by
H.H. Sri Swami Chidananda
World President
The Divine Life Society
The Law and Its Implications
The Threefold Karma
Man � The Builder of His Destiny
Breaking the Bondage of Karma
The Law of Karma and God�s Justice
Glorious Immortal Atman! The subject of "Karma and Reincarnation" is one that merits the careful consideration and the intelligent perusal of everyone, for herein lies an exposition of a law which governs our existence in this universe. People are often apt to make loose reference to this subject as "the Indian theory of Karma" or "the Hindu theory of reincarnation". This is a misnomer. It is not the evolution of a theory with which we are concerned, but the revelation of a law. It is interesting to note that this law is not the especial possession of the people of the East, but is at the very origin of all religions, and is commonly held by practically every religion of the world. Therefore, it is not a Hindu law in the same way that the law of gravity is not Newton�s law. Newton had no claim upon the law � it did not belong to him � he was merely the one who observed its workings and declared it. Similarly, the principle of Archimedes is neither a Greek law nor a Greek invention. It did not commence working when Archimedes discovered it. It was eternally in operation, and in the same way, the Law of Karma and Reincarnation did not have a beginning in the East. It was eternally in existence. The law was operating already when some sage or seer at a particular time in the history of mankind realized it, or had it revealed to him in deep meditation, and then declared it to mankind.
Now, the working of this law was revealed in deep meditation to the Hindus long ago. One may ask: "Why should modern, advanced people of the twentieth century bother about this law? It may perhaps have been interesting to the Hindus centuries ago, but how can an ancient law have any practical bearing on the modern world?" First of all, it is not a Hindu law. The Hindus had nothing to do with it. It is God�s law; God created the laws that govern the universe. Also, it is not an ancient, outmoded law, which is no longer effective, but a universal law, which is eternally effective. It is the law of God Himself.
Biologists discovered long ago that respiration was essential for physical life. Now, one cannot say that this fact is of no further interest, just because the fact was brought to light long ago. Man cannot dispense with respiration as long as he is a corporeal creature; breathing only will sustain his physical life and oxygen will be necessary. If oxygen is denied, he will die. The law remains effective and concerns him vitally.
The statement of this Law of Karma and Reincarnation is not a startling one, either. It does not require any special effort to be understood or accepted. Even now, this law is being recognized and accepted in deep conviction by great scientists and has been defined in terms which have been made familiar to everyone. According to their interpretation of the law, restricted to the plane of physical matter, every action has a corresponding reaction and every cause has an inevitable effect. Every chemist, every physicist, believes that this law operates in the external universe governing physical matter. This is the same law that was revealed to the seers of India long ago in the moral, ethical and spiritual planes. Just as in the world around us we see that every cause has its inevitable effect, and that every action brings about a certain reaction, so also in the moral and ethical realm, every cause brings about a certain effect; every seed sown bears a particular fruit or yields a certain harvest. The simplest statement of the law of Karma is "As you sow, so shall you reap". Interpreted by scientists and applied to physical matter, the law is "Every cause has an effect, and every action has a corresponding reaction". To this we have to add that every cause brings about an effect which, in its nature, tends to be similar to the nature of the cause, which produced it. This is a highly logical postulate. In India, there is a saying that the behaviour of the individual accords with the mind and, conversely, the nature of the mind accords with the deeds he has done in the past.
This great law of Karma holds many practical implications for the life of the human being and great many misconceptions have arisen about these implications. One of these misconceptions is that, since the law goes on operating in man�s life, the necessity of guiding his own actions is obviated. Since whatever happens will happen in accordance with the law and is all inevitable, how can man act at all?
Now, as one sows, so shall he reap. The very statement of the law recognizes the agency of the human being. As it is man who sows in the field of action, so it is he who reaps the harvest of fresh seeds, which carry him forward into further action. If man is not a free doer, then the very law of Karma becomes absurd. This is a very vital point, which we have to understand. The Law of Karma does not make man just a puppet, helpless under the law.
The Hindus say that man suffers or enjoys under the law according to his Karma, and that neither suffering nor enjoyment can be escaped. How can this idea be reconciled with the idea that man has freedom? We have to understand the law in this way. There are dual factors working in each man�s life. One is the experience that the individual has to undergo, the pains and pleasures that come to him, the misfortunes that he has to suffer, the losses that he has to endure. These experiences are inevitable; they cannot be escaped; one has to undergo them all. But there is another factor, and that pertains to the actions the individual engages in. These actions are based upon the will of the particular individual.
Whereas he has no choice in the experiences he undergoes, he has choice in the doing of deeds. To this extent, he is a free agent. He may not be entirely free because of the many restrictions raised on this earth-plane, viz., social restrictions, tradition, etiquette, etc. It is unnecessary to enter any metaphysics at all to prove that man is not a totally free agent and that the Law of Karma also is there. Man cannot do anything he wants, but he can exercise his will; and in this exercise, man has freedom. He had no freedom, no choice, no alternative regarding life�s experiences, but he has choice, he has freedom to a certain extent regarding his will to act.
