I come from a Jain family. Amongst Jains and Christians, there is a very strong concept of sin. Amongst Jains, Buddhists and Hindus, there is a very strong concept of Karma. Essentially, I grew up in surroundings that had a very strong overtone of the concept of Karma and sin (negative karma) and merit (positive karma).
Then I came across my Guru (Guruji Rishi Prabhakar) who never talked about karma but only talked about samadhi and moksha. I once asked him: Guruji, why don’t you ever talk in terms of Paap and Punya which many spiritual masters talk? He replied in a light vein that that doesn’t mean he is ignorant about the concepts. My query didn’t get answered and my quest continued. Gradually life gave me my answers.
I realised that the theory of karma does make sense. Cause and effect can exist or appear to exist. However what doesn’t make sense is believing in it. Just like astrology for that matter. To me, astrology makes a lot of sense. I have myself seen significant changes in my life with changing moon patterns, let alone other planets. However what doesn’t make sense is believing in it. I rather live a life that’s fresh and unrehearsed than know about things in advance and try to secure myself, quite often in vain.
In the same way, while cause and effect may (seem to) exist in a world that’s partly governed by Newtonian mechanics, yet believing in it and operating from the context of karma can make life very dis-empowering.
KARMA AND FOLLOWING YOUR HEART
Imagine you wish to follow your heart and express your grievances to somebody with blatant honesty. Karma tells you that when you hurt another, you get hurt back. Now there is your heart that wants to be honest and then there is your mind, ridden with the concept of karma, that stops you from being honest.
Imagine you are caught in a toxic relationship. When things get rough, one should learn to think in one’s own interest and start creating boundaries. Creating boundaries might include telling your people – elderly or otherwise – spouse or siblings or parents or kids, that they cannot violate some basic rules. Now a person who is caught in the concept of karma will find it in bad taste to tell an elder – a parent or a sibling or spouse the same thing fearing that it’s negative karma. This robs him of the possibility of ease in the relationship that could have come through drawing boundaries.
Many religions go to the extent of defining even the exact quantum of sin in many acts. There are religious books that portray people being fried in a big celestial frying pot and being baked in treacherous fires should they commit certain sinful acts. Imagine the amount of guilt and fear all this can create. I yet can’t forget this vivid imagery that I saw as a child.
True religion lies in being a whole person. A person who follows the dictates of his heart no matter what. He doesn’t make himself weak by thinking of a dozen things – karma being one of them. When you live life through the dictates of your heart then you understand the things that bring lasting joy and the things that bring unnecessary pain. You go astray, you make mistakes and then you know what is a mistake and what is not. That’s a better yardstick to decide what to do and what not to do than the yardstick of karma.
KARMA AND DEEDS
And one should also understand the concept of karma through the lens of samadhi which is a space beyond karma. Samadhi is essentially about an equanimous intellect – an intellect that’s capable of looking at life through the lens of ‘all things are equal’. So from this context how can one divide life into good and bad deeds – after all bad is no worse than good (through the lens of samadhi)?
KARMA AND CONSEQUENCES
Forget the deeds. Let’s now talk about consequences. Our problem with karma lies less in the sanctity of our deeds and more in the consequences these deeds reap. So let us believe in the theory of karma and say that bad deeds lead to bad consequences and good deeds lead to good consequences. But the whole concept of samadhi says that one should look upon good and bad consequences with the same detachment. In which case, bad consequences are no worse than good consequences and good consequences are no better than bad ones. Then why exalt good consequences and why reject bad consequences? And if you get this point, you understand that believing in karma has no meaning. Rather work towards samadhi.
THE KARMA CONSPIRACY
KARMA is a tool in the hands of the priest to keep his business thriving. You become a regular customer of a priest if he imprints you with all kinds of guilt. He gives you the disease of guilt and then he sells you the solution through various other ingenious means. Do not fall into the conspiracy. Remain a whole undivided human being who flows through life doing whatever his heart dictates him to do.
I am not saying the law doesn’t work. All I am saying is either discard it or use it with caution. It could make you a divided person. All division leads to weakness. Only the people who do not allow any inner fragmentation are strong people. They can move through life with a certain confidence and self-assurance. And it is with such people, that life shares all her bounties
