Description of Karma (My understanding)

Description of Karma (My understanding)

Very broadly Karma can be divided into four parts viz.; (1) accumulated actions (2) Actions begun; set in motion (3) Being made (4) Coming, arriving, and living.

(1)Accumulated actions:Sanchita karma this means accumulated actions, implying the sum of all karmas of this life and past lives.(2) Actions begun; set in motion: Prarabdha karma which means Actions begun; set in motion." It is that portion of sanchita karma that is bearing fruit and determining the events and circumstances of the present life, including the nature of one's bodies, personal tendencies and associations. (3) Being made: Kriyamana karma means “Being made." The karma being created and added to sanchita in this life by one's thoughts, words and actions, or in the inner worlds between lives. What we are currently creating through our choices right now. It is our creativity that is unfolding, it is our "free will” (4) Coming, arriving, and living: Agama karma means "coming, arriving," and, "living, set in motion." These are the actions that we are scheduling for the future. Actions that will or will not be accomplished depending on the choices (free will) that we are making now and those that we have made in the past. While some kriyamana karmas bear fruit in the present life, others are saved for future births. Each of these types can be divided into two categories: arabdha (literally, "begun, undertaken;" karma that is "sprouting"), and anarabdha ("not commenced; dormant"), or "seed karma”. In a well-known comparison, karma is evaluated to rice in its various stages. Sanchita karma, the residue of one's total accumulated actions, is likened to rice that has been harvested and stored in a granary. From the stored rice, a small portion has been removed, husked and readied for cooking and eating. This is prarabdha karma, past actions that are shaping the events of the present. Meanwhile, new rice, mainly from the most recent harvest of prarabdha karma, is being planted in the field that will yield a future crop and be added to the store of rice. This is kriyamana karma, the consequences of current actions. For each of the three kinds of karma there is a particular method of resolution. Non-attachment to the fruits of action, along with daily rites of worship and strict adherence to the conventions of dharma, stops the accumulation of kriyamana. Prarabdha karma is resolved only through being experienced and lived through. Sanchita karma, normally unreachable, is burned away only through the grace; and diksha of the satguru, who prescribes sadhana and tapas for the benefit of the disciple. Through the sustained kundalini (the vital force lying dormant within one until activated by the practice of yoga.) heat of this extreme penance, the seeds of un-sprouted karmas are fried, and therefore will never sprout in this or future lives.