In Part 1, you noted that billions of people are following different paths centered around clearing karma, whether they know it or not. If it’s a universal principle guiding nearly every religion and spiritual path, then are there parallel concepts around the world?

Yes, I’ll share the ones I’m familiar with from an esoteric perspective: Hinduism says that karma is the universal chain of causation concerning the ignorant use of human will, which emerges from maya, the great illusion of separation. Buddhism illustrates karma through a continuous wheel of bondage, or samsara. Judaism uses the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as well as Moses’ Exodus from Egypt as metaphors for karmic slavery and emancipation. Kabbalah points to the klipot, shells of impurity separating us from divine light. Christianity equates karma with sin or the darkness of Satan, who was a liar from the beginning. Islam and Sufism speak of untamed nafs, which create spiritual veils obscuring the heart’s perception of divine truth. Taoism expresses it as disharmony with the Great Way.

Plato utilized the allegory of the cave, the Stoics called it fate, Greek mythology refers to it as the Underworld, and Arthurian legend reflects it as the Wasteland separating us from the Holy Grail. Gnosticism parallels karma through the concept of the Demiurge, Alchemy symbolizes it as the ore that must be transformed into gold, and Joseph Campbell echoes it in the Hero’s Journey as the road of trials. Neale Donald Walsch recognized the karmic cycle in Conversations with God when he said, “What you resist, persists,” Non-duality emphasizes it as a mental construct perpetuating suffering, and Analytic Idealism uses the mathematical term Markov Blanket.

You also mentioned that there are more types of karma than what you listed. Can you offer further examples?

Sure. Good karma is unspent energy that draws us closer to our true nature, such as the desire to serve others, the urge to nurture oneself, the attachment to meditation and healthy living, or the drive for Self-realization. Bad karma is unspent energy that pulls us further away from our true nature, like the impulse to harm others or oneself, resistance to meditation and wellness, or avoidance of Self-realization. Yet, since we’re always our true nature and cannot be otherwise, there’s no real “closer” or “further away,” but it can be useful to make the distinction. Although good karma is better than bad, it’s still just karma, and it all eventually has to go.

Also, Nisargadatta described two types of karma – the kind that can be mitigated by Grace and the kind that must be burned away experientially. Grace-mitigable karma is beyond our control, so there’s no need to worry about it, save for making ourselves as Grace-prone as possible. Experientially-burnable karma demands our effort. We must turn inward and courageously shine the light of awareness on whatever we find – fears, desires, traumas, emotions, beliefs, narratives, attachments, aversions, urges, sensations, etc. – without clinging to or identifying with any of it. If inner release isn’t possible, then we may need to express it through external experience.

Can you say more about karma mitigated by Grace?

Grace is the nature and presence of God or Life. It’s the greatest mystery, the unknown quantity, of the spiritual journey. A wild card beyond our control, Grace always inevitably arrives in its own time; if we could summon it, then it wouldn’t be Grace.

However, there are Masters that function as channels of Grace who can assist in the removal of individual and global karma. Think Jesus on the cross who “died for our sins,” or Yogananda and Meher Baba who worked out people’s karmas in their own mind-heart-body systems. In Eastern traditions, it’s known that such beings often take on their disciples’ karmas to hasten their spiritual growth. Although Grace remains unpredictable, establishing a connection with God, our Higher Self, or a Spiritual Master can open us to its presence.

To add a paradoxical twist, we could say that karma is both mitigable by Grace and is itself Grace. Since Grace is God’s essence, and God is all there is, then karma, by its very existence, is Grace-infused. This brings us full circle to the origin and purpose of karma: a necessary process enabling the journey of Self-realization.

So far, you’ve indicated that karma is both real and not real. Which is it?

