Hello dear friends, the theme for the month of April in The SynoSphere is the fascinating topic of Destiny and Reincarnation. This first post explains the concepts of Karma and Dharma.

The Law of Cause and Effect

‘Man cannot perform even the slightest act without inevitably triggering certain forces which, just as inevitably, produce certain effects. This notion of the relation of cause to effect was primordial in the original meaning of the word karma. It was only later that Karma was taken to mean the debt incurred by past misdeeds.

Karma-yoga, one of the many different yogas which exist in India, is nothing more than a discipline which teaches individuals to develop themselves through disinterested activities destined to set them free. It is when man acts with covetousness, cunning and dishonesty that he begins to incur debts and it is then that Karma takes on the meaning which is now commonly attributed to it: punishment for faults committed in the past.

In point of fact it would be true to say that Karma – in the second sense of the word – becomes operative whenever anyone does something which is less than perfect and, of course, this includes almost every one of our actions! But man proceeds by trial and error. He needs to practise before he can do something perfectly and as long as he goes on making mistakes, he has to correct and make up for them and this entails hard work and suffering.

You will perhaps be tempted to conclude that since we inevitably make mistakes in all our actions and that this entails suffering and reparation, it would be far better to do nothing! Not at all. One must act. It is true, of course, that you will suffer, but you will learn, you will evolve, and then one day you will suffer no more. Once you have learned to work correctly there will be no more Karma for you. It is a fact that every gesture, every word, triggers certain forces which lead to certain consequences. But if your words and gestures were inspired by lovingkindness, purity and altruism, they would trigger beneficial effects. This is known as dharma‘

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

Izvor Book 202, Man, Master of his Destiny