From Karma to Grace. John Van Auken
Читать онлайн.| Название | From Karma to Grace |
|---|---|
| Автор произведения | John Van Auken |
| Жанр | Эзотерика |
| Серия | |
| Издательство | Эзотерика |
| Год выпуска | 0 |
| isbn | 9780876046296 |
From Karma
to
Grace
From Karma
to
Grace
The Power of the Fruits of the Spirit
John Van Auken
Copyright © 2010
by John Van Auken
1st Printing, May 2010
Printed in the U.S.A.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A.R.E. Press
215 67th Street
Virginia Beach, VA 23451–2061
ISBN–13: 978–0–87604–495–7 (trade paper)
Edgar Cayce Readings © 1971, 1993–2007
by the Edgar Cayce Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Christine Fulcher
Contents
17 • The Fruit of Long-Suffering
1
Karma
The word karma originated in the ancient Indo-Aryan language of Sanskrit, which is the religious language of Hinduism and Buddhism. It comes from a root word that means “to do, to make.” The broader meaning of this term is that thoughts, spoken words, and physical actions create a response in both the macrocosm of the outer life and the microcosm of the inner life of an individual soul. Even the most private thoughts, words, and actions generate a reaction as well as make an impression on an ethereal film of the collective consciousness, what is referred to as the akasha in Hinduism, which is comparable to the Western concept of the “Book of Life” for each soul and, in metaphysical circles, often called the akashic record.
Interestingly, when Edgar Cayce would enter a deep, meditative trance to read the akashic record, he explained that thoughts were as real as actions, so much so that he had to strain to determine whether the soul seeking the reading actually did something or just thought about doing it. In the greater scheme of life, especially soul life, thoughts are as real as actions. Here are two of Cayce’s readings on this matter:
The Mind—which is of the earth earthy but of heaven heavenly, and divine—is the builder, and so the thoughts may become crimes or miracles depending upon how they are applied in the experience of each soul in its sojourn through any period of activity in the earth. But, as has been intimated, know that the thought of a soul influences the sun, the moon, and all the heavenly hosts; for as you do unto the least of your brethren you do it unto the Creator. O that men would learn, would become conscious, that as you think of those—even though they beguile you, though they deride you, though they tamper with your own purpose—as you do unto them, you do it unto God. EC 315-4
For mind is the builder and that which we think upon may become crimes or miracles. For thoughts are things and as their currents run through the environs of an entity’s experience these become barriers or steppingstones.
EC 906-3
In Hinduism (originating approximately 7000 years ago, or millions of years ago, according to the Ramayana), the word karma first appears in the Rig Veda, the oldest portion of the Vedas, which are the religious texts of Hinduism. Veda means “knowledge.” Rig Veda means “knowledge in verse” and is a collection of poetic hymns written some 3700 to 3300 years ago. In the Rig Veda, karma means “religious sacrifice.” Curiously, there is no suggestion in the Rig Veda of its later meaning as a reactive force affecting a soul’s character and circumstances. There is some indication of this in the Upanishads (another portion of the Vedas, written roughly 2800 to 2400 years ago). Here it is taught that action creates tendencies in a soul, which then produce further action, and as a result, further reaction, or karma. According to these teachings, the soul’s subtle body (the “vehicle of consciousness”; sukshma sarira in Hinduism) carries the seeds of karma, and the physical body and world are the fields in which the reaction is experienced. Hence more karma is also created, which generates a recurring cycle of birth, death, and rebirth for the soul. The soul becomes caught up in a cycle of action and reaction.
Vedanta (another part of the Vedas) and Yoga (six distinct Hindu philosophies) speak of three kinds of karma: (1) karma to be experienced during the present lifetime, (2) the karma sown in the present life and reaped in a future life, and (3) latent karma, or the carry-over of karma to be experienced at some point when the stimulation is just right to bring it