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A C T I O N R E S P O N S E C Y C L E
Karma
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The word Karma is used freely these days and often used to
denote fate or destiny. "Ayyo! My Karma!" people say.
Simply put, Karma means action. Any action that we do is
Karma. It could be action of the body, mind or speech. The
results of the action is karma phala or fruit of the karma. "As
you sow, so you reap" it is said.
Karma and karmaphala immediately invoke the association
between cause and effect. Every action has outcomes or
associated consequences. But a subtle thing that we need to
understand is that the consequences are not always direct. This
is crucial to understand the deeper meaning of karma.
Suppose you punch something, there is an immediate impact on
the material and your hand. It is directly perceivable. Such an
action has a visible immediate consequence and response.
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There will also be numerous actions that do not have a direct
cause and effect mapping or action and consequence connect.
For example, when you vote, can you say the candidate won
because you voted or can you say your vote didn't matter. You
can't say both because a process like voting requires your
participation but yet has numerous factors that contribute to the
outcomes. Every vote counts but no vote is solely responsible for
the outcome.
Karma also works similarly. Every action has a consequence but
no action is solely responsible for the outcome.
It is very vital to understand this idea because we often get
caught in the cause and effect loop, expecting a linear outcome
from things that we do. "I did this, but the expected outcome
never happened" is a very common feeling.
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This can easily happen to a Sadhaka. The Sadhaka expects
results based on his/her practices. The expectation is often
linear. Life is anything but linear! The spiritual path is anything
but linear! There are so many things that go into gaining a
simple spiritual experience.
The Bhagavad Gita beautifully captures in the verse
"कर्मण्येवा धि का रस्ते मा फलेषु कदा चन" -Karmnayevadhikarasthey maa
phaleshu kadaachana.
We may have adhikaara over our actions but not over the
outcomes because there are just too many factors determining
the outcomes.
If we don't understand this, we hold on to our actions and get
frustrated over the outcomes. In that frustration and lack of
fulfillment, we are stuck to our actions. This is what happens in
the larger cycle of life and death. We hold on to our desires and
actions, not letting them go!
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Almost all Indian traditional texts talk of Karma and closely link
it with Dharma. The various philosophical systems too talk of
karma and how the fruits or karmaphala manifest.
Karma can be looked at as Prarabdha Karma, Sanchita Karma
and Kriyamana Karma.
Prarabdha karma is the karma that is allocated for the current
life time.
Sanchita karma is the sum total of all of our karma across
lifetimes.
Kriyamana karma is that which is accumulated in the present
and utlised in future lifetimes.
There is no simple way to understand karma but nevertheless
here is an analogy. Suppose you have a total of 10,000 rupees
in your bank account, that can be equated to sanchita karma as
it is the amount available for you to spend.
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You withdraw 1000 rupees and buy a lottery ticket. That
1000 rupees is your prarabdha karma which is available for
you to spend. Suppose you win 5000 rupees in lottery. This
'accumulation" of Rs.5000 happened because of you spending
Rs. 1000. This 5000 is our kriyamana karma which we
accumulate in our present lifetime for future experiences. Just
that, when it is rupees it sounds wonderful but when it comes to
karma we want to empty the whole thing without creating new
balance!
This is very crucial to understand. Every act we do has a
consequence and when done with a selfish motive, we do
accumulate good or bad karma. This is carried forward and we
will need to experience the good or bad effects of it. Hence
being mindful to our actions is of great importance.
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When we try to change our old patterns, we are, in a way,
breaking free of the things that might be binding us. The
impressions that are formed due to the engagement with the
senses creates compulsive behavioral patterns. Our likes-Raaga
and dislikes -Dwesha determine what kind of impressions are
formed. These impressions play out at various points in time.
These impressions are also carried forward into the future and
many lifetimes as well. Let us say you are trained in tinkering
with computers. No matter how hard you try not to intervene,
when you see someone struggling to fix a computer you are
super tempted to fix it for them. You eventually end up fixing it!
The samskaras of a "tinker" play out when the appropriate
environment is created or a momentum is built in that direction.
One need not feel burdened by the knowledge of karma. This
awareness is key to liberating ourselves from those petty things
that bind us.
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Karmaashaya is the storehouse of karma located in the chitta.
Both good and bad karma are stored. These stored karma does
not get fructified in only one birth. It may come to manifestation
only when a conducive birth is taken. Suppose the Karmaashaya
has the samskaras for rulership and some other negative
qualities. Depending on the birth, any of many of these stored
samskaras will be fructified.
Depending on the samskaras stored in the Karmaashaya, one is
born in a specific womb -Jati, lifespan -Ayuh and experience -
Bhoga.
A seed has the potency to grow into a huge tree when the righ
environment is created and the sapling is nurtured at different
stages. Similarly the seed samskaras, that come out of our
actions (karma), fructify when a suitable nurturing environment
is provided.