Where does karma play in the process of awakening?

[Gianna]

I haven't read much on karma but I just read this quote from a book by Bryon Katie:

“The usual awakening that happens through intensive meditation practice is much more jagged: a lightning-flash of insight that gives you immense encouragement and clears up your life to some extent, and afterward a great deal of slogging as that insight settles in and transforms you.”

“Then later, there may be another insight or insights, and more clarity, and more slogging through your karmic debris.”

Where and how have you guys witnessed karma playing out in your spiritual growth?

 

[The0Self]

After awakening you still deal with karmic debris, but additional karma doesn't seem possible as personal doer-ship is seen through. All there is, is timeless everything, and there's nowhere else to be and no need for anything, so guilt and other karmic forces like that are pretty much nonsensical.

[mandyjw]

There are so many different ways to talk about karma, you could say that it is your beliefs and mind patterns. It is a filter through which you see the world and which colors your experience. You may find that you can let go and stop blaming and shaming yourself for the pattern (which prevents it from stopping or being cleared), if you can see how it arose as a response in your childhood. Sometimes that is helpful but not always necessary. 

Whatever we cut ourselves off from and push against creates resistance because we are not separate, not two, non dual so we can't actually do this. The only mechanism through which we can identify is separation and exclusion, and it's a false effort, it's never actual. This means that karma acts like a boomerang, what we reject comes back around waiting to be loved and accepted. The boomerang goes around and doing damage until we realize what's going on. Becoming conscious of the law of attraction is an extremely effective tool to start to see these patterns. It's just a clearing up of misunderstandings. It's not like your doing penance for your sin out of fear of suffering, it's just a beautiful reunion. 

Personally my biggest karma releases seemed to be "caused" by religious beliefs, (I was a devout Christian as a kid). I recognized that the love I had for the religion was never false and always the deepest truth, but the fear and judgement I had taken on with it was hidden love. Felt beyond amazing to release and recognize that. 

Beyond that I'm constantly curious about how and why I attract what I do in my life. If I do this out of avoidance, or fear in trying to prevent something bad, it doesn't work, that IS the mind pattern itself I'm looking to release. If I'm curious and willing to laugh about how a thought pattern played out into my experience, there's a lot more release and insight.