KARMA can be a scary word! I’m careful about how and when I use it with clients in a reading or process session.

A wise perspective from Buddhist master Mingyur Rinpoche:

“Karma is not destiny. It is not fate. It has become popular to conclude, “ That’s my karma,” in a way that implies, “ there’s nothing I can do about this.”
That’s a complete misunderstanding. We are born with impulses and inclinations, tastes and characteristics. That’s obvious. yet our impulse for aggression does not necessarily lead to murder.
Our instinct for kindness does not necessarily lea to boundless compassion.
The maturation of any instinct, like that of a seed, depends on circumstances and conditions. But it remains our responsibility to make the most of what we have, and what we are born with, by taking the reins and directing our activities.
Karma contributes to everyday situations that we find ourselves in. It contributes to our family context, the type of work we do, and our financial circumstances.
It shapes our appetites and behavior.
It increases and decreases possibilities.
Karma is not a life sentence, but more like a predilection we can work with - and change. It is not immutable.
. . . we learn to detect impulses in their early stages. We can check an impulse toward anger before exploding like a volcano. If we do not recognize that impulse, then the repetition of angry outbursts strengthens the tendency towards anger and creates its own karmic energy, its own propensity for reoccurrence.
Recognition allows us to disrupt the habitual identification that we have with the impulse, and therefore to separate from it.
We can also learn to cultivate our impulse for kindness so that it permeates our entire being for our own benefit and for that of others.
Our humanness provides us with the choice between positive and negative.
Our karma may shift he balance one way or another. But the choices that we make are our responsibility, and they condition our future.”