The 12 Laws of Karma
Laws of Karma – believe or not to believe?
Karma – so what does it mean? I believe in the laws of karma and often say the words to my children, especially when things are not going their way. The basics of karma state that a positive action will eventually produce a positive result while a negative action may have a negative result too. To me, it is about life giving you chances. Your actions are caused by your thoughts, which is a decision you make. There will always be a consequence of your actions – good, bad or neutral but ultimately you are responsible for your actions and the results. Is this how you see the laws of karma?
My family love to spend time in Bali. Bali is a beautiful place and the laws of karma are the way many Balinese people live their lives. In general they are very calming people to be around and you do not often see people getting stressed or angry at each other. With around ninety per cent of the population being Hindu, their interpretation of karma applies to their actions, their words and also their thoughts. Quite a beautiful way to live your life really!
Karma promotes self-reflection and positive thinking – two important traits I try to develop a strong and healthy mental state. It can be very difficult to understand self-awareness and positive thinking when we have been treated badly and our natural reaction is to respond in a negative way. I teach all my clients what they have control over and what other people do is one of them. How we react to other people is in our control and it is about being true to the person you are and the person you want to show the world. We cannot control how other people behave but we can control how we react. The laws of karma claim that the negative behaviour will eventually find its way back to the person as part of the learning process in life.
The laws of karma are fascinating and are broken into 12 parts. If you have never read about or understand the basic laws of karma, then we are here to enlighten you.
12 Laws of Karma
- The Great Law. This is the law of cause and effect. “As you sow, so shall you reap”. Whatever you put out into the world – positive or negative vibes is what will be returned to you. Our thoughts and actions have consequences – therefore if we want love and happiness in our lives we need to act accordingly.
- The Law of Creation. What we desire comes through our participation. We are one with the universe and life requires our participation to happen – it cannot happen on its own. Surround yourself with what you want in your life.
- The Law of Humanity. We first need to accept the present situation in order to change it. By only focusing on the negative in life does not change it, only shows it is there but will not alter the result. When we address the negative and take actions to change it, this is the only way to alter the outcome. We must accept what life is first to put in place the actions to change it.
- The Law of Growth. The only thing we have control over is ourselves – our thoughts, our emotions and our actions. When we can accept this concept, we understand that we must change ourselves without worrying about changing other people. The actions we take (or do not take) is what causes our results.
- The Law of Responsibility. Our lives are our own doing. We must take responsibility for our own life’s destination. We mirror what surrounds us so if you do not like what is in the mirror, change it.
- The Law of Connection. Our past, present and future are all connected. Each step in life is connected, with no step being greater or more significant than the other. We are where we are today because of these connections. The only way to make a change is to change the connections and how we think about them.
- The Law of Focus. One cannot think of two things at the same time. We cannot want love in our lives if we are constantly thinking hatred. We cannot want peace when we are constantly thinking angry thoughts. The two do not align and therefore the actions needed cannot be put in place.
- The Law of Giving and Hospitality. If you claim something to be true, you will be required to share this with the world at some stage. If not, you are all talk and no real action. This is where you put what you have learned into practice.
- The Law of Here and Now. To enjoy the moment we must not be constantly looking backwards at what might have been or forward with worry. We cannot change the past – accept it and tell the story that serves you. We cannot control the future but tell the story you want. We can only control our thoughts, our emotions and our actions in the present.
- The Law of Change. History repeats itself unless the present is changed. Until the lesson has been learnt, nothing will change.
- The Law of Patience and Reward. Nothing of value is created without a patient mindset. Good will come in time to those who do the right thing. By giving up, you will never know what it is you can achieve.
- The Law of Significance and Inspiration. You get back what you have put in. The work you put in is what will be given back to you in return.
Most of the laws of karma make sense to me, emphasising that good attitudes will be rewarded, while negative actions will not. When I look at the laws, many of them underly what I teach which is we only ever control our own thoughts, feelings, actions and results. I know this doesn’t always happen in life and there are many things that do happen in life that cannot be explained or justified. However, the basics of karma is a way of life that I live by and encourage my children to do the same.
Do you believe in karma?
Love Always
Linking up with Kylie for #IBOT and Leanne @ Deepfriedfriut
My mum is a buddhist so many of these are very familiar to me. I’m a big believer in the law of cause and effect, it makes perfect sense!
I love cause and effect too. We take responsibility for our actions. How interesting growing up in a Buddhist home.
It’s a nice way to live a good life. I don’t believe that what goes around always comes around though. Far too many people get away with doing awful things.
It’s a nice concept to think when someone has done something horrible to you.
I don’t believe in Karma – there’s all those teflon Pollies that seem to get away with everything. #IBOT
LOL love the comparison. It works for me. I have a great state of mind because of it too.
I like to think good of most people…in fact a quote that Brene Brown has, after an experience of hers that was life changing is “I like to think people are doing the best they can” and my addition is…”at that time”. I like all of your explorations and teachings Natalie! Denyse x
I think the same thing – giving people the benefit of the doubt. I always take what people say in the positive unless they cleary say it is not.
A great read. I am a believer in karma. Especially ‘reap what you sow.’
I believe karma is about me, not other people. If I am positive, I will see positive. If I am good, I will feel good and attract good.
I believe in many of these laws of karma. In particular, I often tell my children, and myself, just what you said in your post – “we cannot control how other people behave but we can control how we react”. It’s so very true! #teamIBOT
This is a massive one I teach all my students. It is so much easier said than done but when I ask them the questions – What is in your control? – it gets them thinking.
I definitely believe in karma (or fate or something) but hadn’t realised there were individual laws or elements and yes, they do make sense! #teamlovinlife
I didn’t realise that most of these rules form the basis of what I teach.
In short? Yep, absaflippinglutely. All of it. Whether or not I live it? I do try to, but very often struggle with the concept of being able to control only my thoughts, feelings and actions.
It’s not easy but like anything – with enough practice, it’s pretty amazing how life changes.
Absolutely Natalie! Too many people don’t think about the consequences of their actions and think they can walk all over anyone that gets in their way. When I witness this I always think to myself “karma will get them eventually”. It always makes me feel so much happier knowing that “what you sow you reap”. Thank you for reminding me of this. #TeamLovinLife
I always tell my students that it’s about you only. We cannot control what other people do or say. We can hold them responsible for their actions but whether they are happy with their actions or not, has nothing to do with you.
Loved your post. Karma is a very difficult concept to grasp as it means many things in Hinduism and consists of many layers. One must read the Bhagavad Gita to truly understand its deep meaning. But cause and effect is a nice and simple way to sum it up and I am a great believer in it.
stopping via the LovinLife linkup
I don’t believe in an eye for an eye but I believe I need to always stand up and be true to me – no matter what anyone else says.
I did not know about many of these! When we talk about Karma we usually refer to number 1, but there are so many other elements. Great post.
And most of these elements are actually easy to include in daily life – with a few small changes.