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What is Karmic Purification? Actually who knows whether we are fooling ourselves or not? Karma stays with you continuously; it never closes its eyes. Even when you are in the bathroom, karma is watching. So be careful! No matter what you do or where you are, karma never sleeps. Karma is a witness to all you do, now and in the future. Whether other people acknowledge your actions or not doesn't really matter; karma and the buddhas will. Trust yourself: trust your pure motivation and the good actions of karma. To understand what karmic purifcation is, it's important to define what is karma and what is the process of its purification. Karma can be defined as the tendency to associate with particular forms, and the particular forms one is associated with are based upon previous causes and conditions. The level of association can span across a wide spectrum, from uconscious associations with forms, to complete and exclusive identification with a particular form, such as a self-image or group symbol to a certain level of detachment of a particular form. One's present karma is based upon what has occurred in the past or from 'external' causes arising in the present. Hindu speak of samskaras and vasanas, impressions from past lives and the past in one's curent life, as the foundations of one's current karmic situation. The quality of karmic situations also cuts across a wide spectrum: from hellish situations to a nearly heavenly existence. But in any case, any association with the forms of any karmic situation is simply suffering and bondage. Buddhist literature describes six realms of existence that arise and display a different perspective to the same forms based on one's inherence in a realm. A nourishing drink of water to one can be a burning river of torment to another, based on the type of karmic patterns that are arising. Karmic puriication is the process by which the force of association and identification that make up the forms of one's karmic situation are eased over time. The initial hurdle in the process of purification is to become aware of the forms that make up one's karmic situation, and through practice, over time, one is sensitized to increasingly subtler forms of karma, in the form of 'mosquito thoughts', unconscious or subconscious emotional pattern, causal ideas of self, etc. The process of dis-identification takes time, as the body-mind loosens its association with various forms, and in the midst of this purification a quality of spaciousness, ease, evenness and joyfulness will arise indicating that the association with binding karmic forms are easing. Karmic forms may be diminished, return to a 'seed' state (where they can re-arise in full bloom), or can be totally eradicated. And as the process of purification grows over time, increasing revelation as to the nature of existence will be enhanced, another indication of effective karmic purification. As purification becomes more advanced, the quality of joyful evenness can be carried
throughout any and all situations without being lost, including times of crisis and
severe transitions, including birth and death.
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