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Limits of Karma Karma is intimately associated with the body, the mind and the psyche of the individual, and operates within limits dependent upon the nature of the karmic particles.
Knowledge-obscuring, faith-obscuring, deluding and will-obstructing karma are considered as destructive, because they affect the essential characteristics of the soul: knowledge, contentment, bliss and spiritual energy. The feeling-producing, life span determining, body-producing and status-determining karma produce differing states of the body and they are called non-destructive or harmless karma.
Karma is the result of the individual's actions alone. One person's karma cannot be transferred to another, either by direct transmission or by any divine agency. The possession of wealth, possessions, family and such like, or the loss of these through crime, accident or natural calamities, are not, in the strictest sense, directly due to karma, but they are the circumstances of pleasure and pain created by both auspicious and inauspicious deluding and feeling-producing karma. External objects, such as wealth, human relations or animal contacts may precipitate experiences of pleasure and pain, but they are not the karma.
The realisation of karma engenders experiences for the soul. Attachment to 'externals' creates mental states, good or bad, leading to pleasure or pain. The activities of the body, mind and speech of an individual self-determine the operation of karma, the rise, subsiding and shedding of karma.
Realisation of Karma
Karmic particles bound to the soul 'mature' and express themselves. When this happens, it is referred to as the rise' (udaya) of karma. It is possible for karma to express itself before it matures. If an immature karma expresses itself it is called 'untimely, a mature expression is termed 'timely'. Premature death, through accident, suicide or the effect of a 'self-inflicted'action such as heavy smoking or drug abuse, are regarded as ‘untimely' experiences of karma.
An individual may 'force the pace' of karmic maturity, for example through austerities. By practising austerities it is possible to transform the effects of past (bound) karma that is yet to mature, causing its ‘untimely rise'.
Karma has what is termed its 'time span', avasthaana kaala. This period can be divided into two durations: the period during which karma is attached to the soul, but is
dormant' or yet to mature, abaadha kaala, and the period during which it expresses itelf in experience, called anubhava kaala or niseka kaala.
The realisation of karma may happen 'naturally or it may be willed. For example, one may get angry without apparent reason. This is caused by the rise of the feeling-producing karma, and is regarded as 'natural' maturity. The anger itself then causes a further influx of karma. By contrast, a 'willed' maturity would be when one practises equanimity. By doing this and, for example, refusing to be provoked into anger by external event, the karma attached to the soul is transformed and shed.
Experiences of laughter, fear and other forms of emotional upset may give rise to an influx of karmic particles. Some karmic particles may develop in the soul without effort e.g. pain-producing karma and perversity of outlook in infernals, at the moment of intense realisation of deluding karma, and negligence in human beings and animals.
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