Many know this word, but few know its power.
This joke is provoking if you really think about it.
“Hear about the new restaurant called Karma?
There’s no menu. You get what you deserve.”
This got me interested. You can watch the 5–10 min mark in the following video and hear how Sadhguru defines the word “Karma.”
This is what he thinks Karma is,
“Karma means action.
Whose action? Your action.
Whose responsibility? Your responsibility.
Karma is the most dynamic way to exist.
When you say my life is my karma, it means my life is my making.”
— Sadhguru
There is a subtle difference between the two interpretations of Karma, the joke’s way and the Sadhguru’s way.
Your Attention From Result to Action
What did you feel when you heard the joke?
Well, first of all, if you get it, it is funny. What comes next? For me, nothing at first. But the idea that what I get is what I deserve can also make me uncomplacent. “Why do I deserve only this?” or apathetic “Okay, I guess that’s what I got and what I will get.” These sound like reactions of complaint and giving up.
On the other hand, what did you feel when you heard Sadhguru’s definition?
First of all, it sounds indifferent. But when you look closer, you notice that he’s talking about “ACTIONS” instead of “RESULTS.” A great quote from Dan Gilbert explains best this idea of “in the making”:
“Human beings are works in progress mistakenly think they are finished.”
When you are in the Joke’s mindset, you focus on the results you get, and you say yea, that’s what I deserve, and that’s it. But when you focus on the actions you take and see every point of now as both your action and the result, you start to take responsibility.
Taking Responsibility Is Being Free
But sometimes, responsibility feels like a burden. This is how Sadhguru puts it, in the way I remember in his book, Inner Engineering.
If you have a pen falling from your desk, you have the ability to respond to it. That is to whether to pick it up now, ignore it, pick it up later, or have others help you pick it up. That means you have at least four choices. But what does it mean if you don’t have the responsibility or the ability to respond? You have 0 choices. Which one sounds like freedom?
If that’s how I view responsibility, I certainly like to have MORE whenever I can.
Therefore, taking all of your actions as your responsibility becomes the “most dynamic way to exist” because you have the freedom to choose. And it is the day-to-day details where we live in between that usually get us lost.
What I love about Sadhguru’s teaching is that he enables new perspectives that encourage actions. It is his way of being that makes his effort effortless.
I hope this post brings you some insights into Karma and action. If you want to benefit from this concept not only intellectually but experientially, here is a question you could ask yourself.
In which area of my life I have subconsciously ACCEPTED that’s what I deserve and stopped TAKING ACTIONS for the future that I want to create?
Improve 1% a day, and Karma can help. Let’s keep growing together. 😉
