Karma, as a philosophical concept, originated in ancient Vedic traditions around 1500 BC and was later popularized by Eastern religions. It refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect, where the intentions and actions of an individual shape their future. Good intentions and good deeds contribute to good karma and happiness, while bad intentions and deeds lead to bad karma and suffering.
While this is a brief definition, the subject is much deeper. We create four types of karma throughout our lives:
Energetic Karma
From the moment we are born until we die, we create energetic karma. We are energy, and every atom within us interacts with the surrounding energy. Some energies are positive, like the air we breathe, while others, like wireless signals, can be less friendly. To protect ourselves from harmful energetic karma, we should aim to live close to nature.
Mental Karma
The second type is mental karma, which is influenced by our thoughts. Our subconscious mind plays a major role, especially in our dreams, which can alter our mindset. One can create negative karma by identifying with every thought the mind creates. For example, the placebo and nocebo effects work because we believe our thoughts can either heal or harm our bodies. To manage mental karma, we must learn to control stress and view our thoughts from a neutral perspective.
Emotional Karma
The third type is emotional karma. Every emotion we experience changes our body’s chemistry, and each emotion carries either a positive or negative effect. Some emotions are controllable, while others are not. All of our emotions contribute to either good or bad karma. To control this type of karma, we must master our emotions, but suppressing emotions does not equate to mastering them.
Physical Karma
The fourth type is physical karma, which refers to our physical actions and reactions. This type of karma aligns with the basic definition of karma: cause and effect. Our actions will eventually result in experiences that reflect their consequences. For example, when we do something good for someone, we will at some point experience the positive effects of those actions. The same applies to negative actions.
Healing Karma
There are methods to heal or cure karma, but to do so, we must first recognize the karmic actions we have created. Identifying the exact karmic event is crucial because healing requires us to recreate the victim’s experience using our imagination and emotion. We must emotionally feel, or as closely as possible, the same way the person who was harmed felt. Meditation with this emotional understanding can dissolve the negative karma.
However, creating good karma by performing good deeds is ineffective unless the intention behind those actions is pure. Good actions with impure intentions will not result in true positive karma.