Karma
Karma: Law of Cause and
Effect - The law of cause and effect in physics, when carried to
subtler levels, is the law of Karma. It is the law of “reap as you
sow".
Karma is the fourth aspect of the Fivefold Path. The law of cause
and effect in physics, when carried to subtler levels, is the law of
Karma. It is the law of “reap as you sow".
The law of Karma leaves no scope for fatalism of any kind. The law
of Karma states that “you are the planter of the seed and you are
the reaper of the deed." You make or mar your own future. Your
present circumstances, apparently pleasant or unpleasant, are the
result of your past actions. This
clearly means that your efforts in the present moment determine what
you will be in the future.
One might say that all life is the operation of the law of Karma.
Karma is like a vast trap in which all of us are caught although the
bonds are subtle. We cannot remain without action even for a single
moment. The action may be physical or the action may be mental. If
one has to reap what one has
sown it would appear that there is no end to this chain of Karma.
However, the law of Karma states that if you do action without
attachment to the fruit thereof, then it does not bind you and no
chain of future reaping is forged. Only by doing good actions
without attachment can we get rid of this trap of
Karma.
The law of Karma is inevitable. If you have an evil thought about
someone and he does not know it, you might pass off as a gentleman.
However, if you realize the consequences of this single evil thought
you will dare not to have it. Simply by having an evil thought you
are creating a tiger which
will roar at you all the time. Karmic entanglement is subtle but
inevitable. As you sow, so you reap.
If you say that you shall be good to the other person only if the
other person is good to you then you pass the initiative into
someone else's hands. It would be foolish to do that. You have to
reap what you sow and hence, you have to take care that you sow good
seeds and not wild weeds.
If you think that someone has done you any wrong or you think he has
spoken ill about you, do not be in a hurry to blame the person at
once. The law of Karma does not work in a narrow way. Your first
consideration should be, perhaps you are reaping as you have sown in
the past. Maybe it is the
working out of some past Karmic account. If you get into this habit
you do not involve yourself into further bad sowings which you may
have to reap.
The laws of the super physical realm are as true as the laws of the
physical realm. They are inviolable. You connive at them only at the
risk of great harm to yourself. If someone asks you to jump from a
skyscraper you are going to say no, because you believe that the law
of gravity operates and you will be hurt. Even if you do not believe
in the law of gravity, the law of gravity
believes in you and it operates. However, people are not aware of
the law of “reap as you sow" which is a law in the super physical
realm. Therefore, a person does not hesitate to do wrong action. The
super physical law believes in him and he has to pay the price for
his action. You may have to pay sooner or later but pay you must.
Any intense Karma, good or bad, fructifies within a short time.
Devotion to a high Master who has transcended the law of Karma and
following his commands is intense good Karma. This purifies the mind
and reduces the pangs of previous bad Karma. We need the guidance
and blessings of a
high Master to become aware of the Light which is within us. He
takes you towards the Light. The Light is merely an unfoldment which
takes place when the six crocodiles mentioned in the last chapter on
Tapa become weak and fade out. The journey towards the Light is the
Divinity.
Elementary physics swears by the law of cause and effect. However,
when physics enters the realm of micro particles, that is, when it
is quantum physics, we recognize that the law of cause and effect as
we normally understand, does not operate. This is sometimes termed
as indeterminacy.
However, this indeterminacy is upheld by some Omnipotent Will. The
religions sometimes call this God. The law of Karma states, “Repent
and you shall be forgiven." This is Grace. This may be compared to
the nullifying of the law of cause and effect in the realm of micro
particles where the so-
called indeterminacy works as manifestation of the one Omnipotent
Will. When the mind takes the total coloration of LOVE we enter a
higher state of consciousness and GRACE operates. Love and
attachment are two different things. Love without attachment
cleanses the mind of all its former
grooves and the law of Grace operates.
Do action for self-purification. Let there be no ego about it. The
doership of “I” has to go. Then you become a fitter instrument of
this one Omnipotent Will. The reactions of your mind to all
circumstances and conditions take the total coloration of Love. LOVE
is the alchemy which transmutes the baser instincts and your journey
on the Divinity, the Path of Light, is done.
When it is said that you do Karma for self-purification one might
say, Will this take away all fun from my life? Will I be able to
enjoy this world if I have to do every action for self-purification?
One might ask a counter question: How much are you enjoying the
world now when you are not guided by this
purification? Despite material plenty there is so much misery.
Disease and mental illness are eating up the sap of life. There is
so much misery around us. No one seems to be in a state of happiness
which is not followed by unhappiness. Every time it is a few
tingling sensations of pleasure followed by much misery. Misery is
the symptom of the disease. The disease is bondage, attachment.
Everyone is placed differently by the mould of destiny. Therefore,
whatever work comes to your lot do it in a spirit of service.
Do it with love. Say to yourself, This is the work that 1 am
supposed to do at this moment. Therefore, it is my duty to do it. I
do my duty. Thus, there is no attachment to the fruit of your
actions. You feel more free to do the action and hence, you fill
every moment with joy. This frame of mind spreads joy all around you
and makes others happy. You feel that if you are in a tight corner
there is no one else to blame but yourself. By doing all action with
love you know you can get over the situation.
