Practical psychology of Karma

Pages: 1455-1458
Divya Gupta (Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi)

In popular usage, karma is understood as destiny, or at best, a term condensing ‘as you sow, so shall you reap’. While the former is obviously inaccurate, even the latter is crude and inadequate enough to be inaccurate. Karma is, in fact, a concept that is central to several strands of ancient thoughts and spiritual praxis. If we are to attempt to understand the world through the possibilities available to us within Yoga and allied systems, the full implications of karma as it appears in this system must be delineated comprehensively. This includes what karma means in this specific context, including the way it has been understood in the Bhagavad Gita; what its effects are and how it functions, including in terms of the human mind; and how it is related to spiritual praxis, including what attitudes are to be cultivated with reference to karma. This paper attempts to do this in the context of the modern times, and argues that a comprehensive understanding of the doctrine of karma, far from leading to fatalism, might offer the great insights into most satisfying possibilities for understanding current dilemmas of humanity and resolving them through the systems of praxis within which it is embedded. This paper seeks to expand on and deepen the existing understanding of the Karma doctrine in our interactions a) with the world and b) within ourselves, in such a manner that is essentially freeing. Psychological applications thereof will be multifold with respect to how one deals with their i) past: reducing subjective experience of pain caused due to circumstances, letting go off the attachments and expectations, learning from the past experiences ii) present: Behavior Modification, Attitude change, emotional mindfulness, cultivating positive qualities such as empathy, kindness, sensitivity, gratitude, fearlessness, etc., and iii) future: volitionally creating one’s own destiny.