Question:

Are we stuck with bad karma if we have made mistakes in the past such as hurting people verbally or in thoughts due to ignorance? Do we have to undergo those consequences or can I erase that bad karma that I have created in the past by doing Meditation, and Sadhana?

Answer:

The Karma police is 100% fair. You will have to pay back for every wrong action from the past and you will receive merits for every good action of the past! 

For example: You can not one day just break some rule/law such as breaking a red light signal and then next day, you take a meditation class, do Sadhana, and become a better person. When the ticket for breaking a red light signal arrives to your home after a week, you will have to pay for the ticket. However much you meditated in that one week, it cannot erase the ticket that you must pay for breaking the law

Then, why do gurus and other scriptures say that Karma can be erased?

Karma that you have created in the past, it will sprout definitely. Its Karmaphalam will definitely come your way because it follows the law. There is no way to get rid of the Karmaphalam that you have created by the karma in the past. Understand this clearly!

What the gurus mean is that you become a calmer person after you meditate, you are able to make decisions from a better state of mind and not from an agitated mind. After you change yourself through Sadhana, you are not ignorant anymore. So even when that Karmaphalam comes your way, you do not generate future Raagas [likes] /Dveshas [dislikes].

Non generation of future Raagas and Dveshas helps to diminish the intensity of the future Karmaphalam but remember it cannot eradicate the Karma itself…. got it? So it is more complicated than you think it is; as it is not linear mathematics. Gahana Karmanogati!

For e.g. If you have a Karmaphalam sprouting soon to get into a big fight and beaten up on the street because of egoistic issues with a passerby; but you have been doing Sadhana and therefore the mind is calm, so even when the passerby evokes a Dvesha in you, you probably change your path or you may just get away with a small squabble instead of getting injured.

So how to erase karma really? By working on yourself.

Working on what?

Working on dropping the urge to react with raaga or dvesha to the karmas that come your way and hence prevent anymore future karma seeds creation! Remember, meditation is not some shortcut escape route! Keep working on developing the power of non-reaction dear! 

Sukhi bhava!