Four Laws of Karma with Steve Yochum: Yoga Sol Carson City, NV, December 29. 2015
When I learned to teach yoga, one of the suggestions was to introduce dharma talk during an easy or restful part of the practice. I've taken this idea as my own when I teach, I guess you could say its my style.
One of the things I like the best about being a traveling yoga student is the exposure to so many styles of expressing yoga. It happens often. "I never thought about it like that" is beginning to replace "that's not a good way to teach that pose or that lesson".
Steve is another hometown favorite. He breaks the mold in so many ways. One is that he teaches a Power Yoga class and is a strong, musclebound man. My first thought when I first saw him was "this class is gonna suck".
By the fifth chatauranga I knew I was in the midst of a teacher. He makes me laugh so much and his dharma talk is authentic and comes from a place of practice. So I don't care he teaches esoteric truths during utkatasana, revolved triangle, or anywhere. I'd listen to him teach in any pose.
Tonight he shared the four laws of karma, I think from the Tibetian Buddhist tradition, but I'm not super clear. At any rate, I've heard enough versions of karma and I liked his presentation.
1. Karma is.
2. What seed you plant will happen
3. What seeds your don't plant won't happen.
4. Karma grows. Further investigation said it this way karma expands. Once we have an imprint of an action in our mind, it tends to be habit-forming.
There are other teachings that suggest there are 12 Laws of Karma (this lifted from expandedconsciousness.com)
1: LAW OF NEUTRALITY – Just as the “Law of Gravity” always works to pull things toward the Earth, these “Laws of Karma” apply to all equally, no exceptions. The universe is neutral: there are no favorite ones, there are no cursed ones, there are only divine beings created the Creator and all these divine beings are loved by Creator equally, deeply, and completely.
2: LAW OF AGREEMENT – The most terrible truth that anyone will ever learn while they are on Earth is… that they agreed to come here and to experience all that has, is, and will happen to them. The universe operates under this simple rule: all that happens is by prior agreement based on karmic justice between all the parties involved to balance past karma.
4: LAW OF CAUSE & EFFECT – What you have done unto others in past lives or in this one (cause), weaves the karmic agreement of your present and future (effect). Consciously acting from loving kindness to yourself and others instantly reweaves the present and future karmic agreements into greater pathways of empowerment and unfoldment.
5: LAW OF BALANCE – The point of learning lessons is to achieve balance. Imbalances drive your personal cycle of reincarnation. “What you bring hate to, you reincarnate to” is how balance is achieved. For you can only truly understand a thing when you become that thing and cease to judge it, cherish unloving opinions, or harbor unrealistic expectations about it.
6: LAW OF ATTRACTION – Your consistently repeated thoughts packed with your consistently felt emotions become magnetized and attract similar thoughts packed with emotions to manifest your desires into reality. Whatever thoughts and emotions you focus on the most – with the most intensity and the most time – whether intentionally or unintentionally, becomes your belief-karma. The more you invest in them with your focus, the stronger they become. Your belief-karma generates your thoughts, forms your attitudes, guides your actions, and creates your results.
7: LAW OF CONNECTION – You connect with the people, opportunities, and events necessary to manifest your desires if you allow, believe, and expect it will happen for you. Allowing means you open yourself to let manifestation flow to you by believing what you need to manifest your desires will come to you and by expecting if-when you take consistent and appropriate actions your desires will manifest into reality as you have asked.
8: LAW OF EXPANSION – Since everything in the universe is energy, the universe is always expanding from lower to higher vibrational states. Change and growth are inevitable because energy is always expanding. The universe expands through chaos, reorganization, and order in an endless cycle of change and growth to create continuous improvement.
9: LAW OF UNFOLDMENT
Your internal map of reality is always changing to reflect your personal state of learning and growth. Your map of reality is always being refined into greater levels of truth as your consciousness unfolds. Unfoldment is a gradual process so that you can learn life lessons at your own pace as you reincarnate through time.
10: LAW OF EMPOWERMENT – If you “let whatever happens be ok”, you are accepting the “default” pattern of karma. Empowerment comes from a conscious decision to take control of karma by accepting absolute and total responsibility for your life and by always consciously acting with loving kindness.
11: LAW OF ALL POSSIBILITIES – There is no end to the joy you can experience or to what you can create. For all the power to get what you want comes from within you. Every moment brings with it new possibilities and opportunities for action. Whatever you can dream, you can do, be, or have in the universe of all possibilities… this is your birthright as a divine being.
12: LAW OF LOVE – Karma begins and ends with love. Karma was created to propel you as Soul on a personal journey of reincarnation through the universe. Karma ends when you have perfected yourself in your ability to love unconditionally. The sole purpose of karma and reincarnation is to bring us all to a state of divine love, joy, and awareness.
I got a great stretch with Steve, not only in my asana practice but also for my mind to deepen awareness into "what seeds am I sowing?". And "what am I not practicing but want in my life?"
Namaste