Karma, Dharma & The Freedom of The Heart

Notes and recordings from two back-to-back workshops recently given in Encinitas, thanks to Yoga Trainer Lindsay Russo.

Karma

The action born of desire which holds the self in bondage. ~ Bhagavad Gita

Desire is either the quality of sattva, rajas or tamas. Rajasic and tamasic desires bring karma. Sattvic desires are the desires of the soul. They are Dharmic rather than Karmic.

Karma is like the stone cutter, like Michelangelo, removing all that is not real. Being human, those cuts, that removal, can be felt as real, and thus causes suffering. Still, it carves a deeper place for greater integrity, truth, joy to come.

There are said to be three types of karma:
1. Sancheet – Collected Karma, your life’s work.
2. Prarabdha – Inherited, positive and negative.
3. Agami – That which we are creating in this moment now.
This reminds us to ride the waves of life with equanimity, do our practice to minimize the effects of karma being reaped, and to live in accordance with nature’s laws, with love in all thoughts and actions, to avoid further karma.

The freed soul delights in accepting bonds, and does not seek to evade any of them, for in each does it feel the manifestation of an infinite energy whose joy is in creation. ~ Rabindranath Tagore

We are eternal souls, divine inside. But our souls are obscured. Karma is what obscures. We forget who we are.  ~ K. Sutton, Jyotishi

The first cause of suffering, that Yoga seeks to remove, is Avidya – we forget our true nature. ~ Yoga Sutra 2.2-3

• This is a 1 & 1/2  hour recording of a 3 hour workshop. At 1 hour and 25 minutes, there is a short break, followed by a 5 minute forgiveness practice.

Dharma

Dharma is ultimate cause, the reason for existence. ~ Upanishads

Dhri means to maintain, sustain, preserve.

Dharma is your essence, the self that is maintained and sustained beyond time, identity, success, crisis, aging, injury. Dharma is also the governing power that sustains and preserves life, the planet, the universe. To live in Dharma is to live in alignment with your true nature, with natural law and with cosmic, universal flow.

The pillars of dharma are mercy, renunciation, truthfulness, purity.

Dharma is the natural expression, the grace and flow, of Sat-Chit-Ananda. Sat Chit Ananda are often translated as Truth, Consciousness and Bliss. It is the power, intelligence and unity of existence. It is life, light and love.

Moksha, or true freedom, arises through dharma.

Your own self-realization is the greatest service you can render the world. ~ Ramana Maharshi

• This is a 1 hour 20 minute excerpt from a 3 hour workshop that included meditations, exercises, and group interaction. In the talk, examples given refer to questions previously asked by the students.

This workshop is based on years of study of Yoga, Vedanta, Ayurveda and Jyotish.
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