I’ve been seeing a disturbing trend of posts and articles asking people to stop using the word karma to explain reality, because it’s hurtful to those who’ve had a difficult experience and feel blamed or shamed for it.
I truly honor all of us who have had to go through some seriously traumatic experiences.
And I do NOT ever recommend giving anyone unsolicited opinions about their own karma. (Really, it’s a terrible idea!)
And yet, if karma is one of our lenses into truth… into what’s so… into capital “R” Reality… does it really empower us to jettison it so we can feel better?
I actually don’t think it’s empowering or makes us feel good to imagine that none of our actions have any effect.
By rejecting the concept of karma we are literally saying, “I don’t believe in cause and effect.”
We are saying, “My actions have no fruit.”
We are saying, “It does not matter what I think or do today, I will die and be reborn and none of my spiritual development, transformation or effort will accompany me.”
In rejecting the notion that our NEGATIVE energy will follow us, we throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater because none of our POSITIVE energy would be able to come either.
We can’t have it both ways.
Either life is a meaningless, temporary adventure that ends when we die, or we are eternal beings who carry with us memories, imprints and soul trajectories.
As someone who reads Vedic Astrology charts (aka karma maps) all day long, and has the trippy experience of being able to accurately name what happened to someone in the past, with only a birth time to go off of, I can personally say: I believe we have a destiny.
I can see that there are predictable events that happen to us throughout our lives.
I can see that they aren’t always things we caused in this lifetime.
And I feel empowered by the idea that the choices I make today – the seeds that I plant – can ripple out into my life, other people’s lives, and future lifetimes.
I can’t tell you how many times an astrology client of mine has felt deep relief in knowing that a traumatic event was predestined from previous lifetimes.
That it wasn’t their fault.
That they couldn’t have changed anything.
That the karma has been done and that event is now in the past.
They feel validated, emboldened and renewed — not shamed, blamed or shut down.
Karma doesn’t mean “an eye for an eye.”
It doesn’t mean that if we were violated, we must have done the exact same thing to that person (or someone else).
It just means that we were somehow involved in causing another’s pain, and that this energy is returning to us to be completed.
It means there is an opportunity to close the loop, complete the circuit, and heal… forever.
To me, this knowledge is a profound gift of true seeing, not one to be tossed in the trash as a self protection mechanism.
I will never stop talking about karma, because it’s my lens into Truth, so please know that if you continue to follow me, that’s what will continue to flow through me.
And next time someone admonishes you for using the word karma to understand life, perhaps this explanation will help.
And yet, we should never weaponize karma or talk about it lightly. It’s serious business that causes people to feel all sorts of things, and by throwing it around carelessly, we will create more of our own negative karma.
I recommend discussing other people’s specific karma only in a formal, permission based container like a Vedic Astrology reading or other type of professionally guided session, in our domain of expertise.
