In recent years, Karma has become a common term for basically getting your "just desserts" or "what comes around, goes around", "every action causes an equal and opposite reaction", or "as you sow so shall you reap".
The dictionary definition of Karma is: "the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences."
Throughout the Bhagavad Gita, Krsna explains the results of "fruitive activities" and their consequent results.
Therefore, whatever fruitive activities (good or bad) that we have performed in this or past lives, we will now have to reap in this life. We are getting our "just dues" and meting out our punishment.
If we understand the concept of Karma, why is it so hard for us to accept?
As many parents know, we punish our kids so that they learn their lesson and refrain from performing that activity again. For example, if a child attempts to put their finger or hand into an open flame, one of 2 things will usually occur:
As adults, if a person performs a criminal activity, we are very quick to condemn that person before the law and in many cases suggest that the person be given the death penalty for his/her crime. At this time also, we do not hesitate to recommend punishments for others.
However, as soon as we face that punishment ourselves, we suddenly become forlorn and question why we are receiving that punishment in the form of our Karma. Why do we not hold ourselves to the same principles by which we examine and treat others?
From a moral perspective, if we do something wrong, many individuals will experience a "guilty conscience" for performing that immoral activity. If we examine stories such as the "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe, we know that sometimes a guilty conscience can be far worse than the immoral activity itself and even lead to madness or insanity! The character in "The Tell-Tale Heart" would have much rather been punished for his crime than suffer the torture of his guilty conscience!
By examining it in this light, punishment for some act of wrongdoing is far better than facing a guilty conscience that can haunt you for as long as a lifetime. Since your conscience is constantly with you, it will constantly remind you of your wrongdoing.
Due to this, we often hear the phrase "clear your conscience". What does that mean, exactly? To either confess our wrongdoing or face our punishment for our wrongdoing!
Thus, our Karma is Krsna's method of "clearing our conscience"!
The answer is simple: "We do not know what we did wrong"! Since we are being punished for something which we did in a previous lifetime, we feel unjustly or unfairly treated and will often ask the question "Why me"?
If we punish our children in the same manner, they will always ask "What did I do wrong"? In the criminal world, people would state that they are being "framed"--an innocent person is being accused or punished for a crime he/she did not commit. The criminal justice system is very concerned about punishing innocent persons such that the American Criminal Justice System bases its premise on "innocent, until proven guilty".
So our premise for not facing our Karma is that we are basically good and innocent people and as a result, we should not be facing any bad or sinful reactions.
But if we look at it from the perspective of a clear conscience, we can more clearly understand why Krsna has designed our Karma in such a manner that we must face our punishment without knowing our act(s) of wrongdoing.
For example, if we were to remember all of the history of our past lives as well as all of the actions that we performed or committed in our past lives, how would that affect our present lives? In the story of Jada Bharata from the Srimad Bhagavatam, we clearly know that Jada Bharata immediately regretted his past actions and repented for them by focusing his efforts on remembering and meditating upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Jada Bharata led a relatively sinless life in his past life, but we may not have led such sinless lives in our previous/former births. What if we had been very violent in our past lives by butchering animals or even murdering people? How would that affect the present life that we are leading? Would not those memories completely alter our outlook on our present life? At a bare minimum, we would constantly regret and repent for our actions during the entire course of our lifetimes. Perhaps these memories would even haunt us throughout our lives and even drive us towards madness just as it did the character in "The Tell-Tale Heart"?
Krsna knows this very well, hence, he has made us "forget" our past births. So not knowing our previous actions and wrongdoing is a form of Krsna's pure love and mercy. We must still follow the laws of Karma, but even in facing the laws of Karma, we are benefactors of Krsna's mercy.
Knowing that, does that make facing our Karma that much easier to bear? It certainly does, but, it may not be enough for neophyte devotees just coming to Krsna Consciousness.
Krsna is so merciful that he offers even more consolation to his devotees in the form of his advice to King Yudhisthira.
The conversation proceeds as follows:
King Yudhisthira: Those who propitiate Shiva easily enjoyed the pleasure of prosperity while the devotees of Vishnu have a life of struggle. The two deities Shiva and Vishnu are diametrically opposed to each other. Shiva is the god of destruction while Vishnu is the protector but their favors on their devotees are contrary to their character. Why is it so?
