Karma: A Yogi's Guide to Crafting Your Destiny

by Sadhguru

What is karma? Literally, the word means action.

Karma simply means we have created the blueprint for our lives. It means we are the makers of our own fate. When we say “This is my karma,” we are actually saying “I am responsible for my life.” Karma is about becoming the source of one’s own creation. In shifting responsibility from heaven to oneself, one becomes the very maker of one’s destiny.

Misconceptions of this kind are many. Many believe the Buddha preached that life is suffering, or dukkha, and conclude that his is therefore a dismal outlook of defeatism. What they overlook is that the Buddha spent his life trying to teach people meditation because he saw that humanity can transcend suffering. If he believed that suffering was all, he would have advised us to commit suicide! He saw that bliss—ananda—was a very real possibility. His life mission was to remind us of it.

Philosophies of detachment are essentially joyless creeds. Embracing them might produce some semblance of balance and stability in day-to-day life, but they do not lead to liberation. Instead, they frequently lead to greater karmic accumulation.

Suffering has to be freshly baked every day. In other words, your karma cannot turn into suffering without your cooperation. Once you are aware, that is the end of your suffering.

But when you keep resisting, you are creating deeper levels of bondage. Seeing that your ability to respond is limitless is profoundly important, because this ability goes way beyond your present level of understanding and perception.