ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN OF HIS HEART

 
As a rule accumulated Karma has a certain inertia; it does not change its momentum unless there is a special reason for it. Before Karma is created, the individual has freedom to choose what it shall be, then Karma becomes a factor that cannot be ignored; it has either to be expended through its results, or counteracted by fresh Karma....

Karmic determination is called fate. Fate, however, is not an oppressive principle. It is man's own creation pursuing him from past lives; shaped by past Karma, it can also be modified, remoulded and even undone through Karma in the present life.

If Karma on earth is determined by the impressions stored in the ego-mind, the impressions stored in the ego-mind are, in their turn, determined by the Karma in earthly life. The impressions in the ego-mind and the nature of Karma are interdependent. The Karma on earth plays an important part in shaping and reshaping the impressions in the ego-mind and giving it momentum, which decides the future destiny of the individual. It is in the arena of earthly existence that creative and effective Karma can take place through the medium of the physical body.

The proper understanding and use of the law of Karma enables man to become master of his own destiny. Each person has become what he is through his own accumulated actions; and it is through his actions that he can mold himself according to the pattern of his heart, or finally emancipate himself from the reign of Karmic determination.