It comes like a grand circle. People experience something causing the most profound joy, immediately followed by experiencing something of intense grief. They could have some grand fortune of luck, followed by a heavy misfortune. Such instances cause anyone experiencing them to wonder why the universe hates them?
It’s no wonder. It seems like the flood of good and bad is an endless cycle that you have no control over. That is somewhat true. Those who believe in karma would say it is a cycle. There is a way to break it, but first, you must understand how it works.
Describing Karma
Karma is an ancient word from the Sanskrit language that denotes action. Hindus believe it to be a deeply-rooted history. The idea of consequences being returned for action, either good or bad, has also been recognized in other religions like Buddhism and even Christian faiths.
Most people associate karma with judgment as people use the word today to bring about wrath. Phrases like “karma bites you in the butt” and “karma is a b….” are common today. Yet, that isn’t like that. It is actually a neutral thing and doesn’t bring death or pleasure. It is the result of the energy you put into the universe. It just is.
Bringing Good Karma
Buddhists associate intention with karma. They believe that it is the intention of the deeds that define the karma toward the person. Those who keep up with actions focusing to promote ego will remain in the same karmic cycle.
This can happen even with good things in your life. A moment of joy entices you to want more. Over time your emotions seek more similar moments to satisfy your desires for self-fulfilling joy and memories. This keeps you stuck in a cycle that keeps bringing pain after joy.
The Never-Ending Cycle
The idea of karma is that all actions will have an equal reaction to your life. Everything is recorded in a cosmic record book. Results of actions must be repaid somehow, either in this life or the next. You can’t repay the karmic debt because you are in a cycle that is constantly creating new karma accounts next to the original ones. This puts you deep into a karma loop.
Karmic Cycles Are Constantly Occurring
Most people think the karmic cycle only relates from one lifetime to the next lifetime. They become hopeless about breaking the cycle now because they believe it can only be broken in the next life. That isn’t true. Karmic cycles are yearly, daily, even minute to minute. Those to believe in the idea state a new karmic cycle occurs every 40 minutes. This offers people many opportunities to change it.
Those studying karma believe the typical karmic cycle changes every 12 years, so people experience different ones as they grow and mature. For instance, children are most tied to their emotions and possible connections to past lives. They create events that assist in their spiritual growth.
Teenagers until age 24 are learning about spirituality as well as practical things. This is when they start repaying karmic debts in a major way. Karmic cycles are finalized by age 25 and challenges began to appear that manifest from past karmic debt. This can include health problems, emotional stress, money problems, or relationships. All are waiting to be resolved.
Karmic patterns are in full force by age 37. Life’s tests are complex and repetitive, probably because the person is stubborn and not learning the lessons life is trying to teach. Those who have resolved past issues before this will discover even deeper issues that haven’t been resolved. It will become more intense until around age 49.
Karma begins to weaken as people have either healed past wounds or put them off until the next life. The timeline is repeated from creation to contraction in 12-year cycles until death.
How to Escape the Cycle
There is only one way to escape the karmic cycle and that is to build on the root purpose of karma. Love. Those who understand karmic cycles understand love is the root of all and take responsibility for their deeds. They can create a partnership with God. Creating and participating in that relationship will change the cycle of negative and keep you on karma’s positive side.