some reflections on karma

SOME REFLECTIONS ON KARMA

That the Supreme Consciousness is the source of all creation is well known to the enlightened spiritual seeker as well as to most of the modern scientists. As the objects in the Universe are fashioned in the all-pervading Consciousness, the same gets included in the objects, as the Atman, the individualized Consciousness. The purpose of this, as many would accept, is that the Consciousness, which was alone in the beginning and did not know Its own presence, wanted an instrument to reveal Its presence. The instrument had to be developed by evolution to make it capable of this task. As soon as the minimum chemical structure was evolved, as in the case of the microbes, life force was introduced into it to make it functionally viable. Into it was also instilled the power of cognition, initially to know its surroundings, both to find food for its sustenance and to protect itself from harmful enivronment. This living and functioning structure is now known as the Jivatma, which literally means a living body evolved and activated by the Atman. By cotinuing the process of evolution, further improvements were effected to evolve a perfect or near perfect body and mind that can serve the intended function. The human being appears to be, at least for the present, the adequate required product. If the human being had straight away served the intended purpose, the story would have ended there. But, it would appear that the Consciousness wanted to play a game of ‘hide and seek’, by blindfolding the created instrument, so that in can make efforts to find its own creator! This blindfolding took the direction of misleading the mind (?intententionally) to go after and catch hold of objects which are not the real thing! May be, the Reality is enjoying this game!
The mind, like the life force, is to be understood as a type of energy, present in the Cosmos, having taken its origin from the very same source, from which also emerged the other types of energy. Some of that energy condensed into solid forms. The human body like all the other beings was gifted with a small fraction of these two cosmic forces, for the purpose mentioned above. When an individual sheds his physical body, the above two forces should return to their source in the Cosmos. While the life force does, the mind is said to remain separate because it is no longer the pure mental force originally introduced into the being. How did it become impure? Now this mind which was endowed with certain amount of freedom, developed a wrong notion that it is independent, and that the body it is occupyinig is its own, and different from other bodies. This exclusive identification of the mind with a single body gave rise to an imaginary individual, which is referred to as the Ego or Ahankar (aham+akar). This entity now wrongly assumes individuality and considers itself as the one who is performing actions and enjoying the fruits of those actions (the karta and the bhokta). When the fruits are enjoyabe this ‘individual’ is happy and becomes dejected when the same are unpalatable. Like the blind folded person catches hold of a tree or some object other than the hiding person soon realizes his mistake, every human being has to learn lessons from every action of his and the results accruing therefrom. If he does not learn the lesson the same experience will repeat itself in the same birth or in the subsequent births of the individual. This will go on till he finds the real hiding person! Once that happens the ‘hide and seek’ game ends!
Now let us see what impuritiess the mind, personified in this imaginary individual, acquires during the life time of the concerned human being. Since its existence is anchored in a particular body, all those persons and objects related to it are considered its own and thus an attachment to them ensues. Though these attachmnts have to disappear at the time of death of the body, the imaginary individual, the mind, keeps hold on them, even after the diappearence of the physical frame on which the very existence of the ego was based. The very sense of identification of the mind with one particular body leads on to endless number of desires to acquire not only more and more of the objects of enjoyment, but also power and fame for itself. The individual may succeed in fulfilling some or many of these desires , but the body may come to its destined end before all of them are achieved. Thus many of the unfulfilled desires may cling on to the mind even after the death of the body. Every action of the individual has to fructify, favourably or unfavourably, and produce results, to be enjoyed or suffered by the concerned individual. If the physical body meets its end before all these actions have fructified, necessarily the unfructified ones have to cling to the mind, waiting to be fulfilled. These three, namely the bodily related attachments, the unfulfilled desires, and the unfructified actions, cling to the mind even after the death of the physical frame and form the basis for the ego taking another birth.These are three main constituents of what is referred to as past Karma. Besides these three impurities some others also adhere to the mind, many of them related to these major impurities, being part or cause of them. These manifest as gross emotions, passions, lust, anger, greed, jealousy, hatred, pride, evil thoughts, prejudices, misconceptions, doubts, superstitions, cares, worries, influence of polar opposites and above all dvaitic attitude.All actions produce impressions on the mind, referred to as Vasanas and these may be of different grades and types.They may be good or evil, high or low, right or wrong. These influence the actions of the individual and form the source of likes and dislikes, and may bring joy or misery and bondage or freedom. These vasanas may be present at two levels one at the ego or the individualized consciousness level, and the other at the subconscious level. While both these influence the individual’s behavior in the current life, the former is carried totally or partly with the mind or the ego to the next birth.
