I have been getting weekly news letters from Adrian Cooper the author of the book Ultimate Reality and i would like to share these news letters with you. The latest one was the topic of Karma.

Many people believe karma to be a type of "punishment and reward
system", whereby if they do something that is perceived as being
"wrong", either God, or some mysterious beings, often thought of as
"the Lords of Karma" will punish them in some way - e.g. by way of
an accident.

Before discussing this aspect of karma in more detail we will first
take a brief look at what gives rise to karma in the first place.

The only direct origin of karma is the Mind, or more specifically
thoughts originating in the Mind which may either remain as
thoughts, or might give rise to a corresponding action.

If a thought gives rise to a corresponding physical action, it is
not the physical action that gives rise to karma, but rather the
thought originating from Mind behind that action.

For example, if a person believes they have been "wronged" by a
neighbour, and they decide to get revenge on that person by, for
example, throwing a stone through a window of the house belonging
to that person, it is not the actual process of finding a stone and
throwing it at the window that gives rise to the karma, but rather
the Thought Form behind that action. The Thought Form has Energy
which is Causal, while the physical action behind it does not - the
physical body is simply executing the instruction of Mind.

Nothing whatsoever can manifest in the physical world without being
preceded by a thought in the Mind of a person.

So what then in absolute terms is "karma"?

The literal meaning of the word "Karma" is "action", yet even this,
in and of itself is misleading, because "action" usually implies
something physical, which, as mentioned above, simply is not the
case. The very word "karma" arose out of a misunderstanding as to
its true origin and nature.

Karma is Energy.

Every thought, whether manifesting as an action or not, influences
our individual, unique Energy field. Each of us are ultimately an
Energy field, the unique characteristics of which determine who we
Are. No two people have the same Energy field characteristics.

Every single thought we are responsible for affects our unique
Energy field by altering its vibrational properties. If for example
a person thinks about harming another person, or indeed any form of
life including plant life, then that is a low vibrational thought
form which will lower an aspect of the vibration of our complete,
unique Energy field accordingly.

Our overall Energy field is therefore a combination of high and low
vibrations with all levels of vibration in between. The more we
think only in terms of service to others before service to self,
Unconditional Love and Perfection, the higher will be the overall
vibration of our Energy field, and the more we evolve.

This Energy field is also reflected in our Aura, whereby the more
evolved we are, the brighter, more luminous and more vibrant will
be our Energy field, and conversely the less evolved we are the
darker, the duller and less vibrant will be our Aura.

The effects of karma do not necessarily manifest during the
incarnation that gave rise to it. In many cases the person
responsible for the karma will take the karmic Energy back to the
Higher Self, Who then assumes responsibility for that karmic
"debt". In these cases the Higher Self will send another
personality to Earth, the objectives partly of which are to
equilibrate that karma by engaging in actions, preceded by a Thought
Form that will balance the original karmic debt of another
incarnation.

Another question that often arises, is whether the karma that
needs to be balanced is balanced by exactly the same cause that
gave rise to it - i.e. an "eye for an eye" situation.

The answer to this is not necessarily. Believing in any "eye for an
eye" karma usually arises out of the belief that karma is a
punishment and reward system which we now know it is not.

Karma is pure Energy with a characteristic vibration which can be
balanced by a thought and corresponding action of the same quality.

Karma can be accumulated over many Higher Self incarnations, so
when a bad thing happens, it will not be by mere chance
or due to bad luck, notions which are impossible in accordance with
the law of Cause and Effect. The cause of the "bad" effect may even
have originated with another incarnation.

According to Hindu philosophy, there are three manifestations of
karma. The first is called Sanchita karma, which is caused by
a past situation still awaiting its corresponding effect or
reaction. This is in effect latent karma.

The next consists of past causes, including those from past
lives€relative to the Earth concept ofœtime, the effects of which
are still manifesting in the current, temporal lifetime. This type
of karma, called Prarabdha Karma, is a manifestation of karma that
shapes our current experience.

The third level of karma is known as Future karma. This is where
the causes are created in the current temporal lifetime but
will manifest in the "future", either later in the current lifetime
or in a "future" lifetime.

Although this may be true from the perspective of an observer on
Earth, we already know from the newsletter on the subject of
incarnation, that their is no "past" or "future" incarnations, but
rather only concurrent incarnations taking place in the Now.

So if all incarnations take place in the eternal moment of Now, how
does "past" and "future" karma arise?

