karmas and spiritual growth

For some the answer is memorizing and learning spiritual texts, for others it has to do with advanced asana (postures), and others it is tantric practices, mantras, and rituals. For me, spiritual growth is measured by observing my relationships and whether or not I feel at home and at peace with them and who I am. It is about acknowledging my karmas and whether or not I’ve resolved them. 

Karma means action – it is the culmination of our actions. These actions cross the span of our lifetime and more. They are often ancestral as we are influenced by all of our life’s experiences – how we are enculturated by society, our families, this time, and this place.

As Truth-seekers, our work is to hold up the mirror and try to understand how this enculturation has affected our concept of who we are. We are to unravel this mystery until we can remember that we are Spirit having a human experience and allow the inner light of our intuition to lead the way.

In yoga philosophy, karma is used as a way to explain reincarnation. Like DNA, our karmas are imprinted on our Spirit and our Spirit carries them from life to life until they are resolved. If we run from our karmas, they keep returning. If we don’t learn to navigate them skillfully in this lifetime, then we are reborn to try, try again. So, when a karma returns, it is not that the universe is conspiring against you, it is actually supporting your highest and greatest by urging you to shift gears so that you can fulfill your dharma and experience great peace and joy.

I can look back over the last decade and see the evolution of a punk rocker with blue hair in her mid 20s rompin’ around the NYC arts and music scene in self-destructive addictions and relationships to a loving, caring mother, wife, and yoga teacher in upstate NY. This growth has nothing to do with my wardrobe from a hot leatherette to a cozy sweater lovin’ mama-bear. It has to do with how I stopped blaming others, the job, the partner, the family for my issues and took responsibility for my life and actions. They were not the problem – the problem was my inability to skillfully navigate this mind-body-sense complex. Once I started to become a detective of my life and unravel the mysteries of why I was as neurotic as I was, I was able to redesign my life. I shifted from being an insecure and unstable woman into a woman that does her best to stay present, be objective, and let intuition lead the way into forgiveness, expansion, and compassion.

In the words of Swami Rama, I became “the architect of my own destiny.” And this my friends, is a constant work in progress.

How do you measure your spirituality? Is it by the stack of books you’re reading, how much circulation is being cut off by your tight yoga pants and if you can put your foot behind your head b/c that’s a very practical life skill… 🙂 or is it by how you act when shit hits the fan? Is it by how balanced you feel in your day to day? Is it by how you are treating your family, community, and society at large? How established you feel in the Self?