In this episode of “5 Minutes,” Dr. Robert Svoboda explores ways to work with karma and use free will in a beneficial way.

All of us have been born on this planet because we have accumulated karmas whose reactions we have to experience and work through. All of us are going to be influenced to some degree by those karmas, and if we are fortunate, we will still have at least some amount of free will that we can use to help mitigate those karmas.

The first thing we need to do is make sure that we use our free will properly. The best way to use free will is not to overextend our good fortune, and whenever we identify areas in our lives where there appears to be difficulty or bad luck, we should actively do something to assist those areas.

Consider driving as an example. If you get into a car and choose to drive onto a freeway instead of staying on smaller roads, that is an exercise of free will. Once you are on the freeway, you still have choices. You can accelerate a lot or a little. You can pay attention to what is happening around you, or you can become distracted. You can remain calm and balanced, or you can become involved in anger and road rage.

Always avoid extending yourself too far in any direction. This allows you to preserve some free will and remain capable of responding if something unexpected happens.

This applies to every area of life, not only driving. Always keep yourself ready to respond to circumstances as they arise. When you are steering your life, aim high. Maintain a wide awareness of what is happening around you, and whatever path you are following, always leave yourself an option for changing direction if necessary.

The second thing is that in areas of life where you experience major challenges, you may need to perform some kind of upaya. An upaya is an astrological remedy intended to encourage the planets creating difficulties to become less challenging. If you know which planets are involved, you can perform specific upayas connected with those planets.

For example, you may fast on the day associated with that planet. If you do not know the specific planetary influence, a general and very useful practice is service. Any service that is not selfish, where you are not focused on what benefit you will receive, but are genuinely interested in helping another person, can create good karma.

Of course, this assumes that the person being helped is someone who deserves assistance and is not someone who is causing harm to others. Helping good people and performing genuine service will always create beneficial karma.

In addition, practices that are personally beneficial can also help. These include worshipping deities, reciting mantras, performing Homa, performing Tarpana, and other traditional rituals. Even something as simple as Trataka, when performed with the intention of receiving support from the fire element, can be beneficial.

These practices may not remove every difficulty from your life, but even a small improvement can be meaningful. If a practice helps you avoid even a small part of a calamity, you have still received a great benefit.