Karma is not fate. Karma is not wishful thinking. Karma in its simplest form is cause and effect. We might think that, for example, if we have a nice meal, the cause of that meal was that we chopped veggies, made a salad, set the table, etc., and that the effect of those actions was that we could enjoy the meal. We might go back further and include as causes the fact that we bought groceries, the farmer took the produce to the market, sun and rain caused the crops to grow and so on.
While those actions are obvious causes and effects, what is often overlooked in this scenario, and without which the meal will never happen, is that at some point we formed the intention to prepare the meal. It didn't just happen by itself because we fantasized about it or wished for it. Intention is the energetic link between our ideas and our actions. Intention is the first cause.
Steve Pavlina writes:
If you want to achieve a goal you’ve set, the most crucial part is to DECIDE to manifest it. It doesn’t matter if you feel it’s outside your control to do so. It doesn’t matter if you can’t yet see how you’ll get from A to B. Most of those resources will come online AFTER you’ve made the decision, not before.It sounds so simple, yet time after time we fool ourselves into thinking that all the details need to be in place before we decide to do something. So much time is wasted second-guessing the outcome, conjuring up all the imaginary obstacles, all the what-ifs - often to the point that we give up, effectively having convinced ourselves that failure is inevitable, that we simply don't having enough... (talent, knowledge, time... the list is endless).
This hesitation and resistance is based on fear - fear of failure, fear of success, fear of responsibility - essentially fear of change. A lot of this fear comes from lack of trust in ourselves and in our world - what in Shambhala is called lack of trust in basic goodness. Trust in basic goodness is what enables us to proclaim our intention and to open ourselves to the messages that will present themselves. It is what enables us to move forward without knowing the outcome. The truth is, we can never know what the outcome of our actions will be. Steve again:
After I declare my intention, I wait for the resources and synchronicities to arrive. I just happen to notice things that may have been there all along, but now I see them in a new light, and they become resources for me that I never noticed until after I declared my intention. But many times it’s nearly impossible to explain such synchronicities as the result of my own subconscious action, even if I step back and try to look at them purely objectively. Sometimes they come in such unusual avalanches that I can only explain them as the result of superconscious action. On some level the universe itself is aware of my intention and is doing its part to help manifest it.We need to learn to be aware of the messages that are constantly being given to us. To do that we must let go of our ideas of what will happen, what should happen, what could happen, and pay attention to what actually is happening - what Steve and others call synchronicities. That unbiased present awareness is what invites these auspicious energies into our lives.
I also find that the more inviting I am of these synchronicities, the more easily they flow.
But unbiased awareness does not mean simply allowing ourselves to be blown about by every breeze that comes along. Intention, commitment, action and openness are what allow us to align our actions with our heart's desire.
And that, dear friends, is another brief lesson in How To Be Happy. May it be of benefit.
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Some Related RoadKill Posts:
* Success and Failure
* In the Driver's Seat
* Unicorns and Virgins
* Lose Touch With Your Inner Whining Artist
* Carl Jung on Synchronicity
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Steve Pavlina's article entitled:
Cause-Effect vs Intention-Manifestation
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Make It So!
- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
USS Enterprise / Star Trek
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