Dear Reader, Tomorrow i.e on June 21st, 2016 the world is going to celebrate the second ‘International Day of Yoga’. I want you to understand the importance of this day. Yogic science has survived for the last thousands of years and is still on, without being enforced by any particular community, law, religion or vested forces. Only because it works it has survived. Never before in the history of United Nations, it happened, where 177 nations came together and passed a resolution to celebrate June 21st as the international day of yoga. June 21st was chosen for it because this was the day when Shiva, the first Yogi started imparting the science of yoga to the Sapt Rishis (The 7 sages). This day is also significant for those who are doing some kind of yogic practices because there is a natural upsurge of energies in nature and we can make use of it to enhance our inner experiences.

Before we look deep into the karmic code, it’s very important to first understand what is Karma. In many people’s perception, the karma doesn’t exist and there are two reasons for it. Either they don’t know what it is or they are not straight enough to admit that their life is their making. So let’s understand what karma really means & what role it plays in every individual’s life.

What is Karma?: Karma nowadays is again an overused & immensely exploited word in the society. Let’s look at the scientific definition of Karma. Karma simply means ‘Action’, whose action, my action. This is all the karma is nothing more nothing less. Whatever choices you make in your life, accordingly you need to face the consequences as well. So every action you choose to make, there is an outcome or an effect attached to it. No matter how big or how small the action is. If you made a choice, you are bound to face the consequence.

Since from my childhood, I have been listening that our life is our karma. Which means that whatever is happening in our life is because of the karmic code which we carry or in another way the choices we have made. In rural India many times when people used to gather for a function or a marriage, they used to discuss the same, for e.g how a person did bad to them and suddenly he met an accident or How their neighbor had intentions to hurt them and the neighbor ended up hurting himself only. Likewise, I remember many stories, but at that point in time, I used to think that this was all rubbish because I did not have the proper understanding of what it means. But today that is all clear in my mind.

All the choices which you have made will have a very significant impact on your present and your future. Hence in every moment of our life whatever small or big action, we are performing, we should perform it with absolute awareness. Once we have made a choice we should be 100 percent ready to face the outcome. 90 percent of the human suffering is only because of one single reason. And the reason is people make silly choices and when the climax comes, they are not prepared to accept. That’s the root cause of the human suffering. And the suffering is not because something good or bad happens to people, the suffering comes only because the people are not 100 percent straight to themselves.

When good things are happening to the people, they seem to be enjoying everything, and more importantly, people love to be responsible for such situations & actions. They feel pride that this is something which they have accomplished and they did it. Now the moment something bad happens to same people, they seem to be in an ignorant mode and suddenly the happiness is gone, people become depressed and they disown everything. They are not ready to accept the present situation. They want to take responsibility only when something good is happening not when an unexpected incident comes into the picture. The only and only reason for such kind of behavior is that people are not 100 ready to accept that life is their own making. They think there is somebody sitting up there in the seventh sky controlling them like robots. If such is your approach towards life, trust me you can never get out of this whirlpool. You will get more and more entangled and you will suffer the very process of life itself.

How karma gets stored?: We are talking here about the actions which we perform. And how do we know that we performed this or that action? The simple answer is ‘Memory’. We remember anything because we have a memory. Now suppose we did not have the memory with us, then not just every day, but every moment would have been a new moment for us. If we look deeper every moment is an actually a new moment, but in our experience, every moment is not new because we are entangled in our memories. Consider that you don’t have the memory, would you remember what you did yesterday or what you ate yesterday. The answer is No, Only because we have a memory, we remember things or rather we remember our actions which we have performed in our past.

And if we look at the very nature of memories, It wants to accumulate more and more. The more you try to forget something, the more firmly it would settle down in your head. Have you ever noticed the same? The more you try to get rid of some past memory, the more you get entangled with it, because this is the nature of memory. Until you have a certain level of awareness within you; you won’t be successful in doing that. Having said this, memories at the same time are very powerful & phenomenal in nature. Let’s take an example: The very form which we humans have taken today, both at the level of our body and our mind has been possible due to the ‘Memory’ itself. We are the product of 13.8 billion years of evolution starting right from the big bang. Now if the atoms did not have the memory, they would have never reorganized themselves into cells, If cells did not have the memory, they would have never organized themselves into tissues. Similarly, tissues would have never created organs. So in simple terms the very thing which we call as our body would never have taken this shape which we have today.

Similar fashion goes for our minds. Memory is inbuilt in each and every cell of your body. Today medical scientists have proved beyond doubt, that our body has 100 trillion cells and each and every cell carries a memory. Every cell in our body has been naturally programmed for health & cells remembers that they exist to create health in our system. Suppose if our cells lose the memory & they stop working for our body, the very structure of our flesh and bones will fall apart right this moment. Only because the cells are working day and night, we are alive.

So the problem is not of the memory. The problem lies in the human mind. The memory is one of the most prestigious faculties of a human system. The only thing is we are not using it judiciously. If we are not inspired by anything, at least we should get inspired by the cells of our body which always makes sure that we stay on. We people are so entangled in our minds that we have made a hell out of our memory. What could have been a great possibility, we have converted that into our worst nightmare.

The more you get entangled in the memory, the more you increase you Karmic code or in another word you become just like a ‘Fevicol’ (A brand of glue). Whatever comes your way, that thing just sticks to you. When you become a glue, you don’t have a choice, everything simply sticks to you. If you are in such a state, the very first thing which you need to do is to wash your self as good as possible so that all the glue is gone from your body. What we meant to imply is that you learn to use your memory properly. Do not become a victim of the memory, rather learn to use memory as an empowering tool in your life.

How to dissolve the karmic code?: The very simple answer to this question is ‘Take it easy’. This will happen only when you will take charge of your life. Taking charge means taking karma in your hands and consciously driving it. You make yourself in such a way that no matter what happens to you, you keep your self in an equanimous state of being. Pain and pleasure are like two faces of a coin. One can not exist without the other one. Just like if you lose one shoe, the other one is useless. Equanimity comes with acceptance. Accepting the fact that your life is your karma. Once that level of acceptance has come, you suddenly start dissolving your karmic code. The more you dissolve your memory, the more you become empowered and better equipped to take on any challenge in your life. 

Dissolving the memory doesn’t mean that you have to forget it. Dissolving the karmic code simply means you maintain a sufficient distance from it, in a way that whenever you want it, you will access it, otherwise it lying there without affecting you. When you do this you will use memory as an empowerment, not as an entanglement. Another thing which will help you to dissolve your karmic code is to drop a strong sense of likes and dislikes and stop seeing everything as right or wrong. The more likes and dislike you have, the more are the chances that you become a victim of it. And again which will lead to entanglement & bondage. You just need to remember one thing: Whatever comes in your life is not in your control, but how you respond to it is 100 percent your choice, which means in every activity you may react or you may respond, the choice is yours.

The last take away from above all this is to accept the fact that your life is your own making. In India, this has been the teaching for eons. When someone is happy, we say this is his karma when someone is miserable, we say this is his karma when someone is joyful, we say this is his karma when someone is in agony, we say this is his karma. So what all this means is that your life is your choice. If you choose to live consciously with full awareness, this will lead to liberation, If you choose to live compulsively, this will lead to the bondage and misery. You need to decide what you want for your life.

Please accept my Heartiest Wishes on this auspicious occasion of 2nd International Day of Yoga. May you make the best use of this day and spread happiness and joy all around you. In the upcoming article we would be looking at another most important aspect of our life which is ‘Living in the Present Moment: An access to eternal bliss’, So stay tuned……………!

Happy Reading 🙂