Lead an Empowered Life Using Karma Awareness: Science and religion provide much evidence on the cause and effect relationship we call karma, advises John D. Seibert

We live in a world where the word karma has become a part of our everyday language. We most commonly find it in colloquial phrases about “bad karma”. More than just a poignant term, karma is attached to some practical ancient wisdom that can be used to lead a better and more focused, happier and peaceful life.

Karma is associated with many religions, mostly as a Buddhist concept, but it has roots in other religions like Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism. The concept is even referenced by Christianity in the phrase, “Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”

Science also has a place for karma in the law of cause and effect, part of Newton’s three laws of motion: that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, if one object exerts a force on a second object, the second exerts an equal and oppositely directed force on the first one.

From a more practical personal view, karma means that for our every thought, word or action there is a reaction, which may return in a positive, a negative or a neutral way, depending on how it was sent. What you send out, you receive in return. On an everyday practical note, this means that the more positive we can be in our thoughts, words and actions, the more we will evolve to a more positive place in our soul’s journey and the happier we will be.

The Buddhist wheel of karma points out things to avoid, like ignorance, hatred, anger, desire and greed. The more we don’t do these things, the better people we will be and the better karma we will be creating. At any point in time we are either ascending in our consciousness (happier) by not doing these negative things or we are descending in our consciousness (unhappier) by doing them.

The wheel of karma also has broken down the cycle of life for each one of us. It defines how we come into the world, things to be aware of to continue to ascend in consciousness and be happy and things to avoid. It gives us tips on how to remain positive in our thoughts, words and actions, and how we must overcome our innate programming. Here are a few points that explain the cycle of life and some innate programming we have to overcome.

• We come into this world in ignorance, with no concept of the past or how we can influence our future.
• The effort we put into this life creates the karma we will experience later. Discipline and practice are paramount in a soul’s evolution.
• Seeing things as I, me and mine creates negativity, fostering envy, hatred and greed, etc.
• The five senses can be a trap for pleasure or a vehicle to higher consciousness if they are reined in. We can use the mouth to speak poisonous words or loving words.
• Sensuality, left unchecked, can lead to further pleasure-seeking and attachment to those pleasures, such as sex, food and exercise, etc.
• We are attracted to pleasure and avoid pain.
• We can become easily addicted to pleasure like alcohol and drugs, etc.
• When we are attached to things such as a house, a bigger house and a bigger house, etc., we continue to grasp and grasp for them, and this is an endless cycle that creates suffering.
• What we do in this lifetime affects the next ones. Awareness creates a better life.

These simple guidelines can all be very helpful as we navigate our journey of life. They give us a road map of things that would be better for us; things we need to be aware of and do our best to keep in check, and rewire; those things that can lead us down a more difficult path. These concepts lead a person to be 100 percent responsible for their life, with no one else to blame. When we can accept 100 percent responsibility for something, we have the power to change and transform it. We would also be just a little easier on each other and ourselves, too, because internal violence does far more damage than outward violence ever will.

With so much evidence from both science and religion, there must be something to this cause and effect relationship we call karma. Countless people have decided to examine their lives more deeply using these concepts and have become more peaceful and happier. Peaceful happier people have more peaceful and happier families, friends, communities, countries and one day, a peaceful and happy world.

John D. Seibert, MSW, is a mentor, educator and coach, specializing in the mind, body and their connection to the human energetic system. His practice is located at the B-Well Center, in Scottsdale. For more information, call 602-384-1745 or visit JohnDSeibert.com.