Books About Karma

[Colette]

Myfavorite aspect of this book was the concept of a crime coefficient: a numerical measure of how likely a person is to commit a crime. Punishments are meted out preemptively based on this. I found it a fascinating concept, especially in the context of karma, which also explores the idea of violence at a thought level (it does not delve into karma, but it is a personal interest of mine).

One of my favorite concepts is the idea that our lives are moral battlegrounds for self-betterment and that our soul reincarnates through various lives to improve upon itself; and of course, karma yoga (the theory of karma), which is intrinsically linked with the concept of reincarnation.

I find it difficult to speak further about this book because I really cannot do the Gita or its themes justice in my own words. Those interested should try it out for themselves and understand it in their own way.

To experience another's thoughts and emotions, one first has to feel them. Eyes, lips, tongue, and teeth are involved before the brain/heart can engage. Translation of poetry is the same. My mother has sung Chinese poetry to me since forever, and English poetry came alive for me through verse speaking. I studied and taught as I wrote for many years. I cannot say I find my way into every poem I come across, but the poems I translate are ones I know and love. That is why I am passionate about translation. For me, it is not a secondary experience but a primary, primal performance art!

I read this English translation before I even read the book in Chinese, even though Chinese readers in Hong Kong where I grew up all read it as teenagers or young adults. The popular title of the novel is Dream of the Red Chamber, in both English and its original Chinese, but I immediately agreed with Hawkes that The Story of the Stone, one among its many titles, is much more expressive and fitting.

I have been a dreamer since my childhood and chasing my dream is the goal of my life. Dreams do not have a visible purpose the destiny is hidden behind dreams. While following my dreams, I had started searching for my origin, because I felt connected to some unknown place. I travelled to various ancient sites of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Indus civilizations and explored that these civilizations were very disciplined and advanced. Still, we are not able to unfold so many mysteries. I see the future in the past and present is just a stem in between, this inspired me to write a book.

I was in my teens when I discovered that if I focused on something hard enough I could manifest it. During my investigations into whether others had experienced this, I discovered the Adyar Bookstore in the Strand Arcade in Sydney, and that I had an insatiable thirst for all texts metaphysical, historical, and quantum theory. Turns out that many of the greatest thinkers in history believed that humans hold sway over many of the events and occurrence of their own lives, including Einstein, Plato, Tesla, Carl Sagan, and more. My books are the product of my exploration into the nature of personal reality, spirituality, and the meaning of life.

This story tells of four characters, in four different historic periods, and the oversoul responsible for guiding them all. I have such a character in my new book also, whom I call the Inter-dweller.

When I read his expose of the Saturn Return I knew that I had hit upon a hidden gem. His description of how to read and use the conflicts of planets, signs, and houses within the chart changed the way I approached my readings, and to Stephen, I am eternally grateful.

After retiring from a career in climate science, I reinvented myself as an English teacher, a yoga instructor, and a writer. I write personal essays about my life experiences, in particular my time teaching in Thailand. Before I traveled to Thailand, while I was there, and when I returned home to the US, I devoured every book I could find that could help me make sense of Thai culture and manage as a farang (foreigner, Westerner) in the Land of Smiles. Here are my five picks for helping other farangs understand Thailand.

"That night, the rain poured and wind howled, raindrops crashing like solid objects onto the ground and water. A passenger boat from Ban Phaen to Bangkok, packed with people, pressed on through the current amidst the rising clamor of the rain and storm. . . ." The boat capsizes in the torrent, and washed up on the shore the next morning are the sodden bodies of the many passengers who lost their lives.

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Hampstead. The last time I went there was to see Night of the Living Dead. I thought it would be my last night ever because I was laughing so much at one point. One of the police officers asks the zombie expert (?!) why the zombies walk so slowly, to which he replies, "Well, they're dead."

As Hampstead held a few happy memories for me, it sounded like a great idea to go there. We went to Hampstead Heath station, turned left and left again, and then were not sure where to go. Fortunately, there was a girl standing with a tray of bread samples. We asked her directions to the Keith Fawkes bookshop, and she obliged.

I felt guilty about only asking her for directions when the reason for her being there was to offer people bread. So I asked her about it. She pointed to the bakery, and told us they were all baked on the premises.

I looked at the menu. "Tell me about the three cheese toastie please", I said to the lady at the counter. By the time she'd finished telling me about how the butter is drizzled into the fresh-baked New York sourdough bread, and three hard cheeses melted onto the base, my cholesterol had risen by five points.

After our visits to two bookshops, we decided to head home. As we neared Karma bread, Elaine said, "Fancy a coffee first?", something she almost never does at the end of a tiring day. (To get from Karma Bread to the Keith Fawkes bookshop you have to walk about a mile uphill: no wonder everyone in Hampstead looks so slim.)

So what of the books? I didn't find anything of interest in Keith Fawkes but it had loads of unusual books. Elaine found one all about different kinds of bees, which was useful because we have several varieties in our garden.

There's also an Oxfam bookshop in London, and there I discovered a collection of articles from a magazine called The Believer, which I'd never heard of before. It sounds like a religious affair but it is an eclectic mix of essays. I'll write about the book in another article.

I also came across a self-publishing book. Just from my brief dipping in I found it refreshing. I've recently started publishing Kindle books, and all the 'gurus' say that you have to write only books that people want to read. This has blocked me a bit, because what I really want to do is write books that I would wish to read, and ones I'd like to write just for the pleasure of expressing my thoughts on virtual paper.

Well, this book says write what you like, because all books have potential readers. Obvious, really, but sometimes it's good to be told something obvious just for the sake of feeling reassured. I'll write about that book in another article too.

Recently I read two books on psychology and therapy, which dealt with past-life regression and clairvoyance. The first one was Many Lives, Many Masters by Dr. Brian Weiss and the other was Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce Story on reincarnation by Gina Cerminara. Both left a deep impact on me, enough for me to mull over the concepts discussed in them. I am sharing some thoughts here.

Disclaimer: I am not a theologian or a psychologist, nor do I claim deep knowledge of these subjects. I have merely shared some thoughts after reading the two books mentioned, which left a deep impact on my mind. And oh, in that sense, this is not a regular book review either!

Just as reincarnation is an accepted concept in Hinduism and Buddhism, it is also believed that souls wait for the right time to reincarnate. So it is quite plausible to accept that some of the evolved souls or masters biding their time out there, spoke through the voice of Catherine.

The awareness of the causes and effects of karma is perhaps the single most important factor that can help spiritual evolvement of human beings. Our sages reiterated the fact that we are born as humans so that we may have the chance to work out our karma, both good and bad.

For in Hinduism unlike Abrahamic religions, the soul does not go to heaven or hell for eternity. True we have Chitragupta, the book-keeper of Yama the god of Death, who reads out our good and bad deeds and calculates the period for which we are to live either in Swarga or Naraka. These are just transitory places before the soul is reborn again for another shot at balancing the karma to attain moksha, which is salvation from the cycle of birth and death.

As a yogic practice, past life regression needs to be done under the supervision of trained masters. And even as a tool of psychiatric treatment it needs to be used cautiously as some times the patients are too disturbed by them even after coming out of the hypnotic trance. You can read more about the clinical aspect of past-life regression here.

According to Wiki, in the religious mythology of China, the deity Meng Po, also known as the Lady of Forgetfulness, prevents souls from remembering their past lives by giving them a bittersweet drink that erases all memories before they climb the wheel of reincarnation. Just imagine what would happen if we remembered our past lives in detail. I am sure we have the benevolent deity Meng Po to thank for making us forget them!

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