I can’t commit to a single answer, as it depends on one’s perspective. This is a paradox the limited ego-mind can’t fully understand. When we’re identified with ego, in the duality of the mind, karma is real and must be contended with. Living under the false assumption of a separate-self within space-time and cause-effect (all mental constructs), we inevitably generate karmic impressions. Dissolving them requires breaking the egoic cycle through committed action over time. Yet, when we’ve transcended ego and reside in/as Oneness, karma is seen as not real. Rather, it’s recognized as nothing other than a notion in Divine Mind.

Now, whether you view the mind as real or not real is your decision. On one hand, the mind can be seen as a real thing, as it’s manifestly, tangibly there and impacts the outcome of our lives. Yet on the other hand, its content comes and goes, ever-changing due to the law of impermanence, is constantly spinning stories that aren’t true, and is essentially just a form of contracted consciousness. So how real can it be?

The important thing is that you stay honest with yourself about where you’re at on your journey so that you can act accordingly. If you claim that the mind isn’t real even as you’re hooked by it, then you risk spiritual bypassing, which is a defense mechanism that only serves to reify one’s karmic condition. Therefore, my advice is to hold both realities in consciousness simultaneously by keeping in mind that karma is only relatively real, not absolutely real. That way, you can continue the hard work of clearing your karma, while also maintaining a deeper faith that you’re already and always have been the perfectly spotless, ever-present light of awareness in/as all things.

In Part 2, you outlined an Active Karma-Clearing Technique that involves reflecting on past traumas, present triggers, and future fears. But some law of attraction teachings warn that focusing on such things will cause them to manifest. Can you assure this won’t happen?

The law of attraction is often misunderstood in new age spiritual movements, and it’s not within the scope of our dialogue to delve into this, but rest assured, as long as your intention is clear, there’s nothing to worry about. Are you aiming to manifest a fear, or do you intend to release it? That’s the important factor.

Besides, if we sidestep our karmas and fears internally, they may be more likely to manifest in external reality. Life, as our own Self, acts with benevolent, enlightened intent, always guiding us toward our highest good. If we don’t consciously address our karma, Life will undoubtedly create situations for us to do so. By proactively clearing karma (with the Active Technique or another), we actually lessen the need for outer events to mirror our unresolved energies back to us.

Psychologically, this holds true. Unresolved fears tend to harden into false beliefs, which sets them in motion. Take fear of abandonment: if left unaddressed, it’ll likely solidify into an identity-narrative, like “I’m going to end up alone.” For example, as soon as you grow close to someone, your subconscious fear will kick in. You might think, “I love them so much, and I feel so good around them, they’re everything I’ve ever wanted. But what if they don’t feel the same? If I open my heart and they leave me, I wouldn’t be able to survive. Yeah, that’ll happen, I’ll end up alone. I can’t tolerate that. I need to end it before we get too deep. Then at least I’ll be the one in control.” And so, you sabotage the relationship through unconscious action. By trying to escape abandonment, you create it. Such self-fulfilling prophecies, born from karma, happen all the time.

On the other hand, facing and resolving your fear of abandonment will reduce the chances that it comes true. It may go something like this: “Wow, getting closer to them is stirring up a lot of fear of abandonment. My impulse is to run. That’s odd, let me explore it. I feel a cold, tight grip in my chest. Ok, don’t panic – deep breaths, relax. I’ve wanted this kind of connection forever, I’m not about to derail it. Sitting with this fear, letting it flow without clinging, I recall similar feelings from childhood. But that’s not my reality now, I can let the past go. I’ve grown, and this is different. Whew, close call!” The takeaway: consciously confronting our inner shadow is wiser than waiting for Life to force the issue.

The Active Karma-Clearing Technique relies on imagination. How does this help in real life?

Many scientific studies have proven that our imaginations are incredibly powerful. Brain scans have demonstrated that imagining an event activates the same brain areas as experiencing it in real life. Our brains often can’t distinguish between an imagined situation and a real one, so for all intents and purposes, the Active Technique can be effective if our imagination is vivid enough. Ultimately, to confirm its impact, you’ll need to test it in vivo to see if anything shifts. Does practicing it translate to greater well-being? Does it make a difference in your life?