Well because a "karmic debt" is ultimately the responsibility of
the Higher Self. Higher Self, our Individuality, will direct the
karmic debt to the concurrent incarnation that is in the best
position to balance and therefore neutralise it.

This gives rise to the possibility of a "karmic" debt being
balanced years or even centuries before it arose relative to the
temporal illusion of "time". So karma arising in the year 2008
might be balanced and thereby cancelled in the year 1008 - a
thousand years before it came about relative to the temporal
perspective of Earth time.

Again, the reason for this is that from the perspective of the
Higher Self that is managing the karmic debt, where time and space
do not exist, Higher Self is simply transferring the karmic debt,
in the Eternal moment of Now, to the concurrent incarnation that is
in the best position to process it.

This explains why an incarnation, e.g. your current incarnation,
experiences a number of "bad" events that appear to arise for "no
apparent reason", people often saying "what have I done to deserve
this?"

Well deserve it you did from the perspective of your Higher Self,
which is our individuality, who we Are, who has simply transferred
the karmic debt across time-lines relative to Earth time.

Ultimately we must think in terms of our Higher Self - our
Individuality - who we Are, and not simply on the current temporal
incarnation.

Each incarnation can be thought of as part of the same team, with
the same objecives - ultimately to win - in thiscase to transcend
the cycle of reincarnation so the Higher Self can move on to
greater things. If one meber of a team lets the ide down, the
entire team will be subject to the same consequences.

This is one reason that the concepts of a "bad" person and a "good"
person really does not exist. There is only experience that is
managed by the Higher Self who will have a mix of all types of karma
to balance as our Individuality.

So a person that is highly regarded in one incarnation may be
despised in another. But ultimately both are aspects of the same
Higher Self - same Individuality, who the person really Is.

That said, karma can certainly be gained and balanced in within a
single incarnation. This tends to be the case in highly evolved
humans on Earth whose Higher Self is nearing the end of its
reincarnational cycle, and where a particular incarnation is strong
and sufficiently equipped and well placed to balance the karma
within that same incarnation. This can also be the case with anyone
when a fairly mild karmic debt is gained through wrongful
thinking, that can be later balanced by a change of the thinking
that gave rise to the karmic debt in the first place.

When taken in its entire context, karma is something to be valued
greatly, not as a punishment and reward system, but as an
opportunity to become more perfect and therefore more evolved,
which in turn is our ultimate objective on Earth.

So how do we avoid creating karmic debt?

Simply by being Mindful about how it is created in the first place,
i.e. Thought, which may or may not give rise to a corresponding
action, and therefore always being fully conscious of our thought
process, only allowing positive thought and disallowing or rejecting
all negative thoughts.

While this can be accomplished fairly easily under normal
circumstances, the real challenge comes in situations where you
have been upset or "wronged" by someone, and the immediate
response might be for example of "getting revenge" or "getting
even" or of "punishment".

While these thoughts and emotions are understandable, the Principle
of karma makes no distinctions as to how and under what
circumstances the karma has originated, but only that it has.

The only solution therefore is to Unconditionally Love everyone,
even those who you feel have "wronged" you, in the knowledge that
ultimately revenge will not only result in karmic debt, but also
the realisation that negative thoughts and emotions can never right
the wrong or make you feel better, and in the certain knowledge the
person who wronged you will have created a karmic debt of their own
that their Higher Self will need to balance. So they have let the
side down.

So let the Universe, in its absolute Perfection, deal with these
situations in accordance with immutable Universal Principles.

Finally we must also keep in Mind that we are all One. So when you
do or think something - they are both the same - that negatively
affects someone else, you have in reality harmed yourself and all
life in the entire Universe, for which you will be held responsible
through karma.

The same goes for those who willingly kill or torture animals - for
whatever reason - it does not matter because there is no excuse - or
if they are a party to these actions either directly or indirectly
- or kill plant life such as trees. These are all aspects of
ourselves.

It is easy to find excuses for such actions, but if you should know
better you will incur karmic debt which could have been avoided
with presence of Mind and undertanding of the Principle of karma.

If you wish to avoid karmic debt which might affect you in this
incarnation or another one, then always be mindful of your
thoughts, never think in terms of revenge, and be mindful of the
fact that as we are all aspects of the same perfect Source, God,
our thoughts and actions always affect not only ourselves, but all
in creation in the entire Universe.

So to avoid karmic debt always be Unconditional Love,
Unconditional Forgiveness and be of Service to others before
Service to Self.