Posts Tagged ‘karma’

The 12 Laws of Karma

Friday, July 13th, 2012

I saw these posted today and obviously they have all sorts of major religious and philosophical importance, but if you are able to set that aside and just think about them, they contain not just wisdom but some pretty practical tools for Change.  They are worth dusting off and and applying.

1) THE GREAT LAW

“As you sow, so shall you reap”. This is also known as the “Law of Cause and Effect”.
Whatever we put out in the Universe is what comes back to us.
If what we want is Happiness, Peace, Love, Friendship…Then we should BE Happy, Peaceful, Loving and a True Friend.

2) THE LAW OF CREATION

Life doesn’t just HAPPEN, it requires our participation.
We are one with the Universe, both inside and out.
Whatever surrounds us gives us clues to our inner state.
BE yourself, and surround yourself with what you want to have present in your Life.

3) THE LAW OF HUMILITY

What you refuse to accept, will continue for you.
If what we see is an enemy, or someone with a character trait that we find to be negative,
then we ourselves are not focused on a higher level of existence.

4) THE LAW OF GROWTH

“Wherever you go, there you are”.
For us to GROW in Spirit, it is we who must change – and not the people, places or things around us.
The only given we have in our lives is OURSELVES and that is the only factor we have control over.
When we change who and what we are within our heart our life follows suit and changes too.

5) THE LAW OF RESPONSIBILITY

Whenever there is something wrong in my life, there is something wrong in me.
We mirror what surrounds us – and what surrounds us mirrors us; this is a Universal Truth.
We must take responsibility what is in our life.

6) THE LAW OF CONNECTION

Even if something we do seems inconsequential, it is very important that it gets done as everything in the Universe is connected.
Each step leads to the next step, and so forth and so on.
Someone must do the initial work to get a job done.
Neither the first step nor the last are of greater significance,
As they were both needed to accomplish the task.
Past – Present – Future
They are all connected…

7) THE LAW OF FOCUS

You can not think of two things at the same time.
When our focus is on Spiritual Values, it is impossible for us to have lower thoughts such as greed or anger.

8) THE LAW OF GIVING AND HOSPITALITY

If you believe something to be true, then sometime in your life you will be called upon to demonstrate that particular truth.
Here is where we put what we CLAIM that we have learned,
into actual PRACTICE.

9) THE LAW OF HERE AND NOW

Looking backward to examine what was, prevents us from being totally in the HERE AND NOW.
Old thoughts, old patterns of behaviour, old dreams…
Prevent us from having new ones.

10) THE LAW OF CHANGE

History repeats itself until we learn the lessons that we need to change our path.

11) THE LAW OF PATIENCE AND REWARD

All Rewards require initial toil.
Rewards of lasting value require patient and persistent toil.
True joy follows doing what we’re suppose to be doing, and waiting for the reward to come in on it’s own time.

12) THE LAW OF SIGNIFICANCE AND INSPIRATION

You get back from something whatever YOU have put into it.
The true value of something is a direct result of
the energy and intent that is put into it.
Every personal contribution is also a contribution to the Whole.
Lack lustre contributions have no impact on the Whole, nor do they work to diminish it.
Loving contributions bring life to, and inspire, the Whole

Resources:

  1. http://blog.shamaninja.com/27/the-12-laws-of-karma/

Tags: ,
Posted in Business Change, Personal Change, Values & Philosophy | No Comments »

Walking a mile in her shoes

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

One of the odder aspects of my recent experiences has been that not only have I been trying to pick up the ‘load’ of Carys’s role/work in the home and family but because of my circumstances, having to take an enforced ‘sabbatical’, I have found myself experiencing aspects of her life for myself.  I’m at home most of the time, cooking, cleaning and being ‘mum’.  Today I heard myself saying to my son things that I often heard her say to me.  She would tell me that she found herself wondering what her role was as the kids begun to fly the nest, to feel that being ‘mum’ was not enough, the frustration of constant cleaning etc.  The bizarre thing was that when I was the other side of this divide, I was really clear about the value of what she brought to the table; however, living the role, I find it harder to feel that. 

