There are a few things to keep in mind about Karma:
It’s a natural law which applies to all matters. It’s the law of cause and effect: that every movement, change or action has consequences (if you increase water temp it boils; if you cross the street, you get to the other side). It occurs at every level: atomically, as one cell contracts, another is drawn toward it; if you tighten the muscles of your hand, your fingers form a fist; once the earth’s nonrenewable resources are gone, things become difficult.
All actions have virtually perpetual consequences; every movement or action has immediate and direct effects, as well as perpetual ripples of indirect consequences (if you take a left fork in a road, then every turn you take thereafter is predicated on having taken that initial left turn).
It’s nonperson-specific. We’re born into a tsunami of unfulfilled direct and indirect consequences of actions and events that occurred before we were born and that will go on long after we are gone. We can all think of instances where something happened to someone through virtually no fault of their own. Technically, that is Karma: the consequence of all things that precede, though not in a predestined sense (e.g., the only reason the tree limb fell on your car was because you parked under it – and/or you neglected to trim the tree – but not because of something good or bad you may have done).
Yoga is a constant practice in influencing and accepting Karma. The intent of Yoga is to reduce suffering through self-awareness, and positively influence destiny – to the limited extent we can – by controlling our own actions, and accepting the consequences of actions and events that befall us through no fault of our own.
