are reliable? Look for someone who is known to be effective through word of mouth AND one who does not believe in economical gain as the reason to be practicing her art. “Help from up above” typically goes to those whose main concern is to help others despite the amount of money they get. Most of the time, these individual have no idea that they are helped from “up above.”

Here, some therapies that I have had some experience with: Craniosacral therapy, Biomagnetism, singing bowls, acupuncture, aromatherapy, homeopathy, herbal medicine, reiki, reflexology, breathwork, massage, hypnotherapy. If you wonder what I mean by “up above,” that is help beyond this physical world. We may add whatever our belief is, but that doesn’t matter. That is the reason why science cannot verify the validity of such methods for the “steps” do not work the same for every individual performing them, unless they are “chosen ones.”

If an individual experiences any sort of loneliness and feels deprived of company, to be able to live with yourself is not an easy task but if life has put you in that experience, that is because you have the capacity to do it. After all, living with yourself is the path to no-self. It is up to you to recognize the opportunity behind that experience. When you are fully comfortable with yourself and in-yourself, there is no longer a need to be emotionally subservient of another. This experience of being alone is something that Life will put you under and not something that “we decide to do.” In the meantime, enjoy all the activities that you can do by yourself!

I have discovered the healing and fulfilling effect of movement in sports, dance and hatha yoga. Anyone who could practice on a regular basis a non competitive physical activity, is blessed in my opinion. Another outlet which is important for emotional healing is music. Yes, we could listen to it but to play it, that is another level. It is a good way to spend time with music as long as we do it for the sake of it, and not because we “want to be better at it” or “want to be a star” or something along those lines. That way of traditional thinking is merely using the arts for ego enhancement. Play music, just because. Enjoy it! That is its own reward.

In a nutshell: Enjoyment of that which you can DO is the key. That is the new view or perspective. Appreciation of the experience happening through us; and learning to find positive in that which we perceive as negative should be, in my opinion; the focus of any spiritual bona fide teaching at this time.

The art of enjoyment and appreciation is coming from feelings at the heart center. This is important to remember. We cannot only “think” that we are enjoying Life.

Our ability to feel despite whatever complaining junk our mind comes up with, is key in going beyond the crucifix of a karmic bondage.

Finally, for those looking to help others and (here comes the incentive for those still caught in ‘what’ s in for me?’) “accumulate good karma,” there is an international non for profit organization called Peta (https://www.peta.org/about-peta/) whose mission is to help animals to have ethical treatment from humans. Animals are sentient beings just like us experiencing a lower level of consciousness; our “little brothers.” Helping them is to help other souls. While humans are complex, animals are simple and they just want to be let alone and live their lives as “human free” as possible. There are a couple of issues going at this time: Owls and Dogs. If this “service” is suitable for you, here is a chance to help.

Learning from karmic bondage

In a culture of avoidance for the sake of ‘solving problems,’ most become oblivious of the lessons in Life. How could we learn from a situation of cheer suffering? We may ask.

Emotional suffering brings the opportunity to observe how insignificant this “I” could be. It doesn’t matter how much we try to “protect” it or to avoid any sort of unpleasant situation, Life will bring a way for us to experience the other half of that duality.

Observe the life of any individual. It has its side of pleasure and its side of pain. Those sides cannot be measured and we cannot compare with another as Life brings the experiences according to our capacity to withstand them. There is no way out, no matter how clever or smart we believe to be. This realization in itself will bring a sense of awe and respect for Life for the rare opportunity to live and experience. After all, it is not about “my accomplishments,” or “my success.” Observe that the other side of the duality, the one we want to run away from, will kick in at some time. This is the part of the story that we never get to learn in society; as the promotion of the “I accomplish this” or the “successful I,” is there continuously. Along those lines is the thought behind “settling a karmic account.” That is, “let me be successful.” “Let me give you the method.”

Let me be concise. It does not depend fully on us. Therefore, it is important to learn to observe and deal with situations as they appear in front of us and not based on some philosophical, idealistic view of Life.

Let me illustrate: Person A knows that person B steals. Person A has a distaste for stealing and likewise for person B. Perhaps in a religious setting, person A has been taught to “forget and forgive” and to “never steal” or perhaps person A has been taught to send “good feelings and good wishes” and he is “practicing that.”

A few years later, Life brought suffering to person A. Person A lost everything he had. Person A experiences hunger now. Person A is ready to steal in order to survive. If person A lacks observation and he is only concerned in protecting that “I” and enhancing it, then his awareness is not there yet and he will continue to deepen the experience of sorrow. Nothing wrong with taking that path. However, this is a great opportunity for mercy and compassion to appear without “practice,” therefore; the real deal. Person A knows about misfortune and he will not be so fast in judging another. That is the value of experiencing a misfortune and taking the “jewels” of that experience with us. That requires an individual with keen observation and above all, awareness.

On the other hand, most will fight back. Through that mentality of “fighting in Life” they may get back where they were before or even above that through their own “effort,” but… their sense of “I” will have grown exponentially . “I overcame misfortune. Let me teach you how to do it. Read my book. Buy my DVD. I am an example.” A “success story” is born and our society likes that. For society and many “spiritual” teachings, there is no need to appreciate the experience of tragedy and be open for a humble beginning where we can understand what is like to feel misfortune and put ourselves in someone’s shoes. Incredibly, it is out of that appreciation how “virtues” will flourish without learning any intellectual “spiritual teachings.”

If we experience what is like to be compassionate, then courage will appear. If we learn to be frugal with ourselves, then we have the space to be generous with others. However, if we take frugality as the way to enrich ourselves (the “I”,) then a penny pincher will be born instead.