10. WHAT IS *KARMA?* UNDERSTANDING THE LAW

Karma is among the most popular and the least understood of Eastern philosophical concepts! Today, even in the West, almost everyone thinks he has a pretty good idea of what karma is.

But what most of them think is, karma is a grand philosophy that needs to be expounded upon through hundreds of pages.

Actually, karma is nothing but the simple law of cause and effect.

Karma is a law of nature, like the force of gravity or electricity.

If you drop a brick on your foot, you are going to get hurt. But do you think of that as a punishment for dropping the brick? NO!

It's a cause and effect relationship; simple.

Karma works exactly this way. Karma is the natural result of certain actions performed by you at an earlier time. Like the Bible says, as you sow, so you reap.

The only difference is, karma is a kind of 'delayed effect'.

Karma also works across lifetimes; which means that, the cause may exist in one life, but the result may be experienced in the next or later lives. This naturally raises the question, Does reincarnation really happen? But we will discuss that another time, not now!

Being human, we naturally cannot remember the cause that has happened in a previous lifetime. Because of our own limited vision, we perceive only the result, and can't understand why this is happening. From primitive times, whenever something happens which is beyond

our understanding, we attribute it to punishment by the Gods. Even today, in many civilizations, natural calamities like floods and earthquakes are seen as punishments imposed on us by angry Gods.

That's why a moral angle has been given to karma. It is society that is entirely responsible for explaining karma as a punishment for the 'sins' of a previous life.

In a way, this is also a kind of coping technique. It is easier to bear some misfortune in your life if you feel that your own evil act (in a previous lifetime) must be responsible for it.

The concept of sin and punishment itself is created only by society, partly for its own efficient functioning. If people are not afraid of punishment, society can degenerate into a state of lawlessness.

The truth is, we are not punished for our sins. We are punished by our sins! Every 'sin' brings its own punishment with it. It's a package deal!

Every time you get angry, just watch your body. Your pulse starts racing, your BP goes up, your body gets into a state of stress from which it can take hours to recover. Not only that, you usually end up feeling guilty about it afterwards. Nobody else needs to punish you for getting angry. Your anger itself is punishing you enough!

If you drink too much, you are going to suffer from liver cirrhosis. You are not being punished by some external force for drinking; you are being punished by your drinking habit itself; if you are intelligent enough to perceive it as your punishment.

To a doctor, of course, it is simply the natural result of alcoholism.

Karma operates in the same way. The reason that it is more difficult to understand is, karma doesn't work only on the physical plane, like a falling brick. Karma works on the mental, emotional, even the spiritual plane.

Suppose you are unable to fulfill a particular desire in one life, or suppose you are forced to leave some action incomplete, the unfulfilled desire or unfinished act creates a kind of emotional or mental vacuum in your life. That vacuum can act as a suction force and draw you to fulfill the same desire or repeat the same act in the next life.

So at the emotional and mental level, karma is the sum total of all your unfulfilled desires and incomplete actions - the baggage from a previous life.

And every life, you work out the karmas of a previous life, but keep on adding fresh desires or fresh unfulfilled actions to your current baggage which will become the karmas of your next life. That's why karma is an endless cycle.

What is the way out of karma?

As long as we live, there is no escape from karma, because to live is to have desires, and we certainly can't fulfill all our desires in one lifetime. But it is in your hands to drastically reduce the effects of karma - by awakening your consciousness. By understanding the true nature of karma, and how it works, we can find a way out.

Sri Ramakrishna tells a beautiful story which will give you intellectual clarity on the subject. Of course, no one can give you existential, experiential clarity on karma as it really is that clarity comes only with enlightenment. And when you are enlightened, you cannot express it!

Coming to the story on karma:

Our state is similar to that of a cow tied to a post with a long rope. Inside that perimeter, it can sit, stand, feed, do whatever it pleases. The same with us! It is true that karma creates certain bondage, gives our life certain direction, forces us to act in certain ways. We have a limited amount of freedom; the rest is in the hands of Existence. But Ramakrishna also adds, if we use our freedom intelligently, it is possible that Existence will extend our rope, or even free us completely. You can choose whether to remain in bondage or work towards being set free.

Karma is closely related to Dharma.

Dharma is another much-misunderstood word. Dharma is usually interpreted as 'duty', but that is totally wrong. That is also a social,

moralistic interpretation. The closest translation of dharma is 'true nature'. For example, it is the dharma (nature) of fire to burn. Similarly, it is the dharma of water to be wet. If water tries to burn, something unnatural is happening.

As long as you act according to your dharma, you cannot attract karma. In simple words, be natural. Function according to your true nature.

Seems easy doesn't it? But it is not so for us because of all our conditioning!

This is the toughest thing to do - because we cannot identify what our true nature is! In life, we take on the character and desires of everybody around us and finally we can't recognize which is truly ours and which is borrowed.

It's like this: let us say, you need to buy a television. When you go to the supermarket, you find someone else buying a washing machine, another person buying a refrigerator, another buying a music system. And you are tempted to acquire all these things as well! Without realizing, you take on the desires of all the people around you. In one life, you try to fulfill the desires of hundreds of people. These desires are not natural to you; they are acquired desires. So naturally, they attract karma.

All karma arises from ignorance; from ignorance of your true nature.

In terms of spirituality, karma is determined by the dominant quality of your life.

Spirituality is nothing but the science of awakening your consciousness, of realizing your true nature. When your whole life is directed towards awakening your consciousness, you will naturally not fall into the trap of ignorance. With clarity and awareness, you can identify which are your true desires, which is your true nature.

This becomes especially significant at the moment of Death.

In fact, in yoga, in Zen, all meditation is nothing but a preparation for the moment of death. If you are in a state of consciousness at the time of death, you will enter into your next life also in a conscious way, not in ignorance. When you enter into life with awareness, you ensure that you live your life in awareness, creating as little karma as possible.

This is true.

I speak to you from the authority of my own experience.

I speak to you from the explosion of awareness that has happened inside me.

Someday, you will know it yourself.

Awaken your consciousness, and you are taking the first step that will ultimately free you from karma.