The Vedantic View
It’s not necessary to believe in reincarnation to understand Karma but, from the Vedantic perspective, you have lived for many previous lives and the situations and circumstances of your current life are the result of the actions performed during all lives. Believing in Karma and reincarnation makes it easier to understand why bad things happen to good people or why a young innocent child develops a life-threatening illness. Vedanta would say that everything in your life is the result of the energy created by actions in previous births. Every situation that happens to you and everyone you meet has a Karmic significance. Everything happens for a reason.
Whatever your belief, Karma implies that you have created and continue to create your life. Do you have free will? Unfortunately, many people have very little. Many people allow themselves to remain imprisoned in that Karmic software, conditioned by their memories and desires, performing the same habits over and over and wondering why their lives aren’t taking them anywhere. Many are like the hamster, running on its treadwheel, thinking it’s getting somewhere while in fact it’s just going round and round!
However, as you grow and evolve spiritually, you can break out of those cycles and consciously choose the life you want to lead. The Karmic curse causes you to forget who you really are, so your spiritual path involves releasing the Karma that is clouding your awareness, allowing you to remember who you really are. Of course, releasing Karma doesn’t mean you lose all your memories and desires; it means you lose your attachment to them and are no longer held under their influence. As the great seer Adi Shankara said, “I use memories but I don’t allow them to use me.”
