How Karma Affects Your Life According to Astrology

You may have asked yourself why some people appear to go through life functioning so smoothly, while others are continually dealing with struggles. Or why is it that the same scenario yields totally different outcomes for different people? It's not a matter of luck or circumstances. It's about "karma," and this is something that astrology has been explaining for thousands of years. Now, let's dive into how exactly those things are impacting your life with KARMA, and how it really works. 

The word "karma" comes from Sanskrit and simply means "action." Here's how to think of it: whatever you do gives you energy back in return. Have you heard the saying "what goes around, comes around," haven't you? That's what the law of karma is in a nutshell. But here is what makes it more interesting than simply that saying. Karma does not only refer to things you have done in this lifetime. In the astrological perspective, your karma refers to all actions that you've performed in your previous lives as well. In other words, your decisions made before you were born are the reasons for how your life is going.

The beautiful part? Karma is not an angry force punishing you. It's more a cosmic bookkeeping system that keeps things in balance. Positive energy generated by good actions comes back to you. When you perform bad actions, negative energy results, and it will come back to you. No one is there to mete out punishments. Basically, you yourself are making your own consequences by your choices. 

Now this is getting real. How KARMA works in astrology is everything that is going on in your life at present. Your family life, your financial struggles, your health issues, your relationship struggles, your job struggles, your talents, your breaks. All of it. Some of these are generated from your own creation, from your actions and thoughts in this moment. Some were choices you made weeks or years ago. Some, astrology says, are from your past lives!

Consider your friend who does the same job as you and for some reason is promoted more quickly. Or the boss who seems to get away with all sorts of things. You may believe that it's simply hard work and/or good fortune. However, in the eyes of astrology, there's always more than what meets the eye when it comes to karma. The friend could be collecting the kindness that they gave in a past life. Now perhaps that colleague can get away with it, but he/she is amassing negative karma that will come calling at some point, perhaps not today or the next, but it will. 

The patterns of this life, the karmas, are repeated. See how many individuals select the same sort of bad romantic options? Or how some people always have money problems regardless of their opportunities? Or how others just seem to get good friends in all places? These aren't accidents. This is the karmic pattern being played out.

Suppose you're one of those people who is all the time gossiping about other people. Eventually, you may find that they lose trust in you. There are rumors about you that make you feel uncomfortable. Your relationships go surface level. This is not a form of universal punishment. You're simply experiencing the natural consequence of your actions. You planted the seed of judgment and criticism, so you are reaping judgment and criticism.

One example of this is a person who truly provides service and support to others whenever there is a need, and without the benefit of expecting something back. They may realize that people come to them more than they would expect when a crisis occurs. Opportunities open to them in their careers that they wouldn't have sought out. They have much less reason to fear even in the worst of times. Again, not magic. Nothing more than the natural course of karma. They developed an energy of giving and kindness, and thus they find themselves in a world of giving and kindness.

What you think about also affects your life at the deepest level; it is karma. Your thoughts create your reality; thoughts become habits, habits become actions, and actions become your karma. If a person is always saying "I am not fortunate," he's putting out an energy of hopelessness. They subconsciously reject good opportunities because they think that nothing will work. At the same time, someone with the attitude, "I'm a lucky person; good things happen to me," walks differently, speaks differently, and takes different chances. 

There are four major kinds of karmas that you are dealing with at this moment, as per your astrology and ancient knowledge. 

Sanchita Karma 

It is the large mass of accumulated karmas of all past lives. Imagine this to be a huge bank account of good and bad deeds that extends back thousands of years. There is not any real or obvious link to this karma, and one doesn't encounter all of it at once. It's just sitting there simply. Some of it the universe selects to gift you in this lifetime. This is karma, which you cannot be changed; it has already been done, and it has already been accumulated. Don't worry; you are not being given everything at once. 

Prarabdha Karma 

Out of this huge stack, the universe will pick out what you will experience in this particular lifetime, called Prarabdha Karma. This is how things are right now. Your family, your body, your natural talents, your challenges, your obstacles. This is a more set-in-stone type of karma. Did you pick your family or circumstances? This is your prarabdha karmas working. There is nothing you can do about dealing with it, but here is what is important: you can change the way you deal with it. 