In every new birth, the quantity of carried over Karma may not be, in view of the uncertainty of the duration of life, totally exhausted and part may still remain like a bank balance.This accumulated karma is called Sanchita karma, while that which is brought down to the immediate next birth for exhaustion is called Prarabdha karma. But unfortunately the reincarnated ego as the new jiva, while in the process of exhausting the Prarabdha karma, accumulates some more fresh karma, which is referred to as Agamya karma, which again adds to the bulk of the Sanchita karma.
The Jiva who comes back carrying the Prarabdha karma, brings with it two properties, Bhoktrtvam, and Kartrtvam. The first is inevitable and represents experiencing the fruits or consequences of his actions in his previous birth, resulting in pain and pleasures in the new life. The second, Kartrtvam, sows the seeds of karma for future. This phase of doership of actions is impelled by the Vasanas carried over from the previous birth. The Vasnas are of two types, the Subha-asubha vasanas and Sad vasana. The former, meaning good and bad vasanas, is not only controlled by the karma, but also limits the freedom of the reincarnated individual. Impelled by it, the Jiva performs good or bad actions, which in turn create Agamya karma, adding on to the Sanchita. This process goes on from birth to birth, in a never-ending vicious circle.
When a Jiva is reborn, is the place of his birth predetermined and his environment and parents selected by some unknown power before hand, so that they are suitable for expending his karma? Has the karma of the parents any role to play in the selection of a to-be-born new Jiva, with its own quota of karma to be expended? While we know that the structure of the body of the new Jiva is genetically regulated, is the development of his mind along particular directions related to his past karma? What is the role played by the society and environment in the shaping of the agamya karma of the reborn Jiva? Certain other questions may complicate the issue. For instance as the world population fast increasing, how can we say that all the new Jivas are reborn according to their past karma? Is it possible that many new Jivas, without a past karmic background are being created by Consciousness? Are some of the new Jivas cases of evolved animal Jivas without a previous karmic background? These are all difficult questions to answer, and probably will remain a mystery for ever, or at least for now! With so many crucial questions unanswered, is there such a thing called karma at all? Is it necessary for man to bother about it? It may be prudent to accept the existence of karma for the present till science reveals more about the origin and nature and the capabilities of the human mind and Consciousness.
Does the above mean that there is no redumption at all, for the human being? No. This is where the Sadvasana, he is born with, can come to his help. What is this Sadvasana? Unlike the Subhasubha vasanas this vasana manifests with full divine freedom or Brahmaswatantaram, unrelated to karma. Every human being, even the worst criminal, at some point of life, occasionally or even repeatedly, may get a feeling of the presence of a higher power, and the futility of the type of life he is leading. As Bhagavan Baba says, every human being came from the Atman and has to go back to the Atman, his source.This truth manifests in eveyone, without exception, as a feeling of home-sickness. This is Sadvasana, the impression about Sat, the Reality, which comes to everyone as a fleeting thought but is quickly forgotten in the hurried and mundane activities of life. If one can pursue this vasana diligently, it can lead the person to become aware of the presence of the Atman inside oneself and the extrovert mind can be slowly and progressively induced to focus its attention on the Self. Soon the mind loses its individuality and waywardness, and becomes one with the Atman, attaining a state called Atma Chidrupam. Then all the vasanas are destroyed, what is called vasanakshaya. All his on-going actions are no longer influenced by the vasanas, but are directed by the Atman. This will inevitably lead him to his natural state, the state of Being and not doing, only his body performing the Atman directed duties, if any. He remains in Atmic bliss, having reached the state of Atmasakshatkaram. Once he starts this exercise, Swami, as the exclusive manifestation of the Atman, will aid him in his efforts, and lead him to the goal.
Now what has happened to this enlightened man’s karma? From the deatiles presented above it will be clear that the three main causes of karma are based on the mind originated ego. The impurity-laden ego-mind being unable to merge with the Cosmic mind after the death of the body, carries its load to the next birth, like a vessel filled with impure water. If this container can be broken, the contents will inevitably be spilt, and nothing will be left to be carried over. The goal of all spiritual sadhana, including the three pathways prescribed in our scriptures is the total destruction of the ego. Hence if one can destroy the ego in this birth, all karma will be destroyed and there will be no need for a rebirth. As the ego, which causes the sense of separation of the individual from the rest of the creation, is destroyed the individual feels one with the rest of the Creation, one with the whole Universe. He moves from the dvaitic feeling to the advaitic experience, the final stage of his spiritual sadhana, leading to liberation or Mukti.