Krsna: Brahma and Shiva, the creative and destructive powers of the world have a highly volatile temper which can be emotionally manipulated favorable or otherwise without much effort. Whatever be their reaction to the actions of the devotees, it is only in relation to worldly matters. The boons thus received, in particular from Shiva, lead to more entanglement in actions and increase the possibility of subjecting us to their anger or pleasure. A boon or curse cannot be retrieved or made ineffective.
I confer favors in an entirely different manner. My efforts are aimed at drawing my devotees away from any kind of involvement with the material world. My devotees go through great difficulties before they succeed to attain dispassionate attitude. In the process of distancing themselves from the transient attachments, they experience a superficial sense of loss and suffering.
When once the mind is cultivated and trained towards detachment, the aspirant realizes the insignificance of emotional gratification or disappointment. Once these prove to be meaningless, mental cravings become non-existent. They attain absolute bliss.
Relatives and friends are only fair weather friends. They would offer no consolation or encouragement at times of need. Besides, they would prefer keeping away from any obligation. Association with pious people will stand in good stead and help one to rise above the apparent changes in circumstances dispassionately. There will be spiritual bliss, transporting you to the highest abode free from rebirth.
Based on Krsna's reply, we can begin to understand that our Karma as devotees of Krsna is to achieve "true" and ultimate happiness. In this world, we are constantly trading or exchanging things for something better. We may trade-in an old car for a new one, an old smartphone for a new one or quitting an old job for a better one.
In this case, Krsna is once again exhibiting his mercy by trading our material happiness for lasting spiritual happiness.
Our Karma is just a bump in the road on the highway to happiness. We may not enjoy experiencing our Karma while it lasts but knowing that the situation is only temporary and will lead us to something much better softens the blow.
Therefore, the light at the end of the tunnel for people/devotees facing their Karma, is "just be patient, something better is coming along"!
The dictionary definition of Karma is: "the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences."
Throughout the Bhagavad Gita, Krsna explains the results of "fruitive activities" and their consequent results.
Therefore, whatever fruitive activities (good or bad) that we have performed in this or past lives, we will now have to reap in this life. We are getting our "just dues" and meting out our punishment.
If we understand the concept of Karma, why is it so hard for us to accept?
As many parents know, we punish our kids so that they learn their lesson and refrain from performing that activity again. For example, if a child attempts to put their finger or hand into an open flame, one of 2 things will usually occur:
- The parent will severely scold the child for attempting to injure himself/herself and perhaps even provide some other form of punishment so that the child does not attempt this again.
- The child will feel the heat of the flame and immediately draw their hand away after getting burned. The parent may then react by stating "You have learned your lesson so that you will not do that again."
As adults, if a person performs a criminal activity, we are very quick to condemn that person before the law and in many cases suggest that the person be given the death penalty for his/her crime. At this time also, we do not hesitate to recommend punishments for others.
However, as soon as we face that punishment ourselves, we suddenly become forlorn and question why we are receiving that punishment in the form of our Karma. Why do we not hold ourselves to the same principles by which we examine and treat others?
From a moral perspective, if we do something wrong, many individuals will experience a "guilty conscience" for performing that immoral activity. If we examine stories such as the "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe, we know that sometimes a guilty conscience can be far worse than the immoral activity itself and even lead to madness or insanity! The character in "The Tell-Tale Heart" would have much rather been punished for his crime than suffer the torture of his guilty conscience!
By examining it in this light, punishment for some act of wrongdoing is far better than facing a guilty conscience that can haunt you for as long as a lifetime. Since your conscience is constantly with you, it will constantly remind you of your wrongdoing.
Due to this, we often hear the phrase "clear your conscience". What does that mean, exactly? To either confess our wrongdoing or face our punishment for our wrongdoing!
Thus, our Karma is Krsna's method of "clearing our conscience"!
Given this information, why is it
still so difficult to face and accept our Karma?
The answer is simple: "We do not know what we did wrong"! Since we are being punished for something which we did in a previous lifetime, we feel unjustly or unfairly treated and will often ask the question "Why me"?
