Everything has a cause according to the law of cause and effect (karma), this is not the whole of the law but still. For this to happen that must happen. When the right conditions for a karmic seed comes about the seed ripens. So does this mean that all the seeds that ripen is becuase of the begningless chainreaction of karma, since the conditions for the first seed to ripen is caused by previous seeds. Begningless but not endless. Karma is the cuase for karma? So in all this, how do we make any choisec about what to do. If its all karmic loops that repeats themself. If I kill its more likely that I will kill again, maybe not in this life but one day in some life I would do it again. To avoid this I purify karma. So that this "habit" of killing doesnt continue. But on the other hand the reason to why I purify my karma is becuase I accumulated enough merits to relize that this is what I have to do to get rid of the suffering. So its still all karmic seeds playing out against eachother. So the everchanging "I" is the experiencer of the karmic game, or "I" IS the karmic game. No game no I(Ultimetly no game or I though). So what is will? What is free will? What moves the will? The will to purify and practise to eventually reach enlightenment. Is it karma that moves the will? If I want to kill, is this because of the ripening of a karmic "habit" from killing previously. Or is my will to kill the cause for the karmic seed to ripen, the karmic seed that "makes" me kill? Does that mean that its the will that makes things happen, whith karma as a tool? If I want to reach enlightenment I set my will to it, and if there is enough karma to make that happen, it happens. I hope these questions makes sense. The more I think about karma the more I relize that its bigger then just cause and effect, or maybe its just that I was unaware of the huge effect each action of body, speach and mind has on oneself and the people and world around you.
i didnt want to confuse myself. in the beginning of return to the garden she talks about how we have to analyze things and we've lost touch with the garden, i totally agree with what she's saying but i'm not good at repeating.. i used karma on my cousin we were playing mario kart and i told him that since i let him pass me wink wink i got a star and i think it also distracted him
Yours is a question that comes to every new student of vedantic philosophy. My Gurudev explained it thus. Your karmic position is on a two dimensional plane. The direction in which you move is determined by two coordinates. One of them is your karma, maturing fmor past deeds, accumulated over so many lifetimes. This will move you one way or the other. The other coordinate is your own will. You have no control over circumstances, but you have control over your mind. Complete control over the mind. Thus you have a say in your future. Simply put, the effects of karma are not lived out in your thoughts, they are manifested in circumstances outside your control. Your thoughts depend upon the tendencies you have accumulated over lifetimes, but these tendencies, called vasanas in vedic literature, can be controlled by you, their nature is in your hands, so long as you can recognise this fact and do something about it. The fact that you are asking these questions is the result of karma, in the form of people you have met, things you have seen etc, having an influence leading you here. But it is also the result of your own thought, of your own mental machinations. Why is it that not everyone exposed to the same situations has the same reaction to it...That part is in their hands. It is controlled by the mind, which in turn can be controlled by you. Most people however dont recognise the fact that their mind is controlling them and not the other way around. You must watch your mind, with unceasing vigilance, observe its tendencies, its likes and dislikes, grow wise to its little tricks. Then you can start to train it, to rid yourself of vasanas that are harmful to you, to nurture vasanas that are conducive to spirituality. Do not make the error of lapsing into fatalism, that will only bind you in the karmic web forever. Recognise that your future is very much in your hands. Tomorrow is affected by yesterdays deeds and todays choices. What you do here and now is in your hands. Use it well to build a beautiful tomorrow. Hari Om Tat Sat.
Bhaskar: But isnt vasanas also karma? As far as I could understand vasanas they are the same as tendencies or habits, yes? According to what I believe that I have been thought habits is also karma. But as you said, that doesnt change the importance of cultivating "good" habits/tendencies/vasanas. Good in the sense of them leading you to true happiness. Maybe this is will? Wanting happiness. The first step is just to relize that its happiness we want. Thank you for your answer, it made me think and reflect. I love it when that happens Loveflower: Yes, we do tend to overanalyze things . I mean we already know everything. Its not the ansers we have to come up whith, its the questions. The answer is there wheter we are here to figure it out or not. "The truth is out there"
Karma. It isn't a justification for doing wrong, it is merely a statement of conservation of moral momentum. That said, one must therefore strive to ensure that good karmic seeds are created an evil seeds uprooted. Life is a balance. In all this display of duality called life there will seemingly occur both positive and negative results from any action. For instance the good of creating a factory which will employ hundreds might similarly destroy a fragile ecosystem and pollute. So how do we know what is right action? The way to know right action is through the guidance of ones religion. And through the intuition. The real guide is the upa guru or guru within. We all can follow spontaneously the course of right action if we hear our own inner voice. But what of reason which can be used to justify any possible act? The fact is that right action springs forth easily and reason is what complicates. For instance, one feels to give the beggar a few bucks but then reason sets forth, get a job, I need this money and so forth. Truely, giving the beggar a few bucks is very righteous action which no holy person can complain of, and keeping the money is selfish, but also right in its reasonable way. But the right thought was intuited and forsaken. The seeds of good karma exist in the spontaneous outpouring of intuition towards goodness. The seeds of goodness sprout towards the light of goodness, and they know their way spontaneously. One doesn't need a code or creed until they have forgotten what color the light of the sun of goodness really is. And then the path back towards it is to listen to the still silent voice within. The voice of goodness. This is all that needs to be known about karma. Kleshas, vasanas, and so on are for the reasonable. Spontaneously listening to ones heart is the path of goodness. This is The Path. It may also go against the religion or government or any other authority. Listen to the upa guru, the guru within.
Beloved child of the divine, Hari Om! Whenever we perform an action, or experience some experience, which we do every single moment, it creates a vasana or an impression on the mind, it also creates a karmic reaction that has to be lived out. Karma cannot be escaped, it cannot be changed. Once done is done, we have to face the consequences. Vasanas on the other hand are in our control, or can be brought ot our control. Some vasanas dont surface, they die out, others become strong, compelling desires. Vasanas can be sattvic, rajasic or tamasic, but all of these are like smoke screens that cloud our divinity. In order to get rid of vasanas, we must live out the old ones without creating new ones. This done by karma yoga. A true karma yogi performs his duties, his dharmas, with the full knowledge that he is not the doer, that it is the infinite supreme self working through him, that he is only an instrument, as everything else is also. Every act of a karma yogi is worship, everything he does is prayer. While he does his duties, he is freed from the karmic results and no vasanas are created. his is because it is done without a sense of doership, the karmaphalas are dedicated to the lord. Disclaimer - Merely saying I dedicate these results ot the lord, doesnt work. It must be done truly, in the depth of your heart of hearts.
Here is a link to a very enlightening essay on karma by Sri Aurobindo http://www.miraura.org/lit/sa/reb/reb01.html
