What is Karma?

Karma is the Emotional Charge from Unconscious Memories and Desires, from
experiences in waking life in addition to dreams, daydreams and all other
thoughts. Karma also consists of unconscious memories and desires from
previous lives and experiences in the bardo plane (the after death realm
described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead.)
How does Karma function?
The emotional karmic charge acts as a nucleation point for the formation of
thoughts, rather like a speck of dust acts as the nucleation point for a snowflake
or raindrop. The nature of the charge shapes the initial thought construct. This
is further shaped by the mind, both directly by thinking and indirectly by
interacting with other karmic charges, individual thoughts and thought
constructs.
These karmic thoughts can grow and evolve to form a train of thoughts, which
can result in a number of outcomes; an action, a belief, the kindling of desire or
aversion, a cascade of thoughts, or the creation of a new karmic seed in the form
of an unconscious emotional charged thought.
The combined action of this thought process leads to the construct we think of as
our selves.
An example of karma in action:
We experience great joy and fulfillment during a visit to a delightful garden. We
breathe in the scent of the flowers and allow the bright colors to infuse our
minds. Bliss! Then, suddenly, we are stung by a wasp! It is painful and
unexpected, we run away in shrieks of terror. Over time, we forget about the
experience, at least it is not in our everyday awareness.
One day we are at a gathering and meet someone we are attracted to. The
scent of the flowers triggers the recollection of the wasp sting- but we do not
recall it consciously. Instead the emotional charge is transferred onto our current
thinking process, admiring the new person we have met. This causes us to
experience negative thoughts or a gut feeling, which is manifest as us ignoring
this new person. This may have been the start of a meaningful relationship, but
due to the karmic memory of the wasp sting, we pull away. We may never
actually become fully conscious of this process, or forget our experience very
quickly. It does however leave a karmic trace, this time a feeling of aversion to
someone we are attracted to.
This feeling of aversion remains dormant until we meet someone we are
attracted to, then it arises. This time the feeling of aversion leads to a train of
thought in which we call into question pursuing the relationship. The person we
are attracted to also has a karmic seed or two activated and we find ourselves in
a deep conversation about relationships and our karma steers our thought
processes to viewing relationships negatively. We stay friends for years but never

get romantically involved. This too creates a karmic memory, which eventually
turns into a belief that we will never find a romantic partner and we are destined
to be alone.
Over time, maybe many lifetimes, this seed manifests, grows and creates other
seeds. It grows out of proportion and interacts with other unconscious memories
and we create a pattern of beliefs which define us as a person. We may believe
we are unworthy, unlovable or always destined to be alone.
Just as silt builds up in a river and changes its course, our karmic traces build up
over time and change our course. It is analogous to the time travel problem
often explored in science fiction, most notably in A Sound of Thunder by Ray
Bradbury. A small change a long time ago may produce a massive shift in the
present. In A Sound of Thunder, the accidental killing of a butterfly in the
prehistoric era results in global changes in the present. The most insignificant of
events can have a profound effect on our future and we have no way of
predicting what this effect will be. The wasp sting scenario may manifest as a
fear of insects, or paradoxically as a love of pain, or both.
How do we move beyond karma?
Awareness is the key to moving beyond this process. Awareness in the present
moment, known as mindfulness, allows us to deal with situations as they arise.
Awareness of our unconscious mind allows us to examine our karmic seeds and
liberate them during meditation. Liberating karma is no more than experiencing
the original memory in the light of consciousness, where it can dissolve. It feels
a little bit like solving a puzzle- A-ha! Thats how it works! Sometimes we can
have a massive A-ha moment, where a whole field of karmic seeds is liberated
and we experience life from a completely different perspective. We feel free,
new and glimpse our true nature, like the sun breaking through the clouds on a
rainy day.