A child is born on that day and at that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with his individual karma.
—SRI YUKTESWAR
Another tool we can use to work with our karma is astrology. Astrology is a map of karma.
Your birth chart tells you the positive karma (in the form of talents, attainments and blessings) and the negative karma (in the form of challenges and obstacles) you are bringing with you from your past lives.
It tells you the good momentums you can count on as the wind in your sails as well as what are the lessons you will have to learn in this life.
For some, astrology has become a superstitious and superficial plaything, but when properly interpreted this ancient and profound science can tell us when to anticipate cycles of good karma, when to anticipate periods of karmic challenges, and what form they are likely to take.
You can also chart the ongoing cycles of your returning karma through a system of spiritual astrology known as the science of the cosmic clock.
Yogananda in his Autobiography of a Yogi recounts that his teacher, Sri Yukteswar, taught him that just because the ignorant and the charlatans “have brought the ancient stellar science [of astrology] to its present disrepute,” it does not mean that it isn’t a profound discipline.
“All parts of creation are linked together and interchange their influences,” he said. “The balanced rhythm of the universe is rooted in reciprocity.”
But astrology, like karma, is not predestination.
Astrology paints a picture of potentials based on the karmic material drawn from our many appearances on the stage of life.
Our astrology and our karma are only part of the drama. At center stage is our free will. Man, said Sri Yukteswar, “can overcome any limitation, because he created it by his own actions in the first place, and because he possesses spiritual resources that are not subject to planetary pressure.”
How will we react to the chemistry of our returning karma? Will we accept responsibility and learn the lessons of the past? Or will we fall back into the same patterns? How we answer those questions will determine our destiny, not the configurations in the skies.
True spirituality, as taught in our sacred lore, is calmly balanced in strength, in the correlation of the within and the without.
—RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Not all karma is created equally or balanced equally. At times we may be required to balance our karma by directly interacting with those we have made karma with in the past.
Sometimes we can work through our karma by facing the same challenges that we didn’t resolve last time around but we can do it in a different setting.
In other cases, we may have to bear a burden for a time in our body, our mind or our emotions because we have placed that burden upon others in the past.
Whether or not the world’s spiritual traditions embrace reincarnation and karma, they all have spiritual practices for balancing karma— from Christianity’s penance or atonement for sin to Judaism’s performing of mitzvahs (good deeds) to Buddhism’s Eightfold Path.
Spiritual practices for resolving karma involve everything from serving others to fasting, prayer and other accelerated techniques of spiritual cleansing.
They involve our heart, our head and our hands. We have made karma with our heart, head and hands and we can balance that karma in exactly the same way.
Our “hands” represent our actions. Our everyday actions or non-actions, including how we express ourselves through our profession, are a tremendous factor in balancing karma.
No matter what our calling or profession, our work is part of our spiritual path, and from time to time we must ask ourselves: Does the work of my hands serve society and enhance the quality of life of those who come within the sphere of my influence?
When we get right down to it, how we physically work with our karma isn’t complex. We start by addressing the need that is right in front of us rather than turning a blind eye because it doesn’t seem to fit into our schedule.
Just look around you. If the floor is dirty, scrub it. If the dishes have to be done, wash them. If someone needs to be nursed, nurse them. If someone in your family just lost their job and you are in a position to lend them support, open your heart and give.
“The giving of self,” says the adept Djwal Kul, is what “propels you to transmute karma and to move on in the cycles of being.” Wherever you are, look at the need and meet it with the gift of your highest self.
We also balance karma through the activity of the heart. How have we made karma at the level of the heart? Through every self-centered moment that deprives someone else of God’s love.
Anytime we are self-centered and therefore not generous, cold and therefore not comforting, insensitive and therefore not compassionate, we create a karma of the heart. We can balance that karma as we exercise the healing power of love.
Balancing karma through the heart means opening the heart and giving wisely. It means not being afraid to pour out more love, even when that love may be rejected.
That love is never rejected by God. This realization has helped me to see all kinds of relationships as learning experiences and as opportunities to give more love, even if I am rebuffed.
One time, seemingly by chance, I unexpectedly met someone I hadn’t seen for years. I realized that the last time I had seen him I could have spoken to him in a better way and I wanted to apologize.
So, I put out my hand to shake his hand. “I’m not going to shake your hand,” he said angrily. “Well, I want you to know that I love you,” I replied. “And I need to love you.” In a sense, you could say that took some courage, and it did. But it was what my soul needed to do at the time.
I could only do my best and trust in God to do the rest. I also knew that my love was not wasted, even if this person didn’t seem to accept it. The truth is that he also needed that love at some level of his being, whether he realized it or not.
When we are in pain because our love seems to be rejected, we can ask God to bless the one we have loved, to help that person become more of his true self, and to heal both of us of the hurts of the past.
You can also ask God to help you understand why you are hurting, because that’s where the lesson comes in.
Sometimes people get the idea that paying off karmic debts is like walking the via dolorosa, the sorrowful way. It doesn’t have to be.
How do you feel when at long last you can pay off your credit card bill? Paying off your karmic debts feels just as good. It’s a joy to be able to embrace the one we may have hurt and to reestablish the harmony and love that is native to our souls.
In fact, when we have fully integrated with the law of karma as the law of love, we find that we are no longer motivated to do good works just to balance our own karmic debts or to create good karma—or because it was what we were taught to do so we could get to heaven.
We serve those who are suffering simply because they need us. We give from our heart without a second thought because we love every part of life as a part of God.
At the end of the day, it’s the quality of our heart and how much love we have given that will make all the difference.
These affirmations in the exercises are powerful! They invoke a beautiful light essence that will help you feel uplifted, clear and ready to take on the day. And they balance karma!
Now, you are about to learn about the greatest spiritual gift … it is in the next lesson.
You can use the following affirmations to transmute the karma you have made with your heart, head and hands:
Heart
Violet fire, thou love divine, Blaze within this heart of mine!
Thou art mercy forever true, Keep me always in tune with you.
Head
I AM light, thou Christ in me,
Set my mind forever free;
Violet fire, forever shine
Deep within this mind of mine.
God who gives my daily bread, With violet fire fill my head
Till thy radiance heavenlike Makes my mind a mind of light.
Hand
I AM the hand of God in action, Gaining victory every day;
My pure soul’s great satisfaction Is to walk the Middle Way.
The Heart, Head and Hand decree series ends with a prayer for the protective white light, which you can visualize around yourself, your loved ones and anyone you want to help. This is called a Tube of Light. Say this out loud and visualize the white light pouring down upon you and encircling you in a sphere of sacred fire.
Tube of Light
Beloved I AM Presence bright,
Round me seal your tube of light
From ascended master flame
Called forth now in God’s own name.
Let it keep my temple free
From all discord sent to me.
I AM calling forth violet fire
To blaze and transmute all desire,
Keeping on in freedom’s name
Till I AM one with the violet flame.
Visualize thousands of sunbeams going forth from your heart, freeing yourself and all in your life. See these rays as beams of loving kindness going forth to break down all obstacles to the success of your relationships, your spiritual growth, your career, your community and nation.
I AM the light of the heart
Shining in the darkness of being
And changing all into the golden treasury
Of the mind of Christ.
I AM projecting my love
Out into the world.
To erase all errors
And to break down all barriers
I AM the power of infinite love,
Amplifying itself
Until it is victorious,
World without end!