Dharma and karma are concepts I have been aware of individually but I have not known of the connection between them (and the importance within Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism). Here, I share with you the journey I took which led me to discovering this connection. And how the concepts of dharma and karma can provide an effective guidance tool to help you live with more purpose and enjoy a more fulfilling and prosperous life.
Every trip holds a message for me. And my recent trip to Bali and Australia was no different.
I arrived depleted and disconnected. Life’s happenings last year took their toll on me physically, mentally and spiritually and I hadn’t afforded myself enough time or space to recover. I completed my own Reflections & Intentions workbook on the plane journey over and my responses shocked me. I realised just how much I had let my fear-based Ego Self run the show in my personal life.
One manifestation of this was the travel anxiety I experienced throughout much of the trip until I arrived in Australia. It was intense to the point where, on the flight over, I questioned why I was even going and whether I had another long haul trip in me. Something needed to change.
Meeting a Balinese priest and cleansing my energy
I have long since wanted to meet with a Balinese priest (since reading Eat, Pray, Love). And now I felt I needed it more than ever. When I arrived in Bali, I had the realisation of how so much of what I was experiencing and my responses to different situations was down to my spiritual disconnection. And so I was open and ready to receive whatever messages and healing the priest had for me. And to experience a Balinese water purification ceremony to cleanse me of any unwanted, negative energy.
As I entered the courtyard to the priest’s home, I knew this was going to be a powerful experience. Immediately, I was drawn in by the sound of chanting and the presence of someone who was clearly vibrating at a very high frequency. The light and the joy which was emanating from him was something I had rarely witnessed before – at least not in the western world.
I sat in front of him and he started to size me up (spiritually speaking). And then came the water (lots of it) to cleanse and purify me. I then moved down to an area with three fountains which I sat underneath in turn to let the water pour onto my crown chakra. The priest’s helper held my head under the chilly water. I was not prepared for this – it literally took my breath away and I was left gasping.
I got changed and sat back down in front of the priest, ready to hear his observations and receive the healing. His thoughts were shared through a translator – so it was concise and made me tune in intently to every single word. Much of it rang true. He’d got the measure of me, for sure.
Receiving the healing and the messages from the priest
The physical healing which followed was both intense and a little mind-blowing. The priest started pressing his thumbs so deeply into my back that it would make a Thai massage feel relaxing. He then asked me to clasp my hands behind my back, after which he pushed down on them, pulling them apart instantly.
The priest then circled his pendulum which had been charged with his high vibration (through many years of meditation) and got me to step into the space. After, I clasped my hands behind my back again and as he pushed down this time, to my astonishment, I managed to carry his full weight as he swung from side to side. I had never witnessed the power of someone’s energy in such a visceral way before.
There were three main messages the priest then passed on to me:
- Firstly, how vital it was to continue my commitment to a daily meditation, gratitude and prayer practice.
- Secondly, that I had an imbalance in my manipura (solar plexus) chakra which I needed to work on strengthening in order to reduce feelings of anxiety.
- The third one was a little cryptic. The interpreter simply said the words ‘dharma and karma’.
I took the messages onboard, slightly annoyed with myself for not having maintained my daily practice on holiday. It was a big reminder of how necessary this was for calm and centred daily living – whether home or away. The energy blockage he identified made a lot of sense to me and helped explain a lot of what I was experiencing. It gave me a helpful focus for my Kundalini practice. With the ‘dharma and karma’ message, I wasn’t entirely sure what was meant by this, but I trusted that all would be revealed in its own good time.
Dharma and karma - the connection revealed
A couple of days later, I went to a local café for breakfast – somewhere which I intuitively felt very drawn to. It was called Dharma. Although I was aware of the term from the Buddhist meditation classes I’d attended over the years, I hadn’t truly recognised its significance – especially in the context of the work that I do.
A mural on the wall of the café immediately grabbed my attention. I couldn’t believe what it said (see below). It explained in very simple terms what dharma and karma were and the interconnection between the two. In essence, that in doing good things and living in alignment with your higher purpose, good things would be returned to you. The priest’s message had been revealed to me!
I cried as I read it. Both because of the sentiment behind it and because it supported my own philosophy – and one of the central themes of my career coaching programme and my book. And that is the use of a broader definition of purpose and how we can derive it from how we live our day-to-day life as well as from our work. Such as by being a vessel for kindness, consciousness and love.
Dharma and karma - how to enhance our working lives
I believe this definition and interconnection is deeply significant in the context of our lives and our careers.
- Dharma brings with it an added dimension to the concept of purpose – by referencing certain ways of living such as communing with nature, eating healthily, meditating and praying. In this sense, these activities need not be seen as separate from our purpose but an intrinsic part of it.
- Dharma also can be applied to life outside of your work – such as the duties you may uphold within your family or your community or by bringing more love and forgiveness into the world.
- Dharma connects you with your conscience – the inner knowing of what is the right thing to do. This can take away the need for comparison over what others are or aren’t doing and give you an inner guidance system to follow.
- Dharma is also about service – this could mean looking for new opportunities within our jobs to serve others or simply changing our mindset and approach to what we already do to bring in more of a sense of service to it.
- By pursuing your dharma, it will lead to greater harmony, fulfilment and (as the sign says) a ‘magical‘ life. This would suggest that any time and effort spent clarifying and connecting with your purpose on this deeper level is surely well worth it!
- By sending out good things through our work, we open ourselves up to good things being returned to us – for example, through us sharing our gifts, our time, our love, our resources, our positive energy, we can potentially be on the receiving end of such things from colleagues, customers, patients, students etc. This could help in terms of feeling more fulfilled or prosperous in our current role or being able to progress into a new, more aligned role.
- Although living out your dharma / purpose is reward in and of itself, linking it with karma may also bring an additional source of motivation – recognising that good things will be returned to you. (I believe it does take an element of trust though. Because we don’t always receive good things from that or those whom we direct our good things towards. But when we remember that the Universe is our source of everything, then we can relax knowing that good things will indeed come back to us.)
I am already using the priest’s message about dharma and karma to help keep me on track with my new year intentions – to eat more consciously, to love and forgive more and to continue doing what I believe is right. I am also using it as a reminder of how blessed I am that I am doing what I am here to be doing and that it involves guiding others towards their dharma (and karma).
What about you? How might you be able to harness this broader definition of dharma to help with your intentions?
How does it feel to know there is good karma involved in carrying out your purpose?
How much more motivated do you feel to understand and pursue your purpose?
Further reading and support
I know that I am only skimming the surface of the topic of dharma and karma here. There are lots of other resources you can take a look at to go deeper – particularly within the Buddhist and Hindu traditions.
If you are interested in getting some support to enable you to clarify and connect with your purpose then take a look at the coaching programmes I offer or book in for a 30 minute Coaching Taster Session with me.
(For full disclosure, since the healing journey in Bali, I have been able to tap into a much calmer energy. And the 22 hour plane journey home? It was a breeze!)
