Episode Transcript

Chandresh Bhardwaj: A karmic contract is a situation or a relationship which you have signed up for in your life. If you have signed up for it unconsciously, accidentally, out of emotions or impulsiveness, it can create anxiety, trauma, plenty of battles. And if you have signed up for it consciously, or if you choose to handle it consciously, it can bring you healing, strength, balance, awakening, and so much more.

In this episode, we are going to dive into the journey of a karmic contract. What gets you into the contract? How do you get out of them? Is there a way to cancel or reset a karmic contract? Do we have a free will or is everything decided by these karmic contracts? How do you know when a contract is ready to be changed? What challenges arise if we don't understand our karmic contract? We are going to dive into all things karmic contract. So breathe, relax, get yourself water, and if you're walking, remember to breathe consciously as you receive this information. I am Chandresh Bhardwaj and this is Leela Gurukul.

All right, everyone, namaste. I hope you're feeling relaxed, easy, safe and grounded. I'm excited for this episode because I do feel many of you are due for a reset in your karmic contract. I recorded an episode on karmic contracts long time ago, maybe a few years ago, and this feels like a perfect extension of that episode. As you already know, karmic contract is simply a situation, event, even a relationship, that you have signed up consciously or unconsciously. Karmic contracts could be as deep as what you shared with your parents, with your children, with your siblings, your partner. Or they could be as subtle or as quick or temporary as the barista who made your coffee this morning or the guy who helped you at the gas station. Karmic contracts show up every day, irrespective of how much you want them to show up for or how much you don't want them to show up for. But remember, tantra says, "As a human being, you have the privilege to live and bloom in this consciousness." This human consciousness gives you the ability to make conscious choices, and that's where many things change for you.

I can share some extreme examples of karmic contracts. I can share some other examples that may feel relatable, but what feels right for this episode is to just share my own example. One thing that I know about myself, I get bored easily, and this is for the lack of any other better word. A better word might be, I look for inspiration constantly. I need a certain fire, ambition, and when I don't find it or when it's faded, I know it's time to reset, it's time to change something about it. It could be with anything I'm experiencing, could be the city I'm living in, a machine I'm using, a relationship. It could be with anything, it could even be with my content. If I'm creating a certain kind of content and I feel I'm only creating it, I feel almost this restlessness to change it.

And it's a reminder that I have for myself and for the students and clients I work with, that never, ever get too comfortable with how you are showing up for your creativity. Because it's creative only in that moment when you created it and you had no idea this is what's going to happen. And now you are becoming a bit more comfortable with it, and while after you become comfortable, now it's a repeating act, the creativity starts to lose its power. And what you're left with is just a format, a replica that you are creating every single day, but it's not creating anymore, it's manufacturing. It becomes a factory kind of thing, and that's where you lose touch with your heart, with your soul, with your energy.

I reflect on my karmic contracts often, and it's not like I sit down with my notebook and pen and think about all the karmic contracts. I think about, I pay attention to the feelings. Let's not even use the word thinking. I pay attention to the feeling I'm experiencing. If I'm experiencing a feeling of expansion, joy, playfulness, creativity, then that karmic contract is certainly moving in some good direction and my job is to make it better. And if in certain karmic contract I feel the spark is losing, the ambition is losing, the joy is fading away, then that's a moment to really revisit and understand what's going on. And then of course, there are certain karmic contracts which are just no-brainer. They are toxic, negative, hurting you, and that's just clear on the table, that this is a negative one and you've got to get rid of it, even though it requires a bit of tough decision making.

For me, a new karmic contract started showing up somewhere last year. Actually, it started showing up a year before. So I don't think I've ever shared this publicly, but many years ago I was initiated into the Das Mahavidya training, which is the study of 10 prime goddesses in tantra. And that work is the PhD level of tantra work. When my guru, my teacher, initiated me into it, he asked me to be part of it, to facilitate it, go deeper into it, and that meant that I have to stop being the old Chandresh and step into a new way of being, a new responsibility. In complete honesty, I was not fully ready for it or fully open to it. Only because, and that I reflected later on, I certainly got into a certain comfortable space. Everything was just perfect on the table.

The perfect clients were there, perfect sources of income was there, everything was perfect. I was living in between Hollywood and Calabasas in LA And I get Malibu, was 10 minutes away from me. That's just as perfect as it gets. I wake up in the morning, go to the mountains, yeah, there's nothing more to ask. It's just perfect. And when I realized I need to show up for this training, it felt uncomfortable. And I was surprised because that's all I care for, I want for, and my question to me was, "Am I not interested in tantra?" And the answer was, "No, you still want the tantra work to happen on this high level, but you have to shed the old identity and that's why you are feeling uncomfortable." And in a moment of calmness and clarity, I knew this was correct.

