Karma means action, work or deed; it also refers to the principle of causality where intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual. Good intent and good deed contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deed contribute to bad karma and future suffering. Karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in some schools of Asian religions. In these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current life, as well as the nature and quality of future lives - or, one's samsāra. | Karmic alignment is a measure of whether a course of action lines up with the highest possible karma (action or outcome of that action) for an individual or group. Let's back up a little. For those unfamiliar with the concept, karma can refer to both a specific action , the results of that action, and the sum total of all of your actions, "good" or "bad." (Take a look at the side quotes for further definitions and more info on karma.) |
When I measure karmic alignment, I'm operating with the following premises:
- Reincarnation - we've lived before; multiple lifetimes.
- Past Life Karma - we've come into the world with varying degrees of accumulated karma from other lives. Some will be worked through in this life, some may take many lifetimes to clear, and some of it may be ready to be released entirely.
- Karmic residue - psychic residue, like soot, or sludge, that can be left behind after a karmic issue has been mostly cleared, but still lingers a bit. The major karmic lesson has been learned, and now some "spring cleaning" is possible.
- Karmic trajectory - our present lives have a certain direction, speed, and force that are a result of our past life karma and our current life's actions,
- Highest alignment - there exists a highest possible alignment for any moment, lifetime, group, or situation. This is a state of being. I see it as a column of light through the center of the situation.
- Karmic alignment - for every situation, person, or event, there is an action or series of actions that are in highest alignment for the situation, and bring the greatest light.
Rebirth, or saṃsāra, is the concept that all life forms go through a cycle of reincarnation, that is a series of births and rebirths. The rebirths and consequent life may be in different realm, condition or form. The karma theories suggest that the realm, condition and form depends on the quality and quantity of karma. In schools that believe in rebirth, every living being's soul transmigrates (recycles) after death, carrying the seeds of Karmic impulses from life just completed, into another life and lifetime of karmas. This cycle continues indefinitely, except for those who consciously break this cycle by reaching moksa. Those who break the cycle reach the realm of gods, those who don't continue in the cycle.
- Wikipedia article on Karma
Sometimes people or organizations go off course, off mission, or get a little lost in the weeds.
If this is the case, I can help return things to highest alignment - provided it is karmic alignment to do so.
For example, if someone genuinely wants to turn around a dire situation, and it's their highest karmic path to do so, I can shift the energy to bring it back into alignment because this is what that person's higher self and soul also want.
And sometimes, being lost IS the right way to go. It may be that your being or organization has chosen to have this experience of feeling lost and uncertain so that you can find your own way. In which case, I would be doing a disservice to you if I were to take the action of picking you up and setting you back on the freeway. What I can do, however, is help to clear away the fog surrounding your choices, or provide a new set of skills for how to address the issue, perhaps give you a new map of the territory, and some additional provisions.
"But my organization really needs money, and we're trying so hard to help people. We're really desperate here, can you help?"
Again, it depends on whether it's in karmic alignment. Occasionally, organizations or departments form that are composed of people who are all working on similar or interlocking pieces of karma. There are times when it IS in highest karmic alignment for a whole organization to fail miserably, to run out of funding, grapple with fear, or close its doors. Sometimes these are folks working through karmic issues of poverty, desperation, fear and need. They may not be in quite as dire straits as the people they are serving -- or are they? And to what purpose? Is there a greater and higher purpose beyond that which is immediately visible?
Directly after college, I worked for a domestic violence agency. Although we helped women and children escape from scary situations, we worked in one too - behind bullet proof glass and a locked gate. After that, I graduated to working at an outpatient mental health clinic, where I had a panic button at my desk in case I needed to call security, and the janitorial office on speed dial for mopping up blood. These were scary places for me to work. Eventually, through personal healing work and martial arts training, I resolved my own fears enough to graduate to working for an organization with "flawless" security, according to the security detail for a visiting government dignitary. I had as much "security" as anyone could dream of, physical and material, and had the resources to address issues of poverty, desperation, fear, and need on a global scale. And eventually, even that was not enough.
I feel like there's some even greater task before me, having to do with addressing the security and survival needs of the human race itself, by helping those people who, in their service to others and the world, serve as nodes of harmonic resonance, or lynch pins to unlocking a brighter future for all of us.
And yet, I never would have reached these heights of contribution if someone had waved a magic wand and "taken away" the stress and fear I felt in my early 20s, or even the stress and fear I feel in this moment, going public with the non-academic, non-business side of myself. Do you see how the issues remained the same, but as I grew, so did my capacity to address them? And the fear passes through me more quickly too, such that most days I am relatively fearless, and I have become increasingly comfortable being visible and leading.
So if we work together, I will be very careful to measure the karmic alignment, collaborate with your higher self on which issues we can easily clear, what can be brought into alignment, and what karma is yours alone to address or do because it will lead you to your greatest gift, and your greatest contribution to humanity. YOU are the gift.
If this is the case, I can help return things to highest alignment - provided it is karmic alignment to do so.
For example, if someone genuinely wants to turn around a dire situation, and it's their highest karmic path to do so, I can shift the energy to bring it back into alignment because this is what that person's higher self and soul also want.
And sometimes, being lost IS the right way to go. It may be that your being or organization has chosen to have this experience of feeling lost and uncertain so that you can find your own way. In which case, I would be doing a disservice to you if I were to take the action of picking you up and setting you back on the freeway. What I can do, however, is help to clear away the fog surrounding your choices, or provide a new set of skills for how to address the issue, perhaps give you a new map of the territory, and some additional provisions.
"But my organization really needs money, and we're trying so hard to help people. We're really desperate here, can you help?"
Again, it depends on whether it's in karmic alignment. Occasionally, organizations or departments form that are composed of people who are all working on similar or interlocking pieces of karma. There are times when it IS in highest karmic alignment for a whole organization to fail miserably, to run out of funding, grapple with fear, or close its doors. Sometimes these are folks working through karmic issues of poverty, desperation, fear and need. They may not be in quite as dire straits as the people they are serving -- or are they? And to what purpose? Is there a greater and higher purpose beyond that which is immediately visible?
Directly after college, I worked for a domestic violence agency. Although we helped women and children escape from scary situations, we worked in one too - behind bullet proof glass and a locked gate. After that, I graduated to working at an outpatient mental health clinic, where I had a panic button at my desk in case I needed to call security, and the janitorial office on speed dial for mopping up blood. These were scary places for me to work. Eventually, through personal healing work and martial arts training, I resolved my own fears enough to graduate to working for an organization with "flawless" security, according to the security detail for a visiting government dignitary. I had as much "security" as anyone could dream of, physical and material, and had the resources to address issues of poverty, desperation, fear, and need on a global scale. And eventually, even that was not enough.
I feel like there's some even greater task before me, having to do with addressing the security and survival needs of the human race itself, by helping those people who, in their service to others and the world, serve as nodes of harmonic resonance, or lynch pins to unlocking a brighter future for all of us.
And yet, I never would have reached these heights of contribution if someone had waved a magic wand and "taken away" the stress and fear I felt in my early 20s, or even the stress and fear I feel in this moment, going public with the non-academic, non-business side of myself. Do you see how the issues remained the same, but as I grew, so did my capacity to address them? And the fear passes through me more quickly too, such that most days I am relatively fearless, and I have become increasingly comfortable being visible and leading.
So if we work together, I will be very careful to measure the karmic alignment, collaborate with your higher self on which issues we can easily clear, what can be brought into alignment, and what karma is yours alone to address or do because it will lead you to your greatest gift, and your greatest contribution to humanity. YOU are the gift.