Karma

Karma is that fundamental aspect of life which runs in the background yet controls the manifest destiny of every living being. Without karma the cosmic creation of almighty God, the cosmos itself would not exist. No individual being has his personal karma. As is being preached in the West... no individual ever has karma. The readings of karma can never be recorded by one. Nor can the best of astrologers and seers tell from experience what would be the shape of our karma in the future.

The Definition karma in short would be the process which results in the purification of our soul / atman within the body. The eradication of dross from within our soul atman is possible only because of inherent karma. The physical work we perform cannot be simply termed as karma. The residual balance of karma of every human being nay living being continues from one manifestation to another. If reincarnation would not have been there... karma itself would not have existed. The presence of karma confirms that reincarnation is not a myth but an absolute reality.

Before we discuss on the good karma and the bad karma, I would further elaborate upon the meaning of karma itself. Why at all karma had to be created by God Almighty in the first place. Can humanity survive in absence of karma? Can the cosmos itself survive in the absence of karma? If we look at karma from the beginning of time... a point in the creation itself when the big bang took place (It is now a confirmed fact that our present cosmos owes its existence to big bang theory and is not a misnomer). Now, God Almighty is about to explode with the big bang. The Definition God Almighty being the sum total of all purified souls / atmans in the cosmos at a given point of time.

Before the occurrence of the big bang all these purified souls atmans collect together to form the size of half a thumb as defined in Bhagavad Gita (the doctrine of Bhagavad Gita was given to the mankind by Lord Krishna in the battle of Mahabharata). This half the size of a thumb is the total size of the whole cosmos at the time of big bang. This powerful source of energy... God Almighty himself... the sum total of all purified souls / atmans unable to contain itself for long in a highly compressed state explodes with a big bang and starts the formation of a new cosmos. All souls' / atmans thus get scattered all over the cosmos.

These souls' / atmans in their cosmic sojourn gain impurities on the way. With a travel of over billions of years these souls' atmans finally settle down on a planet like mother earth which is conducive for germination of life. These souls' atmans cannot purify themselves on their own as the metal present in any ore. They need requisite mining machinery so that the metal can be separated from the impurities (dross) contained within. Here the role of karma comes into play. These souls' atmans have to manifest a body again and again until it purifies itself of all the impurities dross contained within.

Unless these souls' atmans work out their karma... the dross within any soul atman cannot be removed. And starts the journey of every soul atman! It is a total of 8.4 million manifestations these souls' atmans will have to pass through until they again come back to their pristine pure form. This journey of 8.4 million manifestations requires almost 96.4 million earthly years... a long journey indeed! During this journey of 8.4 million manifestations... the karma of one life gets passed on to the next life and this is how every soul atman tends to reduce the dross within. This process simply reconfirms the existence of reincarnation.

In simple terms... karma can be compared to that mining machinery which separates one K. G. of pure metal from the lump of hundred K. G. of ore. The 99% impurities existing within every soul atman gets removed only through process of Karma. There is no other alternative of karma in whole cosmos. Right from the first manifestation as an amoeba and to the last as an enlightened being... process of Karma decides what the next manifestation would be. As is the residual balance karma... so shall be the next life... the next manifestation!

Truly speaking... mangoes cannot grow on a guava tree. If the residual karma of the present life indicates that one shall be born in the house of a king in next manifestation then it will be so. None in whole cosmos including God Almighty interferes with process of Karma. How gratifying to a human being that our complete destiny is in our own hands. As we perform our karma... so shall our future be! As we sow so shall we reap... nothing more or less! In the domain of karma everything is justly ordered. Every human being manifests destiny simply as per the residual balance of karma of past lives.

The Kama Sutra theory confirms that if we desire to improve upon our life then our performance of karma in present life must be in accordance! However there is one analogy which must be firmly understood here. Whatever physical work or karma we perform in present life may not manifest in next manifestation itself.

As God Almighty desired it... the manifestation of karma is governed by the non deviating laws of karma. It is any manifestation henceforth wherein our performance of karma in one of the earlier manifestations may fructify. This is how we say someone has been lucky. Or someone has won a lottery. This luck or winning of the lottery is not related to our deeds or karma of the present life but of one of the earlier manifestations we have lived. Whatever deeds or karma we perform in present life may yield results in next manifestation itself or many manifestations beyond. This is the firm doctrine of karma. This doctrine of karma has to be firmly understood. No deviations allowed!

This aspect in the karmic theory is what troubles most human beings. This aspect of karma rather takes the sap out of life itself. As human beings do not digest the facts that the performance of the karma of the present life will not yield results immediately thereafter! We start thinking, "if the fruits of my karma are not available to me in present life then what use performing my karma diligently". Here we fail to understand that dictates in the cosmic system are affected by God Almighty.