And I think universe gave me a bit extra cushion to witness my demons, to witness my own monster within. And COVID showed up and the traveling slowed down, it ended for a while. And I knew I'm going to be in LA for now, I won't be able to go to New York and India to go deeper into this next and one of the highest level of tantra work. But after the COVID calmed down, I knew that time is here, but I also felt much more ready, still nervous, almost unprepared. And I still remember when the first Navratri showed up, that was the Gupt Navratri, the tantric Navratri that happens. Until then the protocol was my teacher would facilitate the entire ritual and I would assist my teacher. And honestly, that's such a cozy and perfect space.

And when the Gupt Navratri showed up, my guruchi, who loves to create plot twist, he created a very wonderful plot twist. He said, "You are going to facilitate the Navratri. I'm going to be in India for my own Navratri. You'll be in New York doing this." By that time I had shifted my creative base from LA to New York. And I still remember, I parked my car outside the center, my heartbeat was at its peak and I was surprised with this reaction of my mind and body, because this is something I have been part of all my life and I mean literally all my life. I may not even remember what I was doing in the second grade or fifth grade, but I still remember the tantra temples I was visiting when I was that young.

But the fear was tangible in my body, nervousness was there. And I asked myself, "What's wrong with you? Why are you behaving so weirdly?" And I was still outside. And one voice came, "Maybe you want to appear really perfect right now. Maybe you want to appear as if you know it all, because guess what? This is what your entire life has been all about. And if you make one mistake, the teacher is not here today, but his students are there. The other facilitators are there who will be helping you, so they'll all judge you if you're not perfect today."

And that was my fear, that's why I was feeling nervous. And I didn't know how to calm that fear down. At least with POP, Pause, Observe, Proceed, I was able to diagnose it. So I paused in that moment and I said, "I'm not walking in until I handle this." So I took a deep breath and I told myself, "I'll find the root solution later on, but for the next six hours I have to show up as the tantra guide. How do I do this?" And the answer came, "Just show up as you are, for you tantra is not some sort of textbook study. This is your playground. This is where you show up for your goddesses. This is where you show up for your courage. This is the moment of playfulness and not about being serious."

And I took a deep breath because it felt right, I walked in, I sat down. The rituals happened within 15 minutes. I forgot what was haunting me and I loved how the entire ritual ended. But as I was driving home from that ritual I knew something needs to be changed. And the answer was I have to change the karmic contract I share now with this entire ritual practice, with the people who are there, even with my old identity, who wasn't prepared to be on this level of tantric work, because now I'm not helping my teachers. I am becoming one of them on that space. They are empowering me, inviting me into that playground. Because I looked up to them all my life, of course it felt very overwhelming and just uneasy.

And I broke two karmic contracts and reset two karmic contracts. One was shifting my creative base from LA to New York, and second was showing up in that stronger, more leadership role in those rituals. And I thought, "Great. This was it. Fantastic, amazing." But a few months later, as I started working on the Goddess Rising work, Goddess Rising Program in Leela, that was another brutal, dismantling moment. And I knew if I can show up for a new karmic contract in this space, that would be the opening chapter of something really powerful. And I decided to reset my karmic contract with many humans, places, organizations, situations. And number one of those resetting was with you.

Exactly, you, my students, listeners, clients. What did I do with you guys? I realized in the past few months, many of you show up in my inbox or even on the phone calls or Zoom calls with a certain fear hope, demand, anxiety, a lot of emotions are playing their part. And I sense those emotions and I also show up for those calls in a certain mood, in a certain vibe. And I realized I haven't reflected on our karmic contract in many years, because many, many years ago when I was unhappy with the kind of clientele I was working with, I knew I needed to change something. And I started to create a conscious contract around what kind of people I want to work with. And I defined it very clearly. And those newer kind of clients started showing up, the one with more sincerity, willingness, the one with more hunger. And my clients 10 years ago, even one client would take care of my entire month's expense. They were those kind of clients. But what I was looking for was something more raw, real, deep. And I knew that has to be changed.

So then a newer kind of tribe started showing up. You showed up. And I never felt I need to change anything with you or between us. But I realized it's been many years, we haven't reflected on our energy contract. Many of you have grown as humans. You have become professionals, more successful, more creative, more playful, more sensual, more in touch with your inner feminine and inner masculine. And I realized, I feel now it's time to move into the next dimension. And I started resetting the energetic contract that I share with you. And I started saying this in my meditation that until now, maybe the students, the clients, the listeners were showing up with certain doubt, fear, demand, anxiety, confusion, and that's totally okay.

But now I'm resetting this energy contract and I want them to show up with courage, hope, strength, abundance, playfulness, that they approach this journey with that level of abundance. And I'll show up with the same. I will not show up with anything else. I'll not show up with insecurity, doubt, busyness in mind or playing lukewarm. I'll show up with high level of abundance, playfulness, strength, freedom, for them. And since that day till today, my entire world has shifted.