We often talk about karma but it is rare that we get a chance to to live both sides of a situation like this.  Who knows what lesson I am meant to be learning but like most lessons, this one is no fun.  As a rather empathetic person, I often find if I listen to two different peoples’ take on a situation I can understand how they both feel the way they do and see it from both perspectives, but living it is rather different…

Each ending carries with it the seed of a new beginning but that doesn’t make them any less painful.  Change experts and business leaders  tend to focus so much on the business benefits that they forget this simple truth, that first something old and familiar needs to to be torn down before the rebuilding can commence and the pain is very real…

“As she has planted, so does she harvest; such is the field of karma.”  Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Tags: ,
Posted in Business Change, Hints, Tips & Techniques, Leadership, Personal Blog, Personal Change | No Comments »

The Ages of Man

Friday, June 20th, 2008

There are seven ages of man according to Shakespeare1 and three according to Titian & Giorgione, Four2 says Ovid and Hesiod five! Well for the purpose of this blog I say three, and they came to life ‘chez nous’ last night when my brother-in-law came to celebrate his 60th birthday right on the heels of my son celebrating his 18th. So one family member is entering his third age, and my son moving into his second. Now of course we are all changing day-by-day, but at these landmark birthdays we can reflect on the next steps in our journeys. What we are moving into and what we are leaving behind.

It is helpful to pause and reflect what we are leaving behind anyway, and perhaps to ask ourselves what things we might chose to release too. And what kind of future do we wish to build, because tomorrow’s fruits are always planted today, and the doctrine of karma is in many ways no more than saying we reap what we sow.

So perhaps today isn’t a special day for you, but I guarantee there is no better day to take a few moments to reflect and consider these issues

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.” Shakespeare

 

 

Resources:

  1. As you like it

    “At first the infant,
    Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;
    Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
    And shining morning face, creeping like snail
    Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
    Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
    Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
    Full of strange oaths, sudden and quick in quarrel,
    Seeking the bubble reputation
    Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
    In fair round belly with good capon lin’d,
    With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
    Full of wise saws and modern instances;
    And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
    Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
    With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
    His youthful hose, well sav’d a world too wide
    For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
    Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
    And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
    That ends this strange eventful history,
    Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
    Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing. (II.vii)

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Personal Change, Values & Philosophy | No Comments »

Living in the Now versus Investing for the Future

Monday, May 19th, 2008

“All I know is: our Chinese live in the expectation. Expectation, is that the word close to Future? The farmers grow their rice in the spring, and they water it and expect it grow every day. The rice sprouts turn into green and the rice pole grow up taller. Then summer comes and the farmers look forward to grain growing bigger. Then the autumn harvest and the grain becomes golden. Their expectation is nearly fulfilled, but not complete. After the harvest they separate the straw and millet. The straw goes to the shepherd’s pens or the pig’s yard, and the millet goes to the market for sale. All this is so that a family can have better life in the winter and in the coming Spring Festival. In the winter they burn the roots and grass on the fields to nourish the soil for next year’s re-plant. Everything is for the next step. So look this nature, life is about the expectation, but not about now, not about today, or tonight. So you can’t only live in today, that will be the doom day.” Xiaolu Guo, A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers

I thought the above extract was rather interesting as it crystallised something for me. We are always being encouraged to “Live in the Now!“, which I have always considered something of a challenge. I have had friends who have considered “Being spontaneous” as a higher state of being. The thing is that real life requires us to find a balance between these two extreme states. It is a “Both… And” world not an “Either..or” one.

Of course we should be as fully present in the moment as we can be, but we have to make time to plant seeds for tomorrow too. Finding this balance, and shifting our energy and attention appropriately is the challenge.

So today’s challenge is Be Present Now…. And act in the awareness that the choices you make in this instant are already determining you future, so make sure it is a future you wish to live through!

“Don’t let the past steal your present.” Cherralea Morgen

“We had to learn…that it did not really matter what we expected from life but rather what life expected from us.” Viktor Frankl

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Personal Change, Values & Philosophy | No Comments »