Kriyamana Karma 

It is your brand new karma you are creating right now, today, with your current thoughts and actions. This is totally under your control. This is the karma that you are making with every choice you make, every thought you think, every word you say. The good news? It is one of the easiest to control as it is happening now. Changing your life can literally begin today if you make a different choice. 

Agami Karma 

It is the karma that you are creating now that will appear in your future lives. It may feel like you're setting up future versions of you for failure, but consider it otherwise. You're also making opportunities and blessings for future versions of yourself. Each positive thing you do is like a gift into the future. 

That's where astrology comes in particular. The birth chart, or simply a snapshot of the positions of all of the planets at the moment you were born, is sort of your personal KARMA report card. It indicates what karmic debts and karmic credits you were born with. It illustrates what you learned in lessons. What you've pledged to do. What skills were you able to take with you?

The location of planets in your birthchart predicts which area of your life is likely to have karmic challenges and which one will be easy. With a particular planetary position, one may have trouble with relationships but have good success in their career. Another person may be blessed with love and have financial difficulties. This isn't random. It's karma, and it's set up on purpose for you to learn what you are supposed to learn.

The 12th house within your birth chart in particular reveals concealed past life habits or karmas. The 8th house indicates profound changes and family karma/legacy from birth. These are homes that hold treasures of your richest inner work. 

Saturn is the planet of karma. The Saturn in your chart is the one who is your biggest teacher, but it is not a nice and gentle one. Saturn is the demanding coach that works you hard. Saturn will be where you have the greatest difficulties and where you will grow the most. Saturn does not give you anything that you did not earn. It's all karma.

The lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu are directly related to your karmic path. Ketu points you to your comfort, to where you've learned lessons in a past life. Rahu indicates the new territory your soul desires to explore, a place you're being pulled to grow into. Rahu and Ketu were born in certain positions in your soul, and thus you were born again with them in particular positions to work on specific lessons. 

Now the crucial thing and, in a real sense, the most optimistic thing. Not all your karma is determined. What has already occurred can't be altered. There's no way to make up for past actions. However, you can totally change your course of action from now on. You cannot change much of your prarabdha karma, since, after all, it is determined for this life, but you can change the manner and the way in which you experience it and respond to it completely.

A serious health issue due to prarabdha karmas cannot simply be wished away by the person concerned, but the person can decide as to how to deal with it. They have the option to become bitter or to grow stronger. They are able to either surrender or continue to defend themselves. That decision alters their life. It is your will at play within your karma.

Now you are definitely in control of your kriyamana karmas. All options, all movements, all intentions. As you're reading, you're creating your future. If a person continues to make poor choices, then he will generate poor karma. Once the person makes a conscious, thoughtful, and kind decision, he begins to build better karma right away.

The whole idea of learning how to understand how your karmas are impacting your life is not to be scared of your past. It is to seizing control of your future, right now. This is how you put this knowledge to practice.

First, begin to pay attention to your patterns. What are the patterns that are continuing to repeat? Are you always drawn to individuals that end up disappointing you? You never have any money luck? Are you being misunderstood all of the time? There are patterns to explore here that are karmic patterns. They're pointing out to you where KARMA is working. As you can now see the pattern, you can begin to alter it.

Second, make your decisions now. Each and every option is important; it's your future you are crafting. This is not perfectionism. It means simply awareness. Pause for 2 seconds before you speak. Take a moment to think about the energy you are expending before taking action. This single habit alters your karma to a great extent.

Thirdly, know that it's not giving up when you accept what you have. You recognize that yes, perhaps you were raised without much money, in a traumatic atmosphere, with health problems stemming from your karma. You acknowledge it. Then you say, "Okay, this is where I'm at! Now what am I going to do about it? That's empowerment. That's using your free will within your karmic circumstances.

Fourth, don't compare yourself with others. When another person takes an easy route, this does not mean that you are cursed. It's just that they have different karma. Do not assume that someone else's struggle is because he or she is worse off than you. They have their own karmas to work out. Your career is yours, your life, your decisions, your development.