It's too early to be specific about what's going to happen now. But two things I can tell you, and I'm saying this so that you can hold me accountable and secondly, I want you to feel excited about it. One thing that started to happen as I started recreating this energetic contract, I started to embrace the layers, the parts of me that I thought I was expressing, but I realized I need to be even more unapologetic about it. The work of goddesses, the work of conscious abundance, the work of freedom, emotional freedom, sexual freedom, spiritual freedom, financial freedom, I realized I need to step in even deeper so that you can step in even deeper.

I threw the lukewarm key somewhere far, far away with that reset. And the fascinating part is my writing, my thoughts, my perspective, the kind of messages I'm receiving in my inbox, they have all changed already. I was not prepared for it to hit so quickly, so strongly, but I knew this needs to happen because I was feeling this upsurge of energy. I wanted to change your life. I wanted to help you experience the next dimensions because you have trusted me so far, and I knew I have to break my own karmic contract and reset a new one so that you and I can step into a newer dimension altogether.

So in addition to this whole new energy waking up, one of the things that you will soon see is for the first time I'm going to publicly share about my Advanced Tantra Mastery program, it's a program that I've worked with students on a private basis. They are my one-on-one clients. Many of them are currently part of this ATM. That's what I call, Advanced Tantra Mastery, ATM. These students are those who are hungry, willing to dive deeper, willing to invest five figures into their spiritual growth, conscious abundance, into their freedom, into their awakening. And they inspire me to go into it with full force. And I always thought this work will always be this private space. I don't ever need to put it out on a public platform so that anybody can join. And that was a long phase of my life, and I wanted to just keep it very sacred. It will still be sacred, but I'm going to put it out there because I can hear the voices. I can feel the energy of many seekers who need to read that program, who need to read the possibility, that's all.

I genuinely do not plan to force them or convince them to only be part of ATM, but my hope is after they read it, something wakes up in them and then they begin their journey into it. So that's something that is going to happen for sure. And I know it would not have happened if I was not resetting my karmic contract with you all. And that encouraged me to reset my karmic contract with so many other things, friends, relationships, my writing work, the place I'm in right now. Between New York and LA, the whole karmic contract with the New York and with LA, everything has changed after making just that one choice.

Now, you may wonder, "Is everything in life controlled by karmic contract? Is there a free will there? What about the friendships, the countries we live in, the job we have, the home, the family?" Everything is part of karmic contract. However, you will always have the conscious choice making, there will always be an option, a free will how do you handle it. So you could be born in a certain family. Let's say there are just wrong patterns in the family, maybe lack of boundaries, maybe disrespect to your passion, maybe just lack of space.

You are born in that family because your soul chose to be in that family. You happen to spend seven years in a city and you may feel frustrated with it, but your soul chose to be in that city. But when you build up anger and resentment, you are not respecting the choice of your soul. You are not respecting the energy, the plan of the universe, the grand scheme of universe for you. So in order to change things, you first have to accept the divine mess that exists for you. You have to accept that, "Yes, my family is a bit crazy, the city I live in is just the city I don't want to live anymore. And I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned in this city, grateful for the lessons my family has taught me."

Acknowledge, be grateful, and above all, be grateful for the bigger picture, the one you don't understand yet. Once you figure out those traits, those layers, once the anger and resentment starts to leave you, and you can do it consciously in the meditation, you can repeat this to yourself, that, "I let go of the resentment I hold against my family. I let go of the anger I hold with my job. I let go of the feeling of doubt and mistrust that I have about everyone." You have to acknowledge these elements because they are not your enemies. They're not trying to hurt you. They exist to guide you.

If I experienced frustration in business relationship in LA, New York, in stepping into this higher authority tantra role, that frustration was not the problem. It was the sign that while the universe is inviting you into something new, you're still so attached to the old you. You are invited to reinvent your identity, reinvent the wheel as many times as you are open to it. So in order to bring in the free will, let go of the anger and resentment, and then you may reset the karmic contract. You don't have to know the details, but once you let go of these heavy feelings, simply invite a new energy. And you can simply repeat this in the meditation that, "I reset the karmic contract I share with my family or clients or the city. And this new karmic contract is rooted in abundance, freedom, courage." Anything that feels solid to you, go with it.

And you would know the time to change that contract is here because you are feeling stuck. Either the signs are so clear, you are stuck, frustrated, nothing is moving, nothing is growing, you feel you're doing the hard work but it's not bringing the results, the friendships, relationships, they're just reflecting a lot more anxiety, frustration, confusion for you. That's just very clear sign. Certain signs may not be clear, for example, you may be living a very subtle, comfortable life, but when you look at yourself, you realize maybe this is a classic definition of a tamed wildflower. Maybe this is just me in my comfort zone and I haven't stepped out of it. Maybe I become too comfortable in how I show up and how I express myself.