Moreover, dreams naturally do this work. They’re potent methods of burning karma, processing subconscious energy we aren’t facing in waking life. And what are dreams but pure imagination at play. Remember that karma isn’t ultimately real – it’s fantasy. It’s a collection of imprints from past experiences projected onto the future. But past and future are mental imaginings; the past is gone, and the future hasn’t arrived. Only the Eternal Now exists. As karma hinges on past and future, it’s an illusion too. So, why not utilize imagination to dispel imagination, like a thorn removing a thorn? It may not be the fastest path, but for those of us who can’t yet transcend the mind effortlessly, this method proves highly effective.

Many people who practice clearing karma report it being difficult and painful. Why is it painful to clear karma?

Karma is energy we’ve suppressed because the ego deemed it unpleasant. This means that everything in the unconscious, even positive emotions, carries some discomfort, so resurfacing it naturally feels painful. We hid it for a reason. It’s a good idea to delve into our work with this understanding. Clearing karma means facing our suffering directly. Once we can do that, our suffering fades like a dream.

It may seem daunting to embark on this task, but that’s what the ego-mind wants you to believe. It’s certainly wise to proceed gently to prevent overwhelming your psyche with intense energy, but keep in mind that there’s a finite amount of karma that needs to be cleared. It’s not an infinite well or endless void of darkness. Once we get started, the process simplifies and unfolds organically. Like a knotted rope, when we tug at one subconscious strand, eventually the whole tangle unravels. Each packet of information-energy that’s seen and resolved gets integrated consciously into our being, elevating our consciousness, strengthening resilience, and increasing our capacity for deeper energies. This creates a positive feedback loop, a self-reinforcing cycle that gains momentum with each practice, making karma-clearing progressively easier.

If you’re hesitant about this work, please consider that clearing our personal karma reduces the mass karma of the collective, enhancing both ourselves and the world. And hopefully you can draw inspiration from Rumi’s words: “I want burning!”

What is the relationship between karma and suffering?

Karma, like ego, causes suffering. Suffering stems from ignorance of our true nature, and karma occludes this knowing. Even if karma doesn’t always cause immediate pain, its presence guarantees future suffering. Without karma, suffering cannot occur. Where suffering is, karma is too.

This means we can use suffering to identify our karma; it’s a signal in our consciousness that alerts us to the presence of egoic energy. Suffering is a built-in safeguard ensuring the inevitable dissolution of karma, for when it gets intense enough, we’re compelled to dispel it by any means necessary. Thus, suffering is a form of fierce Grace. If you want to check for karma, ask yourself: “Do I experience suffering in any aspect of my life?” or “Are there things in my life that I haven’t found peace with?”

How do I know if something is karmic or not?

While suffering is an obvious indicator of unprocessed energy, karma isn’t always so overt. It’s often difficult to see what’s unconscious due to the very fact that it’s unconscious. However, we can sometimes sense karma through its effect on our lives. Much like how a black hole can only be detected by the way it bends light and causes other nearby celestial bodies to behave, so karma can sometimes be inferred by how our lives unfold in its unseen presence. If something feels, seems, or acts karmic, it likely is. It takes a discerning eye to identify the signs.

Beyond suffering, some signs that undigested energy could be at play include: attachment, resistance, egotism, insecurity, judgment, reactivity, defensiveness, rumination, intrusive thoughts, false beliefs, traumas, physical tension, worry, anxiety, depression, mental health struggles, uncontrollable urges, impulsivity, psychosomatic symptoms, violence, or recurring issues at home, work, or in relationships. Notice these tendencies as they’re happening, and focus awareness on releasing their underlying energy before they lead to outward action.

If something bad happens, does this mean it’s my karma?

First of all, if you’re calling something “bad,” then you’ve already got a false belief about it, so by default, the very question betrays the presence of karma.