The actions that operate in the life of every individual according to this law have been divided into three categories. By applying the scientific law of cause and effect to the first category, it is seen that in a person�s life-time, some activities have effect immediately, some have effect after a few years, but some perhaps have no effect at all in this life-time. What happens to an action whose effect has not been worked out in this life? The potencies of such actions � the potencies of reactivity, as it were, of unresolved causes � go on accumulating in each individual�s storehouse of Karma. That is one category of seeds of Karma.
The second category is this. Out of the re-active stores, a certain supply is taken out to be worked out in the form of sweet and bitter experiences during a particular lifetime. That supply forms the seed, as it were, of experiences in that particular incarnation. That supply determines man�s birth and death � all that he weeps over, all that he suffers and enjoys. All that he experiences, in short, comes out of that part of the store of accumulated Karma. That is the second category.
And what is the third? In this earth-life, man goes on instigating action. He thinks in certain ways and he acts in certain ways and the activity of this particular earth-life is contributing towards the formation of fresh seed. Sometime in the future, he has to reap the effect of this activity. To what category does this fresh Karma belong? Naturally, it belongs neither to the experiences of this life nor the accumulated store. It belongs to a fresh batch, and this is the third category. In it are the activities of the present and it is referred to as "that which is being done" (Kriyamana) and also as "that which is to come" (Agami), because that which is to come is actually the product of that which transpires in the present. Therefore, there is the threefold Karma: the accumulated store, the experiences chosen for this particular incarnation, and that which is created in this life.
The actions, which are done in this life, have two distinct effects. One is the effect which is on this earth-plane, and this effect may be produced immediately, or tomorrow, or next week, or in ten years; but, the effect which this action produces on the mind is instantaneous. The mind immediately receives the impression of the nature of the action that is done. If a harsh and cruel act is committed, then the impression of harshness and cruelty is immediately etched upon the mind. Repeated impressions contribute towards the formation of distinct tendencies in the mind, and they build up and impart to the mind a particular quality. The sum-total of all qualities thus acquired by the mind through impressions, through these tendencies developed by it, becomes the nature of the individual. It is often called the character of the individual. The outward effect of action is not the main concern of the spiritual being, but the impression that the action creates in the mind is of vital concern to him. Why? Because, these impressions form the natural bent of the mental being and they portend what harvest will later be reaped.
Now, the sower has to return to his field if he has to reap his harvest and, in the same way, man has to return once again to this field of activity, i.e., to the earth-plane, in order to reap the harvest of his threefold activity. Thus, the soul returns again and again to work out the effect of its activity. As long as the causes in Karma are there, there is a necessity, by law, for them to be worked out. When man finds the way in which to act so that he does not create fresh causes, then perhaps, after a series of lives, the storehouse of Karma would become depleted and thereafter, in one glorious incarnation, he would find himself without any Karma at all at his back. This does not usually happen, because man never allows the pile to be reduced � it is ever being added to � and that is the great folly of man.
MAN � THE BUILDER OF HIS DESTINY
Is this great law a curse or a blessing? It is mixed. Ultimately, it is a great blessedness. People have a tendency to look at it from only one particular angle, and that angle is, that as long as a human being is bound to the wheel of this law, there is no happiness for him and he is miserable and he weeps. In this view, Karma will always plague man and the Law of Karma, like the hammer of God, will descend upon his head and inflict perennial suffering upon him. But, is it not clear that this Law of Karma is not actually just a law of retribution or punishment? There is another view, a glorious view, to be taken of it. Just as man cannot escape the results of his activity which are bad (for this, he has to reap tears and suffering), in the same way, he cannot escape his reward. The whole world cannot rob him of his deserved reward. The good actions of a person will follow him anywhere and will overcome for him the greatest difficulty and the greatest sorrow and give him the harvest of joy.
If properly understood, the Law of Karma is a law, which gives infinite hope. It says that man�s destiny is in his own hands. It says that what he shall be depends upon himself. He is the one to decide on the pattern of the experiences to come. No force has any power over him to coerce him into wrong action. He has to take care of how he behaves, how he acts and what thoughts he thinks. He is the master of his destiny. He is the architect of his fate. He has nothing to fear in this universe, nothing except his own wrong actions and thoughts. He has to say: "Who has the power to give me any experience that I do not choose to select for myself? No one on earth has the power to injure me, to bring sorrow upon me, to inflict destruction or evil upon me". Thus man takes infinite courage. He is determined to guide his own life into a future containing bliss and radiance. The Law of Karma gives him an inducement to sow the right type of seeds, to fashion all his activity along ideal lines.
