Can Meditation Clear Karma? (Solved)

The idea of bad karma can be frightening for many, who are worried about what would be about to come for possible bad deeds they’ve done in the past.

However, is there any relation between meditation and good karma, or perhaps bad karma? Meditation focuses on the present moment, and the same principle can be applied to karma. 

You can’t change what you did, but you can choose your present deeds. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean it has to come back to bite you in an unpleasant way. I.e, living in the past has some karma related to it, because you’ve engaged your mind to your past, and your experience of the past is a response to your act of engaging with your past. 

According to Paramhansa Yogananda, a meditator, yogi, and Indian guru, one of the key figures in the world of meditation and the one who introduced millions to the practice, meditation is one way to clear karma. There are even guided meditations and audios geared specifically for this purpose. 

Good Deeds and Meditation

With meditation, you are more likely to do more good deeds because of your increased empathy and compassion towards others. Now, that doesn’t mean it can’t be used for the opposite purpose, but it’s rare. 

Many people see karma as if I do something bad to someone else, it’s gonna return to me. But that also applies to yourself. Your daily thoughts dictate to a great extent how your day is gonna be. If your outlook on the day is negative, regardless of what happens, even if something good happens, it’s gonna be overlapped by the negative thought. 

That’s not to say you can’t have negative thoughts, and the idea that you’ll just be filled with positive thoughts with meditation is a myth, you just aren’t as reactive to the thoughts and thus, can gravitate towards thoughts you’re more pleased with. 

But the point is that if your outlook of the day is negative, you’re constantly living in a place you’re not in i.e the past or the future, the day is gonna respond by making you feel accordingly. 

In Sadhguru’s words, “your karma is your life” which in other words your life is what you make of it. 

Living your life on autopilot consistently leads to decisions that aren’t always the most favorable in the karmic sense. I.e, saying something to someone you’ll later regret, all because you let yourself be overtaken by emotions, rather than taking a step back. 

Negative Karmas of Past Lives

For those who are more invested in the concept of karmas, there is the idea that our karma isn’t exclusive to this lifetime only, but can be found in our past lives as well, and depending on our deeds there, some believe it will dictate on where we will land on our subsequent lives. For this reason, there are those that are concerned about removing karmas from their past lives. 

For this, there’s a meditation called Karma Yoga Bhakti Meditation, which is a yoga and meditation practice that includes more advanced elements of what a normal meditation includes, such as candles, sitting in a certain position, and keeping your hands in a certain position. 

This mimics more of a religious concept in conjunction with meditation. Now, meditation has strong connections to religion but most don’t necessarily practice it with that purpose in mind and completely exclude religion from meditation. 

What You Focus on Grows

The more you place your focus on something, the more that’s gonna have an impact on your life, and it’s not something we think about daily. 

This is why if you’re constantly stressed and thinking of something, it’s more likely to feed off itself and grow, whereas if you engage more in the calmness you’re more likely to experience calmness. But the same can be said about karma because the more you meditate, the more mindful you will be about your actions and words. 

Meditation allows you to expand your empathy, and thus, while it’s completely impossible to not engage in any negative karma, due to our imperfect nature, you can steer your focus in a direction that’s more favorable to your karma, if you’re concerned about your karma having an impact on your daily life. 

What You Put Out Is What You Get Back

It makes sense to think this has a direct correlation with karma, but if you’re constantly emitting negativity, that is what you’ll get back, whereas if you’re emitting positivity and have a positive outlook, that is what you’ll attract more of. 

This goes back to the previous point of focus, but focus is being used in conjunction with what you want to have. You’re also more prone to attract people more aligned with those ideas. 

For instance, if you’re grateful and putting out that energy, you can attract yourself more opportunities to practice gratitude, or be more loving, thus, overwriting the bad karma that was previously there. 

Why Do People Clear Their Karma?

Clearing your karma can bring a deep sense of tranquility and peace, something that’s also found in meditation, but can go perfectly hand in hand with meditation. Even if the practice on its own is not the only path to cleansing the bad karma. 

Generally though, when karma is cleansed things start going more in your way, but the same can be said about meditation. For instance, improved relationships, clearing blockages happening in the subconscious mind, among other benefits that share similar characteristics to meditation. 

You Can’t Completely Erase Bad Karma

Bad karma will always be there, no matter what good actions you take. Therefore, even if you’ve done something you deeply regret, your best bet is to focus on what you have in front of you. 

Meditation allows you to free yourself from the karma that holds you back in the past or a future that you’re uncertain of, without being burdened by the guilt of karma for something you can’t change. 

When you meditate, you allow yourself to become a newer, better version of yourself, leaving behind the you of the past that was burdened by thoughts outside your control.

Becoming The Best Version Of Yourself

You should aim high with meditation, when it comes to improving yourself and being as good as you can be, without being perfect. 

There will always be things we are less happy with, about ourselves, but meditation clears the path for you to let you become a better version of yourself and progress in a way that closely aligns with your goals. 

Karma meditation isn’t something most pursue, because a lot of the karma we have stored is outside of our control. When you focus on what you can control, you feel like you’re more in charge of your destiny, as you should. Sometimes, you’ll need to remove subconscious blockages for this to be possible, but meditation allows for that.