Karma means action. A couple hundred years ago, Sir Isaac Newton came up with many laws of karma on the physical level of existence. Like everything else, those laws permeate creation on all levels. For example, let’s take his ‘for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.‘ On a more cosmic level we say it as ‘what goes around comes around.‘ Momentum (Newton’s Mass x Velocity) is expressed as ‘having a full head of steam’ or as being ‘on a roll.’ Newton’s laws of classic physics permeate all levels of life. Even Einstein’s laws of relativity are simply that with a bit of a twist as you move through existence from one level (one reality) to the next and to the next (i.e. move transgradiently).
Inertia is ‘the tendency for an object in motion to remain in motion and an object at rest to remain at rest.’ Interestingly enough, before Newton, everyone thought that an object in motion would naturally slow down. That is, of course, not true. The reason we may think it is true is because outside forces, like friction, are acting upon the object.
Inertia can be your best friend… good habits, healthy routines, ‘moving in the right direction’, etc. However, inertia often presents your greatest challenges… bad habits, routines, etc. You do very, very well to take a look at the inertia in your life. Having trouble getting up off the couch to go to the gym? That’s called inertia.
People tend to love inertia so much that ‘moving in another direction,’ even from a wrong to a right direction, is resisted. People aspire to inertia… getting their life ‘on cruise control’ so they can coast. That can be a good thing if the routine is a healthy (evolutionary) one. One wonderful aspect of ashram living is that everyone goes to meditation twice daily… that flow just carries you along.
Inertia (like all of life) gets really tricky. What you think and how you think are also subject to inertia. People avoid change in this regard. For example, what someone may think is ‘healthy’ usually has a great deal of inertia to it. How well I know that people’s relationship with spirituality has inertia to it. Your relationships with people have inertia to them also, don’t they?
At any rate, please take time to explore your relationship with inertia in any and all aspects of your life. Otherwise it can remain one of your greatest foes. To become a master of life, master your relationship with inertia. Then it becomes one of your greatest allies.
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This area has always been challenging for me. I often feel the inertia within myself, and in many ways I have seen it my whole life. It feels frustrating, like I just can’t seem to move past it. I guess it can be challenging to develop a healthy relationship with my “unhealthy” inertia. On and on it goes…
This is rich for me. I feel like I’ve been fighting inertia all my life. Both sides, the one in motion and the opposite. I can’t seem to find a healthy life supporting balance of inertia. To this date, it feels like I’ve either kept myself in constant motion to the point where I feel exhausted or I’ve gravitated to the opposite i.e. “cruise control”. One seems to perpetuate the other and I feel stuck.
From what I’m reading in your blog, it seems that this dynamic may not really change for me, but aligning with the more supportive aspects of either state would help tremendously. I guess awareness is the most important step, especially about the deeper motivation behind this: fear of failure, rigidity, impeccability, and most of all having bought into a world view that is just not in line with my true nature – nature in general really. I’m really struggling with that…
🙂
To name something is a huge step in dealing with it effectively. Gravity has always been around, but it was after Newton named it that people really began to work with it. Similarly, naming your inertia as inertial helps you to identify it and work with it effectively.
It is quite correct to cultivate a healthy relationship with your ‘unhealthy’ inertia. Naming it is well begun and well begun is half done. Easy does it. No need to struggle. Fascination and intrigue will serve you better. Even a touch of loving humor is of great value. You are a delightful caricature of yourselves. Enjoy!
Fascination and intrigue will serve you better…a touch of loving humor…Those words brought tears to my eyes. I feel the limiting part of inertia and the discouragement of dealing with it. I feel the restriction of my divinity that at other times I can glimpse as soaring and expanding. Fascination and intrigue…what an uplifting way to look at my self and my spiritual development! It puts it into a new light–and makes the inertia seem not so sticky. Thank you for your continual reminders (I need them!) of the joy of the journey despite crawling through the desert on my hands and knees. Easy does it.
Thank you for your response, Brahmarshi. I needed that reminder about the fascination and intrigue and the humor. Humor has always worked really well for me. Whenever I’m able to laugh about myself or a situation it seems that I’m immediately transcending the “white-knuckling” onto an identity. It’s extremely liberating and works instantaneously. Amazing!
Reading your response, I realized that I had totally forgotten that this journey of eternal exploration is meant to be a joyous path of discovery, not a “chore” that needs to get done so one can move on to something else that is more enjoyable. Rather, the “more enjoyable” that I’m longing for is actually right there…Wow this is getting richer as I’m writing. Unfortunately, my words are falling way short. Thank you!!!
Nancy Landolt,
Remarkably i was wondering about you. Have not seen you for a while… and there was your comment!
Yes, fascination an intrigue… with a touch of loving humor. That sounds like a rather nice motto… maybe a song title… or maybe a future blog!