Secondly, how do you know whether something is bad? Is it because you don’t like it, or it clashes with your preferences, or it matches what you were taught? Question your assumption here. Only the ego splits life into “good” or “bad,” presuming it knows how things should be. If we can humble ourselves, we’ll see that we don’t really know anything, so we can’t possibly discern “good” from “bad.”

Third, even if the ego does label it “bad,” couldn’t it be Grace in disguise? Can you truly know if something is karmic, divine, or both? Regardless, all you can reasonably do is learn from the past to improve the future, do your best, and trust in the Universe.

Here’s a story Alan Watts loved to share on this topic:

The Story of the Chinese Farmer

Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer and his son who owned a beloved horse that helped the family earn a living. One evening their horse ran away. That evening, all of their neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.”

A few days later, the horse returned home bringing back seven wild horses with it to the farm, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.”

Later that week, his son tried to break in one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown onto the ground and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, your son broke his leg. That’s too bad. What terrible luck!” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.”

A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town recruiting boys for the army, but the conscription officers rejected the farmer’s son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great? Your boy is spared. What tremendous luck!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”

And on it continues. Often, we label our experiences as “bad” if we hate them and “good” if we like them. But the bad cannot exist without the good, nor the good without the bad. Whatever happens in our life, we’ll never know the consequences it may bring in the future. The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity, and it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad – because you never know what will be the consequences of misfortune, and you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.

I know you said that karma and reincarnation aren’t ultimately real, but I find the concepts so negative, being trapped on some endless wheel of bondage. Why not something more uplifting?

I understand your concern, but I don’t make the rules. You can reframe them, though. Instead of seeing it as perpetual oppression, you could view it as a gift from your true Self for growth and learning. That’s definitely a more empowering and uplifting angle. But if these ideas still unsettle you, could it be your karmic lens at play, not the concepts themselves? If so, that’s a strong nudge to keep doing the work.

How does karma tie into fate and free will?

Karma is directly tied to fate and free will. You could say that our karmic density determines our life destiny. More karma means more fate, and less karma means less fate. On a spectrum from karmic density to karmic sparsity, denser karma limits free will, binding us to unconscious patterns of thoughts, feelings, sensations, and behaviors that lead to inevitable outcomes. Lighter karma expands free will, enabling conscious, clear, unconditioned, and empowered decisions free from the influence of past burdens.

Yet, even fate and free will are mental constructs. Fate is the mind’s view of the past, free will is its gaze toward the future. Neither are truly real. Thus, the question itself is ultimately irrelevant.

Please interpret this Bible passage (Matthew 25:29) in light of karma: “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

Yogananda has a great commentary on this verse. Essentially, it demonstrates karma’s exponential and compounding nature: awareness fosters more awareness, while ignorance breeds further ignorance. The more karma we carry, the more we create; the less karma we carry, the less we create. This underscores how crucial it is to begin cultivating awareness and clearing karma as soon as we can. As Yogananda urged, “Everything else can wait, but our search for God cannot wait.”

This Bible quote applies both internally and externally. Internally, for example, a quiet mind grows quieter, but a busy mind gets busier. This might sound obvious, but many people don’t intuitively grasp it, instead trying to calm the mind with more thinking, only adding to the noise. Externally, wealth begets wealth, while poverty begets poverty. The poor tend to get penalized more, despite the fact that they’re more deserving of a break. Yet, systems like tax cuts, financial investments, and bank deals, among other things, tend to favor the rich, perpetually widening the gap between the two classes. This principle is evident in every aspect of life where unconsciousness prevails. What we engage with grows stronger, and what we neglect weakens. Like the story of the two wolves doing battle inside of us. Which one wins? The one we feed.

How can I know how much karma I have?

There is no way to know how much karma we have, but let me share a story that might help.