It is this law which upholds the moral standard of this universe. Had it not been for this law, there would have been no inducement either to avoid evil or to embrace good. Both these lines of action spring out of this glorious law. Man knows that if he does not avoid evil, he will sow weeds and thorns. He knows that he should do good, because he will be the blessed enjoyer of the fruits of those good deeds. According to this view, the Law of Karma is not a doctrine of fatalism. On the contrary, it is a doctrine of high orderliness, serving as the basis of the moral order in the whole universe, and the attitude instilled into man by this law is fearlessness. It fills man with fearlessness and infinite courage and a great urge to be ideal and good and lofty in all his thoughts and activities. Man is thus revealed as the builder � having in his own hands the materials out of which he can build whatever he chooses.
Thus, the law ultimately implies that man can free himself from this wheel of birth and death by consciously avoiding all that brings him back into incarnation and by filling his life with ideal activities to refine his nature more highly, until ultimately a lofty stage is reached where the over-all goodness in his life bestows upon him the knowledge of his real Self; and once he attains to this knowledge, the Law of Karma comes to a halt. Bondage is broken. Why? Through their deep insight into the workings of the Law, the Hindus discovered that is was inoperative in the realm of the Soul. It is only in the realm of the mind and the body that this law operates.
Man lies within the jurisdiction of this law and remains bound to the wheel as long as he identifies himself with the mind and the body. The moment he breaks this attachment and detaches himself from this false identity, then he destroys this ignorance utterly and realizes his transcendence, his oneness with the pure spiritual Consciousness. The law cannot any longer touch that soul whose life has become illumined with the essential knowledge that he is neither body nor mind, but pure Consciousness. That is the way of stopping the Wheel of Karma.
One thing more I would like to tell you. This law is concerned not only with outward activity, but even with mental activity, for it is thought which is at the root of every action. Thus, every deliberate thought, of whatever kind, is actually included in man�s Karma, no matter whether it is given any outward physical expression or not. This has to be understood. In the Gita, we are given a very clear statement of the Law when we hear that as long as man continues acting as an egoistic individual, so long will he, casting aside one body, take up another body. It is like regular progression. We therefore say that it is like going to a school in which we progress from grade to grade until the learning process is complete and we graduate from that school. Ultimately, man must attain perfection and then only will he obtain freedom from this law and be liberated. Until that stage is reached, until he learns how to base his actions upon the Absolute and to adopt the pure ideal, he will have to take embodiment again and again.
THE LAW OF KARMA AND GOD�S JUSTICE
There are two or three questions about the cosmic form of this law and about the individual operation of it, which I will answer now. One is: "What is the relation between God and the experiences and actions of individuals upon this earth?" We have said that God does not create the experiences of the individual, but that his experiences are determined by the particular nature that he has acquired.
Now, all life is brought forth on the surface of this earth by the falling of rain, and so we may say, in one way (and rightly), that it is rain that causes all life. Now it also happens that when rain, the universal common factor as it were, falls and sets life into growth, the life that springs forth is not all of the same kind. Wheat sprouts up as wheat, corn sprouts up as corn, and grass sprouts up as grass � the rain did not have anything to do with it. Within each seed there is an inherent nature, which sets a different pattern in growth, though the rain is common and impartial over the whole of the earth. In the same way, it is the seed within one�s own nature, implicit in the thoughts that one thinks and the actions that one engages in, which determines the experiences one will have. According to the mind is the nature of the person determined at birth and, according to this nature are the fresh impressions of life to be received.
The second question I would like to answer is: "In the operation of the Law, is there justice?" Even though it seems that a doer of good deeds is not reaping happiness and that an evil-doer is very well off, one must know that there is not necessarily any causal connection between the type of life one leads and the type of experiences one undergoes. Effects are not immediately produced from causes; and the activity in which man is presently engaged may be considered as the fresh seeds he is sowing, whereas the experiences he is undergoing may be considered as the harvest of a previous sowing. There seems to be a contradiction, but actually there is no contradiction. A compassionate and holy person may give succour and refuge to a fleeing criminal and because he gave shelter to the fugitive, may himself be arrested and sentenced, notwithstanding all his protestations of innocence. People will inevitably jump to the conclusion that this man who acted like a true Christian, giving refuge to a fellow human being in distress out of compassion and charity, was yet made to suffer for his charity. It looks as though his sentence were the direct outcome of his sheltering the criminal. In fact, the police will tell you, the judiciary will tell you, and even death will tell you that because this man harboured a criminal he was condemned, but if we look below the surface, we will find that the juxtaposition of action and experience is only apparent and not real. The kind and compassionate action will be rewarded with blessedness in the future, and the sentence will serve as the reaction from some Karma brought forward from the past. The Law is very mysterious and we cannot immediately understand all its operations. Its simplest statement is "As you sow, so shall you reap". Every cause has an effect; every action has a reaction, which is of a like nature. This law is universal. This law operates in all human experiences. Therefore, live wisely in the alert awareness of this law and walk along the path of righteousness, the path of goodness. Lead an ideal life and reap a future of peace and bliss.
Footnote
This article has been extracted from the book "The Path Beyond Sorrow" which is a compilation of a series of lectures delivered by His Holiness Swami Chidananda in Canada in the year 1960.
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