THE FOUR GREAT PASSIONS

The root of all karma is seeded in the four great passions. One of these passions is more intense in your life than the others, but they all appear at one time or another. The four great passions, which are the major causes of all of life’s problems, are: 1. Deceit 2. Greed 3. Anger 4. Pride These states, which lack honesty, tolerance, unselfishness, and humility, are the triggering mechanisms for all karma. They also include a lack of sincerity, fairness, joy, admiration, detachment, and courage. These give rise to prejudice, sorrow, disloyalty, fear, disgust, and cruel joking, which will activate karma and get us into trouble. Deceit, to most of us, means to lie or not tell the truth. But deceit is also the ability to live in ignorance and denial. Blaming others or the nature of our present and past existence is a form of deceit. Greed. When we think of greed, we usually think of avarice or excessive hoarding of money and material things. Greed is really a fixation upon objects of sensory pleasure and gratification. For example: alcohol, food, or sex. Greed causes us to commit violence against others and ourselves. Anger. Although no one likes to be an angry person, it is somewhat easier to admit this passion than the other three passions. Perhaps that is because anger is seen as a worthy passion if it is used to right an injustice. However, it is very difficult to practice the right amount of anger, at the right time, for the right reason. Pride. Pride is insecurity and fear turned outward in an act of defiance. Pride is a false sense of self-acceptance. Our work here on earth is to transcend all four of the great passions, which are the root cause of all our so-called problems. To do this, we must develop balance, flexibility, strength, and a peaceful body, mind, and soul. This takes conscious work – that’s karma, let’s get started. END: Although we have infinite ability for creativity, all creativity only has three central activities: thinking, speaking, and doing. These three activities create our karma, and all karma seeks expression through your thoughts, words, and deeds. Awareness of the four great passions as they show up in your life, and they will, is to become the witnessing consciousness; the observing principle of life. We can only annihilate or change something when we have awareness and then the strength and compassion to do so. EGO: Flip your palms up and extend out your index vinger – the ego. It is our human cravings and desires that bring about discontent, suffering, and selfishness. This causes us to fall into D-GAP: deceit, greed, anger, and pride. As long as we are caught up in the cycle of discontent, we can never find the balanced awareness needed to work our karma so that our life works for us. Cravings and desires cloud our awareness, and thus we become what in karma is known as the “ignorant unaware-self.” Pull your ego in and place your thumb on top. When we work (live) our life from the soul consciousness, we stop ourselves from getting swept up in the great passions. The soul reminds us to observe our behavior and reactions to things because for every action there is an effect. Anger begets anger. If we change anger to compassion, the result will be a kinder and more understanding life. Change the way you look at things, and the way you look at things changes. This takes work – that’s karma, but when you learn how to consciously work your karma, your life begins to work for you. Be careful not to fall into the D-GAP. Namaste ~ may you walk the path of life with health, happiness, and peace. Doctor Lynn For more, visit http://www.doctorlynn.com