I once joined a spiritual group focused on burning karma and advancing evolution. One day, the leader called to say he was removing me from the group. He claimed his intuition told him that I had “too much karma” for him to handle. He continued to suggest that I would need heavy intervention requiring lifetimes of struggle. Needless to say, I was devastated, not only for being excluded from a group I cherished, but more importantly because I feared he was right about my karmic burden. Yet despite his shocking unprofessionalism, how could this person really know the extent of my karma? Fortunately, I had the good sense to see the nonsense of his warning, instead placing my faith in God’s wisdom. I believed that God knew my path and my needs, and that liberation would come at the exact right time; that was enough for me. Then the awakening transpired just a few years later.

The moral of the story: Don’t worry about how much karma you have, and steer clear of anyone claiming to know, unless they’re a Perfect Master. Your journey is between you and God, whose infinite Intelligence, Light, Love, and Grace can dispel any darkness instantly. Do your best each moment, and let Life handle the rest.

Do I have to clear all of my karma in order to awaken?

No. Awakening requires realizing the Self, not clearing all karma. We just have to clear enough karma to unveil our true nature. Karma may or may not persist after awakening, but if we’re in Oneness, it won’t matter as much. That being said, everyone must eventually address all of their active karma – whether before awakening, after awakening, or both. We can’t escape our darkness, but the timing of when we face it can vary. Post-awakening, karma is certainly easier to burn, but choosing this option isn’t entirely up to us.

However, if you’ve meditated or followed a spiritual path for years without a breakthrough, or you consistently glimpse Oneness but can’t stay there (as many Non-duality practitioners report), then karma is likely the culprit. There’s probably some unseen energy blocking an abiding awakening or keeping you in ego. For lasting realization and well-rounded embodiment, clearing karma is the best thing you can do.

Can you say more about karma post-awakening?

When awakening appears, the darkness obscuring our true nature vanishes in the light of awareness. Whatever karma was blocking this perception is dissolved forever. Energy comes in, flows freely, and no longer gets stuck, because we don’t mistake our identity as finite form. Any dormant karma that didn’t get activated is permanently severed after awakening, as Yogananda eloquently noted: “Seeds of past karma cannot germinate if they are roasted in the fires of divine wisdom.”

Yet, active samskaras that brought us to this moment may linger for a time. Though awake, the mind-heart-body may continue to release residual energy in accordance with the principles of nature. No new karma (good or bad) can form, but the currently active karma (i.e. run-off karma, or leshavidya) persists as faint traces of ignorance on the edges of our awareness that must complete their expression in form. Adi Shankara illustrated karmic run-off through the analogy of a potter’s wheel that “keeps revolving until its accumulated momentum runs down,” and Ramana Maharshi compared it to the slowing down of fan blades: “Just as the fan continues to revolve for some time even after the switch is turned off, due to the momentum already gained, so too the body continues to function for some time after the mind has ceased to identify itself with it.” The key words being “ceased to identify.”

What is the experience of karma like after Self-realization?

With Self-realization, the ego is transcended, meaning there’s nobody home. The mind, heart, and body operate as usual, but our consciousness no longer identifies with them. Any remaining karma is now leftover energy attributed to no one in particular. It’s observed and released into the cosmos impersonally.

Imagine ordering an Amazon package while operating under the influence of karma. Then Self-realization dawned and karma was dissolved, but the package still arrived. Well, whoever ordered that package is gone – the ego has been reconfigured. But the now-absent ego’s past action still plays out. The package arrives as expected, with no one to claim it. This analogy hopefully offers a flavor of what karma is like post-awakening. If a tree falls in the forest, but nobody is there to witness it, did it fall? Similarly, if karma continues to expend itself, but there’s nobody there to identify with it, then is it karma?

If I want to learn more about karma, what resources do you recommend?

I recommend exploring these books: I Am That – Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj; Discourses by Meher Baba; God Talks with Arjuna, The Bhagavad Gita: The Royal Science of God-Realization by Paramahansa Yogananda; In the Light of the Self: Adi Shankara and the Yoga of Non-dualism by Alistair Shearer; Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny by Sadhguru; The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious by Carl Jung; and Karma Yoga: The Yoga of Action by Swami Vivekananda.

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