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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.