The result of an action which you have done in the past becomes your
destiny in the future. An action done yesterday becomes your destiny
today. An action in the last minute becomes your destiny this
minute. It is always reap as you sow.
A mouse sees a piece of cheese ten meters away. The mouse says, “If
I take the action of walking to the piece of cheese I must get it."
The poor creature does not realize that there are a hundred other
mice which are after the same piece of cheese and there are a dozen
cats ready to pounce on
all the mice. Therefore, it is said that the best laid plans of mice
and men go astray. The result of your action is dependent on several
factors of which you are not cognizant. Imagine a lot of land. There
are several automobiles on it and people are told to drive as they
like. It will be chaos, won't it? The resultant Karma depends on
several factors which we do not cognize. Destiny is the unfoldment
of the fructification of past Karma.
The working out of destiny is to be viewed in the context of the
flux of Omnipotent Will. By proper use of free will, that is, by
doing intense good Karma without attachment, the pangs of destiny
disappear.
There is nothing that we can do about the past. Can the misery that
is yet to come be avoided? This is the question. The answer is in
the affirmative. The answer is emphatically yes. The Fivefold Path
offers you the material and mental aids to achieve this state. Past
SANSKARAS (impressions)
could be wiped out by the practice of Tapa.
Intellect and action affect each other. Bad action weakens the power
of intellect to choose between right and wrong. Bad action weakens
our ability to continue to do the right action despite provocation,
as a groove is created in the mind. Clouded intellect pushes us to
commit further wrong action. We thus get involved into a series of
bad Karma, bad sowings that we have to reap. Even if there is an
evil thought, see that it is not translated into action. No doubt,
the thought will have its effect but the action will make things
worse. A person given to vice and greed needs money. He sees
somebody's purse. He opens the purse and sees one hundred dollars.
He is a
novice and his conscience troubles him. He says to himself, “Let me
take only twenty. It is really not nice to steal someone's money."
He takes twenty and puts back the rest in the purse. This wrong
action weakens his power of discrimination and the next time he
takes eighty dollars and puts back
twenty saying, “Let the lady have some money to return home in a
taxi." This further weakens his power of discrimination to choose
between right and wrong. The third time he takes all the hundred
dollars saying, “Oh, to hell with it. The whole world is doing it.
Why should 1 care?" However, one
day he has to pay for his bad Karma.
Thought precedes action and hence, purification has to reach the
thinking process. Mere resolutions to change our ways are not
enough. They have to be backed up by resolute practice. Good
thoughts have an effect, but when they are translated into action a
mechanism starts operating in the subtler realm and this reinforces
our will power.
People mistake charity for love. There are thousands who are
spending their time, money and labor in the service of their fellow
man but they do not make much progress on the Divinity, the Path of
Light. Why? It is because they have not learned to do this without
self-centeredness which revolves
around the personality. If we get into the habit of offering all the
fruits of our actions to the Master who guides us on the Divinity,
we avoid this danger and each one of our works is transformed into
worship. Agnihotra gives a push to the mind in this direction.
Good Karma sets up a new pattern in the mind which reinforces the
potency of good thoughts. Hence, an attempt needs to be made to
change the habit pattern which we think is not in harmony with our
progress on the Divinity.
It does not require much will power to do the right thing if the
person is wise. If someone offers us nice and tasty food but we come
to know that there is a drop of poison in it, it does not require
much strength of will to reject that food. Similarly, if we are
aware that the law of reap as you sow is
inviolable it will not require much will power to desist us from
doing a bad action.
The power of discrimination to choose between right and wrong is
granted to us on the day we are born as humans. The capacity to
execute this power varies from person to person depending upon the
accumulation of past impressions which is the result of past
actions. However, by practice of
the Fivefold Path you get the strength and the past impressions are
wiped out. Proper and judicious use of this power accentuates our
journey on the Path of Light.
A desire emerges as an attitude and becomes manifest. This causes
disturbance as it creates a sense of wanting. If some time is
allowed to pass, this attitude becomes a propensity. Then a signal
goes to the intellect to find out means for the gratification of
that desire and mind becomes
colored by the desire and then it acts like a wave. To check this
flow some effort is needed. The effort may be physical or mental. It
is difficult to check this flow sometimes, even for yogis. This wave
leads to the action that is gratification. However, in this process
some impressions are created in the mind and our next thought and
action tend to flow out of this groove. Agnihotra and Daan are the
two material aids to help us check this wave if it is in the wrong
direction. Tapa is the mental effort. The following suggestions will
help you in your progress on the Path of Light.
You work forty hours in a week for the boss. Work for a few hours
for yourself. Spend this time in the company of fellow travelers on
the Path of Light. Do some work with them or for them and receive no
material benefit from that work.
Never hanker after name or fame. It does not matter whether people
respect you. Make sure that you show proper respect to others.
Do not discuss in public about your own progress on the Divinity or
about your Master who guides you on the Divinity...from the writings
of Shree Vasant Paranjape
Perform agnihotra and believe your own experience...
If you like to arrange a workshop or like to learn advanced healing
yagnyas
please contact
yogni@agnihotrausa.net