Love and Karma

The cycles of Karma have been perpetuated by love. How so? The origin and destiny of all things is love, the cosmic consciousness which connects all things is love, there is no getting away from that. We are all connected through karma, and Karma originates out of love as well. Think of it this way: could you go to heaven if your beloved is in hell? No, you never could. You might go, but your heart would remain with your suffering beloved and would never be at peace, and therefore you would never be fully in heaven, since heaven is eternal peace. In Buddhism, The Bodhisattva is one who achieves enlightenment, an end of their suffering, but stays in the karmic cycle out of their commitment to love, to be with those still suffering and show others the way. In a sense, we are all a kind of Bodhisattva, choosing to return to the darkness out of love. We are all one, so if you cannot go to heaven, neither can I. We will ascend or perish as one.

I believe what may have happened is this: in the beginning, we were one with source.  At some point, we decided to see what it was like to experience separateness. When we separated from source (which was done via the creation of an illusion that we were not of source), we became lost in unconsciousness. Since the Source sees us as beloved sees the lover, the source sent more and more parts of itself to bring back the lost ones back. This is like the shepherd analogy in the Bible, who will always look for his lost sheep. The source chose to not allow the lost sheep to wander forever in darkness, but has done everything it can to bring all beings back to itself, back to the light from which they originated. We, as humans, are all part of this divine project. We are the beings who have made this choice to go into the darkness and bring it back to the light. And in so doing, we have learned great lessons about what we are. We have learned by virtue of facing the energies which are not of source, namely fear, and in response we have expanded the energies which are of source, namely love. This love is not just love of what is good and beautiful and right. This is love that is unconditional, it does not require perfection, this is love that cannot be conquered by fear or darkness. This is the human love that stands strong in the face of suffering and has the power to transmute the dark illusionary forces into light. Our martyrdom has expanded the universe, which is built on love, since it has pushed the very boundaries of what love is capable of.

Your purpose, therefore, is to be the light in the dark place. The light is consciousness, the dark is unconsciousness. You brought the light here with you, it is you. Therefore your purpose is to be yourself. You release yourself from the cycles Karma by being the light that you already are, and then you become a beacon for others to release themselves. I believe Karma is much more forgiving than most people think, because the universe itself is without judgment, it is only here on this earthly unconscious plain that we judge. We are not here being punished for past misdeeds, rather we are here to learn how to shed the light in the darkness, and we have been willing to come here as many times as it takes for the light to fully penetrate the dark. In that process we have often gotten lost in the dark, but that is OK, it is all part of the process. In order to transcend the darkness of unconsciousness, one must fully experience it.  After all, you cannot transcend anything that you do not fully experience.

Namaste,

Rhea Jamil

Non-Attachment: Is It Possible?

Mind is the creator of attachment, not heart.  Many confuse non-attachment with detachment.  We envision a hermit living life in a cave with no companionship, and that is very unappealing for most of us.  Most of us want to have relationships, to have children, to have friends, to make love, to enjoy life, etc.  Can we do all of that in a state of non-attachment?  Non-attachment is not a lack of love, it is not a lack of connection, quite the opposite.  I would in fact define non-attachment as akin to unconditional love.  Non-attachment is actually a state of very deep connection, connection to source, to self, to all.  It is connection without conditions, without any need to prove anything or for anything else to prove itself to you.  Mind creates ego and ego creates attachment because it needs attachment to feel real, and to feel justified.  It needs to latch on to something to say “aha – that is what I am!”  The soul needs no justification, it does not need anything outside itself to tell it what it is.  The soul thus has no attachments, only the mind does.  Therefore the state of non-attachment is the state of being in deep connection with your soul, and your soul by nature is connected to every being on earth and everything in the universe. 

 

The state of attachment is a state of mind, it is a state of believing that things and situations in the outer world are what define you – your job, your money, your country, your relationships, your story, your talents, etc.  And if you lose one of these things, or if you attach yourself to something that you can’t obtain in the immediate moment (i.e – “I’ll be happy once I have that job, that house, that partner”), you suffer because you feel incomplete as a person, or you feel as if you’ve lost part of yourself.  You also feel fear of losing these things, because fear is imagining the potential future instead of being in the moment.  Thus, another key to non-attachment is living in the moment.  If you are always in fear of losing someone or something, you cannot enjoy the connection which you share in the moment.  The connection you have in the moment with someone, without conditions or fears, is always joyful.  Non-attachment in a relationship, for example, means not that you are detached from the person you are in a relationship with, it means that you are deeply connected, but that you recognize that the connection itself is what matters, and not how it looks to others, or what the outcome of the relationship will be – after all, every relationship you have will eventually end, either through separation or death.  Thus attaching oneself to the outcome of any relationship will only cause suffering.  Because all forms are impermanent, they must be appreciated in the moment, as they are, without conditions.

 

The other mis-perception is that if you are in a state of non-attachment that you won’t ever feel the pain of loss.  The pain of loss, or grief, is part of being human.  Sorry, there is no way around it.  I feel certain that even Buddha and Jesus and all the ascended masters felt the pain of grief at some point during their lives on earth.  It is natural to feel grief-stricken if you lose a fellow human being from the earthly realm.  The difference is only that in a state of non-attachment, the grief will not overtake you, it will not become part of your pain body, your story.  It will be felt, processed, and eventually transmuted.  It will pass through you instead of overtake you.  It will be recognized as a symptom of deep love and connection, along with the awareness that the connection never truly dies.  Connection itself, or love, is the eternal essence within which all impermanent forms arise and fade away.  As Rumi said “The lover’s pain is also the lover’s greatest joy.”  The pain of loss or separation is an aspect of deep connection, and the connection is the source of joy.  This becomes clearer in a state of non-attachment, where all connection is joyful because it is without conditions. 

 

Suffering is the belief that you are not God, that you are not connected to anything else in creation or anyone else on a deeper level.  Because you are out of touch with your connection to anything on the soul level, you instead create attachments via the ego.  These attachments then become what defines you because you are unaware of your true divine nature.  The root of the suffering thus is being unaware of your own divinity and connection to all else.  The attachments are like a symptom of being in that state.  Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism stress the link between attachment and suffering.  The only way to truly release your attachments in the end, is to get in touch with your essential self, your divine self, the part of you that needs no justification, no identity, no attachments.  Then releasing ego-based attachments happens naturally.  To get in touch with your divine, essential self, find the stillness within.  Meditation is the easiest way to do this.  If you do not already have a meditation practice, begin simply by sitting quietly and focusing on the breath, and on the heartbeat.  As thoughts come, simply allow them to pass through without judgment and bring your focus back to the breath and the heartbeat.  The still awareness behind your thoughts is the gateway to the Eden within you.  Non-attachment will flow naturally from that place.  There is no need to focus on non-attachment, it will happen as a result of your heightening consciousness and your connection to your true, divine self.

 

Namaste,

 

Rhea Jamil

Related articles

• Moving from Attachment to Detachment with Love (endlesslightandlove.com)

Releasing Attachments

My friend and spiritual guide Pheonyx Roldan Smith talks about the nature of attachment.