Brief Summary
This TRS episode features Guru Sakalama discussing karma, its impact on our lives, and how to navigate it spiritually. She explains karma as man-made actions carried through lifetimes, influenced by desires and resulting in both good and bad experiences. The discussion covers neutralizing karma through practices, understanding the role of thoughts and emotions, and the importance of surrender and skillful action. The episode also touches upon astrology, the significance of a guru, and documenting divine experiences for future generations.
- Karma is man-made and carried through lifetimes.
- Neutralizing karma involves understanding and completing karmas, not just accumulating good deeds.
- Thoughts, emotions, and desires deeply influence our actions and karma.
- Surrender and skillful action are key to navigating life's phases.
- A guru's guidance is essential for choosing the right spiritual path.
Introduction to Karma with Guru Sakalama
The episode starts with a discussion about karma and its complexities. Guru Sakalama explains that karma is man-made and something we carry through many lives. She emphasizes that deeper spiritual practices can help neutralize karmas quicker. However, she cautions that while trying to complete old karmas, we often create new ones. The core skill, according to the discussion, is to control desires on a very deep level. The hosts also touches upon how wealth and property can sometimes come as bad karmas, illustrating this with the story of a diamond merchant who lost everything overnight due to an earthquake.
Karma Explained: Beginner vs. Advanced Perspectives
Guru Sakalama explains karma from both beginner and advanced perspectives, drawing from 34 years of personal exploration. She references Swami Rama's book, "Freedom from the Bondage of Karma," defining karma as something man-made. She says that those engrossed in worldly life are often clueless about karma's role in their past, present, and future. With each rebirth, we accumulate more desires and karmas, leading to a jumbled state where we're unsure how to lead our lives. Spirituality suggests our present life is driven by past desires, with current experiences stemming from actions in previous lives.
Neutralizing Karma and the Nature of Action
The discussion shifts to neutralizing karma through deeper spiritual practices. Guru Sakalama clarifies that karmas are not simply neutralized but must be completed. While trying to complete them, we must be aware of creating new ones. Karma involves performing actions, both good and bad, and for normal individuals, it's a mixture of both. Actions create a web of karma involving various factors, making it difficult to understand the connections without a guru. Even when trying to do good, we accumulate further karmas. The secret of life is to reap and enjoy the fruits of past karmas, both good and bad.
The Three Strands of Karma and the Bound Soul
Guru Sakalama defines karma as a rope binding us, made of three strands: thought process, karmas (desires influencing thoughts and emotions), and actions. Actions are visible, but their rationale may be unclear, causing suffering. Reward and punishment are two faces of these actions, binding us tightly. Understanding karma reveals we are bound souls, referred to as "pashu" in Shivism, with instincts and impulses dominating. The average person associates karma only with actions, missing the deeper layers of thoughts, emotions, and desires.
Controlling Desires vs. Understanding Karma
The conversation addresses whether controlling desires is the core skill to upgrade. Guru Sakalama disagrees with the word "control," emphasizing that humans are bound and lack freedom. Instead, she suggests understanding and going through the phases of karma. Even great souls experience terrible karmas, which can be great for spiritual evolution. Damage to one's personality can indicate clearing karma. The goal is to reach a state of neutrality towards good or bad phases, a state often taught by Saturn in astrology.
Astrology and the Phases of Karma
Guru Sakalama explains how planetary positions in one's horoscope reflect phases of karma. Saturn teaches neutrality by bringing both reward and punishment. Initially, people resist unhappiness, but Saturn teaches that both sorrow and joy are two faces of the same coin. This happens in everyone's life, even the greatest mahatmas. She shares an anecdote about a friend who, despite having a seemingly perfect life, focused on the negative aspects, highlighting that accumulating wealth doesn't guarantee a perfect life.
Perfection, Prayer, and the Importance of a Guru
The discussion explores the definition of perfection, which Guru Sakalama describes as staying still as life happens around you. She emphasizes that the whole day should be a prayer, not just a scheduled slot. The real sadhana begins when it becomes a part of your breath. Choosing the right sadhana is crucial, and a guru should guide this choice, as many available sadhanas can confuse the mind. Without guidance, one may become clueless about their spiritual direction and experience fear and apprehension.
The Role of a Guru and the Impact of Mantras
Guru Sakalama stresses the importance of a guru in guiding spiritual practice. She maintains connection with her initiates to help them decode their experiences, as many drop their sadhana out of fear and misunderstanding. Every mantra is an energy that recreates in the body. Taking mantras from YouTube without proper guidance is high risk. She notes that even the greatest mantras can have unforeseen impacts due to the confluence of karma, samskaras, and the individual's current phase of life.
Karma, Wealth, and the Teachings of Astrology
Guru Sakalama reiterates that not all karmas can be neutralized; some must be suffered or enjoyed. She shares examples of how property and money can come as bad karmas, recounting stories of a wealthy individual reduced to begging due to legal issues and a diamond merchant who lost everything in an earthquake. These fates are expressed in astrology through Rahu, Ketu, and Shani, which teach wisdom in handling karmas. Understanding karma is essential to avoid depression and the feeling that everything is predestined.
Integrity, Stillness, and Surrender
The host reflects on life lessons, noting that positive energy, kindness, hard work, and discipline are deposits for the future. However, even with these qualities, one must develop the ability to be still. Guru Sakalama explains that being still means not reacting to external inputs but observing them. She emphasizes that every action should be performed in the realm of surrender, as an offering to the divine, so that even bad phases don't affect you.
Handling Bad Phases and the Importance of Surrender
The discussion shifts to handling oneself at rock bottom during bad phases. The host emphasizes the importance of positive and spiritual people around you and the element of prayer or surrender. Guru Sakalama adds that closest people may not always be positive during bad phases, and one must often fight it alone. The easiest but toughest tool is surrender, flowing with the situation like a wave. She quotes a great soul, saying that life is a training on how to die, not how to live, which is learned through yoga.
Yoga, Karma, and the Goal of Life
Guru Sakalama defines yoga as skillful action in life, both good and bad. A yogi knows the map of karma and is not surprised by it. Karmas are categorized into those that have already happened, are happening, and will happen in the future. The solution is to perform actions skillfully so they don't affect you, leading to freedom and no reason to return to life. This is the real purpose of life. The host introduces the word "providence," the helpful nature of God, which should be sought even in difficult phases.
Good and Bad Phases: The Maturation of Karma
Guru Sakalama explains that good and bad phases are connected to karma, like deposits of good or bad actions maturing over time. Good actions lead to a "good phase" where everything you touch becomes gold, while bad actions lead to a "bad phase." She introduces the concept of "adrushta" (unseen fortune) and "dashta" (visible fortune), explaining that some actions have unseen causes connected to past lives. Living life with skill involves understanding these unseen connections.
Concluding Thoughts and Documenting Divine Experiences
The host concludes with a quote by Bruce Lee, advising to ask for the strength to endure a difficult life rather than an easy one. Guru Sakalama discusses her books, which document her divine experiences for future generations. She explains that she was inspired to write these books by her gurus, who guided her through the process. She emphasizes that writing the books is an offering back to them, sharing the knowledge invested in her. She invites people to join a nine-day practice to seek the blessings of the sages.
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