Is it the result of bad karma we did in the past life responsible for losing our loved ones? I recently lost my sister who is only 23.Is it because of the bad karma our family did in the past lives? If that is the case what did we do in our past life? I agree that everybody has to face death. But if it happens very young, The pain, grief and suffering that we undergo is immense.
—Sathya Krishna Gannarapu, India
Dear Sathya,
I am sorry for your loss. Please see the loving arms of Divine Mother embracing you and your family, filling you with comfort, surrounding you in Light. Know that your sister is in Divine Mother’s loving care now, freed from limitations of the body, embraced in Light. Send her your love as she continues on her journey. Visualize her rising in freedom. Prayers from those who are close are especially helpful for the soul.
An individual soul’s karma is complex and we do not have a God’s eye view of the reasons why a particular karma comes to one person and seem to ‘skip over’ others. What we do know is that God is attuned to the progress of every soul, knows every ‘hair on our heads’ and events in our lives are not ‘accidents’ nor without purpose.
Karma is part of God’s lesson plan for the soul that it may reach its divine destiny: union with God, Self-realization. Karmic lessons are connected to the soul’s actions in past lives. Each soul has millions of lifetimes, and the threads of the karmic tapestry are complex. Only God knows which specific lessons are destined to be brought into this life, when the lessons for this life are complete, and when it is time for the soul to leave the body.
You did not say if your sister had some time to deal with the test that eventually took her life or if she died suddenly. What is important is how the individual faces the test. The karmic lesson is learned very well, and there is no need to repeat it, if the person faces the test with calmness, acceptance, and faith in God’s plan, rising to the challenge and putting forth positive effort, never giving up, and not acting in anger or revenge which would simply continue the pattern of karmic action and reaction.
It is possible that your sister, at the time of her passing may have felt close to God, open to God’s grace, letting go of any past errors, focused only on God’s presence and peace, and may have moved through her transition with very high consciousness. If this is so, she has made great strides in her progress to soul freedom. This is how to rise above karma.
Your question is whether it is yours and your family’s bad karma to lose your sister at such a young age. Well, again, the answer is complex. Sometimes an event happens that catches some people up in mass karma, even though it was actually not their individual karma. For instance, in a plane crash where all passengers are killed, it may not have been the karma of every person to die at that moment, but some may not have had sufficient counterbalancing good karma to somehow not be scheduled on that flight and avoid that mass karma. Whether or not it was your, and the family’s, karma to lose your sister, there are spiritual lessons for you.
An important aspect of this tragedy is how you rise to this challenge. The principles of how to rise above karma are the same. Use this loss as a stimulus to resolving to live in greater connection with God who is responsible for every detail of the karmic play, to be a channel for God’s light and love out into the world, and to serve God in whatever way comes to you now. As your consciousness becomes more deeply attuned to God, you will ride increasingly above karmic influences. Then regardless of the winds of worldly trials, more and more you will remain inwardly untouched. Yours and your family’s spiritual growth now will greatly honor your sister’s memory.
If you have been part of a spiritual tradition, I encourage you to explore it more deeply in the context of your sister’s passing. If you are new to spiritual teachings, I encourage you to explore them now, for the vicissitudes of this world really only make sense in a spiritual context.
Sending you and your family light, love, and comfort.
Many blessings,
Nayaswami Mukti