The existence of a human being is because of our soul atman within our body. We fail to understand that it is the soul atman that has taken the body and never otherwise. It is our soul atman within the body which is on its cosmic journey. The existence of the body is just a passing phase in the life of a soul atman. A total journey of 8.4 million manifestations indicates that the soul atman within our body shall manifest a total of 8.4 million bodies in various life forms. Having been born a human being confirms that our soul within the body has already manifested a total of 7.3 million bodies. In the human form alone we have a total of 1.1 million variations (manifestations).

It is indeed a long journey towards gaining enlightenment and finally salvation. The prime reason why in a hundred years or more only one or two persons gain enlightenment!

The path of pure spirituality is best lived by performing the best of karma... the good karma all the time. Performance of bad karma would lead to our incurring the wrath of God. If we have manifested the body of a human being in present life... the bad karma performed in this life may lead us back to the animal form and in extreme cases to the insect form or the plant life. The teachings of Mahavira (the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism) confirm this. Why perform a karma that shall negate the very essence of existence of life!

Performance of good karma is not only our prerogative but a must for every human being nay every Jiva (living being). If we do not perform good karma in present life then our behaviour affects us and only us. In the cosmic system the performance of karma by a human being nay every living being for that matter is limited to the individual self.

My performance of good karma or bad karma is not least related to any other soul atman in the cosmos. This aspect of life is corroborated by Bhagavad Gita... the doctrine put forward by Lord Krishna in Mahabharata. In Bhagavad Gita it has been stated that no soul atman is ever related to any other soul atman. The doctrine of karma is based on precisely this surmise. As the performance of the karma by an individual never gets transferred from one individual to another... no soul atman is ever connected to another soul atman.

In the circumstances why not be all human beings continue performing good karma throughout life so that the next manifestation by the soul atman within our body would be at its best. The next manifestation what it would be by our soul atman within the body is directly related to the performance of the karma by the body in present life.

I truly appreciate one song from Hollywood which states something like, "what shall I be... I be... I be! And the mother confirms to the daughter that this factor in life is totally unknown. And indirectly indicates to her that we all human beings are required to continue doing our best in life. The doctrine of karma must never be taken for granted in life. It is the seeds of karma we sow in this life that shall fructify in future manifestations.

Now I would like to clear the notion that physical deeds alone do not comprise of karma! The physical deeds performed by a body constitute a major part of karma of the individual but it is the performance of mental karma which finally governs the game.

Whatever we think finally controls the karma of an individual. If we are a positive thinker throughout in life... then we definitely need to cheer about it! Performance of good physical deeds and remaining positive all the time eventually leads to performing good karma all the time. Most of the times on the earthly domain people continue performing bad karma in the mental state. I may behave normally with a human being but mentally I may totally detest one. This would lead to negative karma furthering the goal of our soul atman within.

The performance of karma by human being must be so that the journey of our soul atman within the body is cut short. We must always remember that the body has been taken by our soul atman within and never vice versa. It is only the performance of the good karma that can lead to our soul atman gaining liberation from the cycle of birth and death at the earliest.

I again repeat that our soul atman desires reaching the stage of salvation (Nirvana in Buddhism), (moksha in Hinduism) at the earliest. It is performance of our karma and karma alone which shall decide the destiny of our soul atman within the body. The body can never dictate to the soul atman within. If our human ego dominates then we are only prolonging the journey of the soul atman within the body. The loss of soul atman is the loss of us. Our soul atman within the body is the real essence of us. We simply cannot neglect the soul atman within our body.

In the present Kali Yuga one finds that the super ego of a human being is often bloated with wanton desires and materialistic riches in life. Here we fail to understand that the materialistic riches gained in present life can never be carried to the next manifestation. Everything so gained materialistically in present life... all would be left behind when comes the time for leaving the mortal frame!

It is only the balance of karma that shall continue to the next life. The residual balance of karma of the present life becomes governing in the cosmic system of life. It is only the serious seekers of spirituality who understand this truth. Those drowned in the materialistic riches and wants do not care. It is only when they get born with deformities in next life that we find beggars on the streets.

Summarizing all... it is the performance of good karma all the time which shall decide what our destiny would be in next life. Unless and until we detach ourselves from the desires of the materialistic riches... we are simply prolonging the journey of our soul atman within. And this sometimes leads to severe headaches and pains as our soul atman within the body is governing. Whenever the body does anything to the contrary our soul atman reflects it on the body.

And this is what Yoga and meditation is all about. By performance of Yoga meditation we are simply trying to coordinate and synthesize a rapport between the body and the soul atman within. As long as the body works in coordination with the soul atman within... all is well for the soul atman within and also for the body.

Finally performance of good karma is essential for one to live a happy life full of joy and bliss!