You got to know the signs. You've got to know the energy movements. You got to know how you feel. The feelings are really important. Your body's constantly telling you when it's time to be changed, when you can step out of it. And if you choose not to honor it or if you just don't pay attention to it, then your life will continue to be at the mercy of circumstances. You will be at the mercy of your own mood fluctuations, anxiety, the decisions of your family, friends, society, religion, culture, job, career. Then yeah, basically, we are just a robot in a society of robots, and we rarely will act on our own happiness and desire. So damage is pretty clear. You'll miss out on this life, my friend, if you do not choose to act on it.

To fix or change the karmic contract only two elements are important. In the beginning of meditation, you let go of the heaviness, that unwanted feeling that's stored in your body. Let it go in the second half of meditation invite, that element that helps you reset the karmic contract. And you have to be clear with whom you're resetting it. Is it with a certain human, or a place, or a city, an organization? What's the dynamic there? And be careful what you ask for because once you start to reset the karmic contract, the universe will start to do its job. It means you may need to end some relationships that appear great on paper. You may need to move out of a city that you never thought you'll move out. You may step into play a role that you were never prepared for. But I assure you, all of this is happening for good.

All of this is happening for a higher purpose that you may not be fully aware yet. And the less you interfere, the better it is. The more you trust, the more you act on it, the more you calm down your body emotions, the better it is. Because emotions blur the reality. If you are in too much love or too much anger, it is going to blur the reality. So approach it with curiosity, approach it with courage, and that will help you to figure out a way. Your city, your country, the people around you, your building manager, there is a karmic contract happening with everyone and not every contract needs to be changed. Certain contracts you should just ignore.

Let's say you showed up at Starbucks this morning to get your coffee and they forgot your oat milk, or they just put regular milk instead of oat milk. Of course you can make a big deal about it, write reviews. But if I were you, I would ignore it. I'll move on to the next important thing in my day, because energy is very interesting, a creator. It's like currency. I would not waste it or use it where it doesn't matter. It's a coffee. On certain material things I don't believe in investing too much energy because those are material things. They matter, but they should not be dictating my day. What matters to me much more is the mental health, the creative space, how I'm able to add value to you. So if I spent my 30 minutes in the morning with lot of rage and anger with the Starbucks guy, by the way, nobody did that, no offense for using the name of Starbucks, I'm sorry, because nobody ever did that to me there. But that's just the name showed up in my mind.

But imagine if I was spending 30 minutes in that rage, anger, the need to control the outcome for a coffee this morning, I would not be able to sit here and record this with this energy, because I already wasted that currency on something that's not so relevant, not so important. So you choose your battles wisely. You choose your karmic contracts wisely. So very soon you realize this is a great power to work with. You may choose to reset your energetic contract with so many people out there. But if you choose to reset this with every new date you're going out with or every restaurant you're going to, I mean, yes, it will work, but that's not the right use of your power. Think of the bigger pictures. Think of the bigger things impacting your life and choose to act on this power. Choose to apply this power for those bigger things.

Think of the important relationships right now. Think of how much suppressed you feel. Think of your emotional freedom, financial freedom, sexual freedom. Think of the areas where you feel, "I need to unleash myself." And that's how you start to change the present reality. Now, many of you may question, "How do I change the future karmic contract? Is there a way to change that?" That is the question of your mind. It already wants to go into the future. The truth is, once you change the karmic contract in the present, it will impact the future. And in many ways, it'll also start to heal the old contracts from the past. If you choose to heal your karmic contract with your sexual energy, financial energy, you are automatically releasing the traumas in your family, in your ancestral chain. So it's affecting the past, but it's also setting up a very powerful future for you where you do not have to suppress your self-expression.

Does that make sense? I hope it does. And I hope what I was trying to convey, you understood it, you got it. I'll be curious to know your feedback, your take on this one, because so much of our work is going to be rooted in the resetting our karmic contract. You are invited to take plenty of actions when it comes to resetting the energy contracts because action, intention, meditation, three of them work together for your awakening. So if intention is clear to reset the contract, you're doing the meditation, great. And now the time comes to take the action, reset it, show up for that tough work, and drop a DM to me on Instagram or write an email to info@leelagurukul.com, sharing your struggle with the karmic contract, or if you need any help.

And very soon, the Advanced Tantra Mastery is going to be available for you to apply for a one-on-one deep dive work with me. If you already feel excited about it, drop a DM on Instagram or write an email, and I'll be happy to share the details with you, because it's time that we all reset our karmic contracts and claim the freedom, the abundance that awaits us. Be safe, be well, and I'll speak to you in the next episode.

Useful Links

Chandresh's YouTube Channel

Goddess Rising Program

Private Guidance Program with Chandresh

Buy the book - Break the Norms

Instagram: @cbmeditates