Kharmic Creation

Do we create our own Kharma? If so, how? The kharma we create for ourselves is not the same as inherited kharma or past life kharma, which is beyond the scope of what is being addressed here. The kharma we create is much closer to what is often referred to as a self fulfilling prophesy.

Whenever we judge an upcoming event or situation, we are setting into motion our own kharmic creations. The best way to demonstrate how this works is with an example of a negative kharmic creation, which unfortunately is easier for most of us to see than positive kharmic creations.

The important thing to remember is that we need to learn not to create any kharma at all, positive or negative. This may be a bit difficult to understand, but creating positive kharma can be just as problematic as creating negative. Simply, this is because we exist in a realm of opposites. Every coin has two sides. We can't know good without also knowing bad, we can't have right without wrong, up without down, etc.. It is for this reason that whenever we experience something really exciting it is inevitably followed by a downswing. When our emotions run high, they will be followed by a low and vice verse. When these swings become extreme within a person, it is often described as manic or bi-polar. All things are subject to change. Keeping this in mind then, if we stop creating kharma for ourselves, we can curb the mental and emotional rollercoaster we all tend to ride upon.

Lets examine how this works in a practical example. Suppose we have an upcoming meeting or appointment with an individual that a close friend or confidant has previously had a negative encounter with. When our friend first relayed to us their experience, and because of our natural tendency to look out for those closest to us, we form negative judgments about the person with which they had their encounters. Now with our upcoming meeting, prejudgments of our own encounter begin to form in our mind.

These prejudgments are a form of anticipation that we will have a similar encounter to that of our friend. This causes us to take on a defensive state of mind that is ready for whatever may happen. On a subtle level that we may not even realize, we hold our physical posture in a more defensive state, perhaps arms crossed or something similar, our facial expression will shift from one that is open and friendly to one that is less receptive to the other person. In other words, we go in looking for a fight where one may not exist in the first place, and not even realize we are doing it.

Everyone has the ability to pick up on subtle posture changes, facial expressions, voice patterns, mannerisms etc, that others give off. Not all of us realize we have this ability, especially if we are lost in our own thoughts or have never taken the time to pay attention. Often women are better at this than men, hence the expression woman's intuition.

Whether or not we are capable of consciously recognizing these patterns and expressions in another person, and unfortunately most of us aren't, we are capable of recognizing them at a subconscious level. The person we are meeting with, whether they consciously know it or not, are picking up on our vibes going into this meeting, and in turn will interpret a potentially negative encounter and also take on a defensive position. With both parties in a defensive posture, the stage has been set and the chances of the encounter becoming confrontational has just increased drastically.

Had we not formed an opinion or judgment regarding our friend's encounter, we would have been able to enter this meeting with a totally open and friendly posture, thereby greatly diminishing any chances of a negative encounter.

Michael L. Fournier