By Ann: Hinduism identifies karma as the consequences of a person’s actions in their current and previous lives and the chain reaction it causes. We create karma by our deeds and attitudes, maybe deliberately or through ignorance. Your own karma may have a pattern that you continually repeat. Self-awareness is necessary to correct wrong behavioral patterns.
Karmic debt is from past lives that follows you. To balance or cancel these debts you need to be aware of your actions and choices. It is not as easy as treating someone nice if you have treated them badly yesterday. You need to learn lessons and learn empathy to experience what a person went through and their feelings.
Buddha taught that we acquire karma from positive and negative traits. Our moral compass depends on these traits and acknowledges our actions and take ownership of them and not sweep them under the carpet or blame others and pass the buck. There are 3 basic karmas which are actions of mind, speech and body. This is what separates us from animals by the way we think and act and have a conscience. Thoughts lead to actions, so good thoughts lead to good actions, and we have a choice. If we value what God thinks of us, we will choose good thoughts and dismiss bad thoughts immediately.
This brings us to destiny by our actions and being set free from ignorance. The saying is you reap what you sow. Therefore, our motives determine our destiny. Through our karmic actions, we can change our destiny or just sit back and let things take their course for good or bad. You need to let go of the past and be forgiving to move forward with positivity. You may need to cut ties with toxic people. So how can we have free will if God is omnipotent and nothing can occur without His willing it. Some believe that God knows the future, but He does not predestine it and he allows our free will and even the angels have free will.
This brings us to fate. Fate puts opportunities in front of us, but our destiny is ultimately determined by our decisions. For instance, if you go to a party and meet the perfect guy that was fate. But what you do about it is your destiny. We are not forced to follow a course of action and the learning process can help us choose our actions. Some say fate is predetermined by a supernatural power outside of our control. Fate will put opportunities in front of you, but it is up to your free will to choose which course to take. Is your future determined by your past and your ancestors? Some believe so, and others strive to make changes to better their life in a positive way. Bad choices can interfere with our lives, so being aware of your past will help you decide which decisions and choices to make. You can either better yourself or stay in the present state or make your life worse. Eating healthily and not taking dangerous risks can prolong your life. Unforeseen circumstances affects everyone, so you never know exactly what can happen. The attitude when your time is up, it’s up, so why bother being careful.
Good and bad can happen to good and bad people, and as humans we have an in-built conscience that guides us unlike animals who act on in instinct. You do not have to follow in your parent’s footsteps in every part of your life. You may choose to follow a different lifestyle and career. Your intellect should tell you the pitfalls to watch out for to be successful and happy, and taking good advice from sensible people will help.
Love and Light,
Ann
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