If we punish our children in the same manner, they will always ask "What did I do wrong"? In the criminal world, people would state that they are being "framed"--an innocent person is being accused or punished for a crime he/she did not commit. The criminal justice system is very concerned about punishing innocent persons such that the American Criminal Justice System bases its premise on "innocent, until proven guilty".
So our premise for not facing our Karma is that we are basically good and innocent people and as a result, we should not be facing any bad or sinful reactions.
But if we look at it from the perspective of a clear conscience, we can more clearly understand why Krsna has designed our Karma in such a manner that we must face our punishment without knowing our act(s) of wrongdoing.
For example, if we were to remember all of the history of our past lives as well as all of the actions that we performed or committed in our past lives, how would that affect our present lives? In the story of Jada Bharata from the Srimad Bhagavatam, we clearly know that Jada Bharata immediately regretted his past actions and repented for them by focusing his efforts on remembering and meditating upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Jada Bharata led a relatively sinless life in his past life, but we may not have led such sinless lives in our previous/former births. What if we had been very violent in our past lives by butchering animals or even murdering people? How would that affect the present life that we are leading? Would not those memories completely alter our outlook on our present life? At a bare minimum, we would constantly regret and repent for our actions during the entire course of our lifetimes. Perhaps these memories would even haunt us throughout our lives and even drive us towards madness just as it did the character in "The Tell-Tale Heart"?
Krsna knows this very well, hence, he has made us "forget" our past births. So not knowing our previous actions and wrongdoing is a form of Krsna's pure love and mercy. We must still follow the laws of Karma, but even in facing the laws of Karma, we are benefactors of Krsna's mercy.
Knowing that, does that make facing our Karma that much easier to bear? It certainly does, but, it may not be enough for neophyte devotees just coming to Krsna Consciousness.
Krsna is so merciful that he offers even more consolation to his devotees in the form of his advice to King Yudhisthira.
The conversation proceeds as follows:
King Yudhisthira: Those who propitiate Shiva easily enjoyed the pleasure of prosperity while the devotees of Vishnu have a life of struggle. The two deities Shiva and Vishnu are diametrically opposed to each other. Shiva is the god of destruction while Vishnu is the protector but their favors on their devotees are contrary to their character. Why is it so?
Krsna: Brahma and Shiva, the creative and destructive powers of the world have a highly volatile temper which can be emotionally manipulated favorable or otherwise without much effort. Whatever be their reaction to the actions of the devotees, it is only in relation to worldly matters. The boons thus received, in particular from Shiva, lead to more entanglement in actions and increase the possibility of subjecting us to their anger or pleasure. A boon or curse cannot be retrieved or made ineffective.
I confer favors in an entirely different manner. My efforts are aimed at drawing my devotees away from any kind of involvement with the material world. My devotees go through great difficulties before they succeed to attain dispassionate attitude. In the process of distancing themselves from the transient attachments, they experience a superficial sense of loss and suffering.
When once the mind is cultivated and trained towards detachment, the aspirant realizes the insignificance of emotional gratification or disappointment. Once these prove to be meaningless, mental cravings become non-existent. They attain absolute bliss.
Relatives and friends are only fair weather friends. They would offer no consolation or encouragement at times of need. Besides, they would prefer keeping away from any obligation. Association with pious people will stand in good stead and help one to rise above the apparent changes in circumstances dispassionately. There will be spiritual bliss, transporting you to the highest abode free from rebirth.
Based on Krsna's reply, we can begin to understand that our Karma as devotees of Krsna is to achieve "true" and ultimate happiness. In this world, we are constantly trading or exchanging things for something better. We may trade-in an old car for a new one, an old smartphone for a new one or quitting an old job for a better one.
In this case, Krsna is once again exhibiting his mercy by trading our material happiness for lasting spiritual happiness.
Our Karma is just a bump in the road on the highway to happiness. We may not enjoy experiencing our Karma while it lasts but knowing that the situation is only temporary and will lead us to something much better softens the blow.
Therefore, the light at the end of the tunnel for people/devotees facing their Karma, is "just be patient, something better is coming along"!
No comments:
Post a Comment