finding bliss through ending your karma

What is karma and how can you possibly end it? The new book, "The End of Karma: 40 Days to Perfect Peace, Tranquility and Joy," interweaves inspiration information from Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. (www.drdharma.com) with ancient poetry by an Indian yogi named Nanak who called his writing Japji Sahib, or "respected meditation of the soul." The result is a highly artistic, spiritual self-help book that is drawing rave reviews from the likes of Marianne Williamson, who calls "The End of Karma" "one of those knock-out spiritual books that takes the Truth and lands it right between your eyes."

In "The End of Karma," Dr. Dharma ventures that you can end your karma by tuning into your higher power to realize your best self and thus live your dharma. The book provides a 40 day regimen of reading one chapter a day of Nanak's ancient poetry and Dr. Khalsa's musings on same. A doctor, ordained minister and musician, Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. is joyfully committed to spreading a message of unconditional love and support to all who wish to cease suffering. As someone who has successfully treated many diseased and suffering people, Dr. Dharma knows a thing or two about how individuals can move out of personal shadows and into the light.

"Your birthright is peace and happiness," he stresses. "Living your dharma, which transcends karma, is when you live each day in touch with your highest or best self. This is your spirit. The more you live dharma and spirit, the more you stop going 'round and round,' creating karma for yourself," he explains. "The less karma you create," he continues, "the more balance, stability, bliss and healing you will experience."

Dr. Dharma knows a thing or two about healing. A Tucson, AZ. based anti-aging and brain longevity specialist who is also medical director of the Alzheimers Prevention Foundation International, he is too modest to promote himself as a spiritual teacher. Like the prolific author and M.D. Deepak Chopra, however, Khalsa is one. By virtue of "The End of Karma" and his previous book, "The New Golden Rules: An Essential Guide to Spiritual Bliss."

A little background: Dr. Dharma originally trained as an anesthesiologist. After he started practicing the Sikh faith in 1981, he realized he no longer had to use powerful anesthetic drugs to put people to sleep. Rather, he now understood that he could use alternative forms of healing (such as yoga, meditation and nutrition) to help individuals wake up and heal in their bodies, minds and souls.

"I decided to devote my life to helping people live healthier, happier, more blissful lives, because that is the key to success on earth," Dr. Dharma explains. "All the money in the world, all the social status and material goods are useless if you are disconnected from your higher power and never exploring your best self."

With Nanak's calm and subtle poetry (so cool that it sounds like some of Jack Kerouac's gentler poems) and Dr. Dharma's prose, the reader is given the tools to meditate on her or his true self, core beliefs and ultimate goals. At the end of every chapter, there are lined pages for writing notes or making drawings, so there is a pleasingly interactive and personalized capability built-in to the text. There are also many user-friendly instructions for simple and health-enhancing meditations that incorporate chanting, mudras, visualization and emotional self-management.

With chapter titles such as, "Grace Covers Your Karma," "Fill Your Mind with Love," "Conquer Your Mind and You'll Conquer the World," the philosophy in "The End of Karma" manages to inspire, comfort and relax the reader. While there are many references to God and Dr. Dharma's late spiritual teacher, Yogi Bhajan, Dr. Khalsa is definitely pushing a Sikh agenda in the book.

"If I am pushing anything," he says, "I am pushing the idea that everyone can be one with their highest self and end their karma and become one with their Creator-- regardless of what their religious beliefs may be." What's more, he adds, "I am here to tell the world that God is within you, and you have the right to experience that peace, happiness and joy while living on Earth in the here-and-now, regardless of what happened to you previously or regardless of what is happening to you right now. We don't have to wait for paradise," Dr. Dharma says with a smile. "Your mind, body and spirit can live in paradise right now."