Comprehending Karma: The all-encompassing law of deeds and its route to enlightenment
By being aware of the rule of Karma, we may nurture good deeds, make better decisions, and eventually have happier lives.
Karma literally translates to "action." It is not thinking; it is "doing." Nonetheless, the Law of Action and Reaction and the Law of Karma are typically included when discussing karma. This rule says that every action we take is tracked and rewarded based on the good or bad that it causes. Excellent for the best. For the worst. We receive what we give. In a similar vein, planting apple seeds yields apples rather than mangoes. We will harvest what we sow. Everyone is subject to the cosmic Law of Karma. Nothing can control this, and no one can get away from it. It is intended to support us as we advance morally. Reformative rather than punishing.
If we comprehend the Law of Karma and its workings, even as simple people, our lives will be improved. To begin with, since what goes around, comes around, good karma guarantees a favorable fate. Knowing that our experiences in life are a result of our own karma, or the consequences of our past deeds, can help us live with responsibility, acceptance, and surrender. When sorrow befalls us, we will also be happy because we will know that our bad karma is being reversed. To balance our karma, we shall endeavor to conduct more good deeds. Although the body appears to be carrying out karma, the mind and ego are actually controlling the body's actions. Karma therefore pertains to the intellect and ego rather than the physical.
Karma governs both birth and death. During a lifetime, our actions determine the course of our existence based on two types of karma: the karma from previous lifetimes we carry with us and cannot undo, and the karma from our current actions.
Three explanations exist for karma:
1. Opening Balance: Our corpus, or accumulated karma, is what we carry with us when we are born. It determines every aspect of our present existence, including our birthplace and method.
2. Current Account: Every action we take in this life, whether good and terrible, is documented. This is added to the Opening Balance upon our demise, and the net balance is carried over and incorporated into our Cumulative Karmic Corpus.
3. Cumulative Karmic Corpus: Upon death, our net karma—positive or negative—as well as our Opening Balance and Current Account are added to our cumulative account of numerous lives. Our net karmic balance is added to the corpus during each incarnation we lead. This corpus is where our future life is selected from.
Karma, spiritual development, and evolution are intricately intertwined. To reach moksha, the ultimate aim of human life, a seeker of God, truth, or any other spiritual path must ultimately transcend karma. Being rid of karma and not being a doer is the notion. We are reborn repeatedly due to the cycle of death and rebirth brought about by our past deeds.
How? When the body passes away, the Mind and Ego, or ME, bears the unresolved karma and returns to this planet in a different form to atone for it. It is paradise if a child is born into a loving family and has a happy existence; it is hell if a youngster faces difficulties from birth and experiences misfortune. Thus, one can experience both heaven and hell on earth. The task at hand is to escape this never-ending circle. In light of this, how can we escape reincarnation and karma?
We are freed from the karmic cycle of death and rebirth by enlightenment, the realization of the truth, and ultimately moksha. Thus, it is imperative that a seeker on his spiritual path transcend karma via self-realization, God-realization, and truth-realization. What is the reality that a seeker must come to understand? It is true that I am not my body, thoughts, or ego. I am the soul, the spirit, the atman, or a "Spark Of Unique Life." When the body expires, we are said to have died. Who dies? That is who I am.
Our bodies form post-conception, post-birth, and we are born nine months ahead of our alleged birthday. Thus, the body is not who we are. We are not the mind, either. The mind has not been seen by anybody! Since the mind does not exist, we are unable to do it. All the mind is a collection of ideas. Do we represent the ego? No, the false self that thinks I am. According to the ancient texts known as the Upanishads, Neti Neti, Tat Twam Asi (This is not what it is. You are that.) The divine, the Ultimate Immortal Power that we refer to as God, includes the soul. As we come to see the truth, we begin to live as divine agents, carrying out divine will.
We don't actually "do." Through us, the divine acts. We can therefore be free in action even while we are unable to be free from it. Such realized individuals believe that there is no karma and, hence, no reincarnation. Actually, the instant we realize that we are the divine soul and not the ego, mind, or body, all of our prior karma—carried over from many previous lives—dissolves and vanishes. Of course, there is no suffering even if the body may still endure illness, deterioration, and agony. The ego and the mind, as well as the pain, sorrow, and agony they bring about, have transcended.
When we understand the truth, we are freed from all karma. As we progress, we become Karma Yogis—people who have given themselves over to the divine and live as its instruments. A realized soul achieves moksha, or oneness with the divine, at the time of death, and becomes a Jivanmukta, liberated from all pain. Karma and rebirth do not exist.
