Be more conscious of the choices you make
We need to be more fully aware of all of our actions, whether conscious or unconscious, because they all affect the law of karma.
Throughout the months of March and April, we are dedicating this Fearless Journeys book club to gaining insights from Deepak Chopra’s classic work, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. Today’s review covers the subject of Chapter 3: The Law of Karma.
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We make choices every day, at almost every moment of the day. Some of these choices are conscious. Others unconscious. But as Deepak Chopra says, even though so many of our choices are made unconsciously, we don’t think they are choices, “and yet they are.”
What kind of choices are made unconsciously? It could be many things you have already done today — such as getting out of bed. Maybe you set an alarm clock. Maybe you didn't. The alarm might have woken you up. But it didn’t get you out of bed. Sometimes we think about this choice. “Maybe I’ll just lay here a few more minutes.” Sometimes we don’t think about it. We just lay there — or we get out of bed.
These kinds of unconscious choices go on and on throughout our day. We brush our teach. We eat breakfast. We perform what have become habits. As James Clear pointed out in Atomic Habits, habits are shortcuts for the brain. When we get in the habit of doing something, we just do it without thinking. After all thinking is work and our brain finds shortcuts so we don’t have to spend all that mental energy when we repeat the same things over and over.
Chopra encourages us not just to go through the motions, but to start becoming consciously aware of our choices. Some of the choices are habits like getting out of bed, brushing your teeth, eating breakfast, and the list goes on.
Some of our choices are very positive things we might do. Maybe it’s taking a walk, going to the gym, reading a book, having dinner with your loved ones. Other choices we make maybe not so good. Taking that smoke break. Pouring a drink. Indulging in junk food. Wasting too much time in front of the television.
Others can be worse. Abusing drugs and alcohol. Being in an abusive relationship. Spending money recklessly. Committing a crime. Or: simply not living up to your potential.
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The more we become consciously aware of our choices, the more we can own them. Of course that can be scary for a lot of people. We often times want to blame circumstances beyond our control for our situations. I’ve been to places where that’s easy to do. My recent visit to Cuba is one of them. Those people seem really trapped and have a lack of choices compared to most of the free world.
I also have taught courses in prisons. Speaking of trapped! But what put those people in prison? Maybe they grew up in poverty, without a father, or even a mother. Maybe they hung out with the wrong group of people. Yes, a lot of circumstances make our life more difficult, but even in those circumstances we all have a choice. Those inmates decided to make a bad choice. Maybe they are not bad people. They just saw a shortcut. Whatever the case, they made a choice.
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So what does this have to do with the Law of Karma?
Deepak Chopra tells us that “karma is both action and the consequence of that action.” While this implies conscious choice making, it also involves what we see as unconscious choice making. Regardless of whether choices are made consciously or unconsciously, the result is the same.
“When we choose actions that bring happiness and success to others, the fruit of our karma is happiness and success.”
This is why Chopra emphasizes that we need to be more fully aware of all of our actions, whether conscious or unconscious, because they all affect the law of karma.
Chopra advises us to “step back and witness the choices you are making in every moment.”
When you make any choice, ask yourself two questions:
What are the consequences of this choice?
Will the choices I’m making bring happiness to me and to those around me?"
You will begin to understand there is always one choice that will create maximum happiness for both you and those around you.
If you aren’t quite sure about the right choice, “Put your attention to your heart and ask your heart what to do,” says Chopra. “You will know the answer is right because it will feel right, without any lingering doubts.”
We are always trying to get ourselves into the right “mindset,” but Chopra tells us that “though the answer may not seem rational, the heart is far more accurate than anything within the realm of rational thought.”
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The Law of Karma says that “no debt in the universe ever goes unpaid.” Some might see this in the old adage that “what you sow is what you reap.”
In my own life, in everything I have witnessed, nothing is more true to me. I have witnessed this time and again. What you put out into the universe — into personal relationships and everything you do — will come back to you. The good and the bad.
Often times we might see public figures — or even people we know — who are not doing things we approve of. Yet they seems to be living glamorous lives. On the contrary, we might meet people who have had a lot of bad luck, despite every effort they give. These anecdotes might lead us to believe that “there’s no such thing as karma, because if there was…”
My advice: don’t compare to other people. You don’t know what’s actually going on in their life, in their minds, in their hearts, or even in their personal relationships. Or what their future actually holds.
Focus on yourself. Be more aware of your conscious and seemingly unconscious actions. What can you do today to make better choices? What can you do today to bring joy to others?
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Back to those unconscious actions. Where do they come from? How are they built?
Chopra tells us that “every action is a karmic episode because action generates memory, memory generates desire, and desire generates action again. As you become conscious of these seeds of manifestation, you become a conscious choice maker, and the actions you generate will be evolutionary.”
Like many other things, you will make better choices and see the fruits of the law of karma when you are fully conscious in the present.
Bring more awareness to every choice you are making, while you are making it. We make hundreds, perhaps thousands, of choices every day. Let’s be more conscious of each one! And let’s find ways to bring more happiness to those around us. Let’s help the Law of Karma work in our favor.