Decoding Karma

“The child is a realist, the young man an idealist, the adult a cynic, and the old man a mystic.” (Unknown)

As we grow older, we look back and see a plan, a path we were walking all along, for the most part unknowingly. At forty-four, in the youth of old age, it’s obvious to me that something more was transpiring in my life beyond just randomness and chance. There were decisions, but also destiny; free will, yet an undeniable element of fate. I’m convinced there was a mystical movement behind everything that happened. What is that force, who is behind it, and how do we figure it all out? The number one question is usually “Why is this happening to me?” Coming in a close second is the insecurity question: “What will happen to me?” We all need clarity. Otherwise, life feels frustrating, confusing and downright unfair.

I recently completed the manuscript of a new book: Decoding Karma: Personal Journals of a Monk-in-Progress. People see us in saffron robes and assume we’re superhuman, beyond the dualities and disappointments of life, completely at peace with everything around us. Not always. Monks, at least some of them, have much work to do. They are humans with weaknesses, souls on a journey, individuals who are trying to discover, uncover and recover their innate spirituality, just like everyone else. In this book, I share my private journals for the first time, revealing the inner life of a soul striving to rise in the skies of spirituality amid life’s shifting winds. These are the honest thoughts, feelings and experiences of a monk-in-progress, navigating the world in search of hidden messages and deeper lessons. If it inspires you to rise higher, I’ll consider my humble effort a profound success.

Learning through experience lies at the heart of Eastern thought. Among Buddhists, Hindus, and other dharmic traditions, karma stands as a core tenet, offering insight into an often perplexing existence. It suggests events and experiences of the present are not random, but intricately connected to our past, and carefully engineered to empower our future. At first glance, however, it can provoke a flurry of questions: Why do bad things happen to good people? Why can’t I recall the actions behind present outcomes? Who created karma, and why does it exist? Can we break free of it, or is everything predestined? Do we truly possess free will, or are our choices governed by unseen forces? How do we compute acute suffering, which often feels disproportionate and callous? How does karma account for widespread tragedy?

Decoding Karma addresses these questions. It’s designed to help you see karma unfolding, so you can find connection in chaos. After each journal entry, you are invited to reflect, questioning what it all means for you. Together—author and reader—we become more thoughtful, conscious, and attentive to life. We exercise our reflective superpower. Up to the age of twenty-five, wisdom grows with age, since structured education shapes our learning. Beyond that, however, age no longer guarantees wisdom. A sixty-year-old is not necessarily wiser than a thirty-year-old. Why? In adult life, having graduated from formal education, we learn through experience—but more specifically, experience that has been meaningfully reflected upon. The wisest are not the oldest, but those who are consistently thoughtful and reflective, drawing inspiration and insight from life’s most persistent teacher: karma.

P.S. If you know of any potential publishers, please contact us at team@keshavaswami.com.