KARMA  (2)

What exactly is Karma? How does it happen?

Kar means action and ma means leading from. So karma means the effect or result of any action. In this case it is essential to understand that action does not only mean something that is acted out but everything you do. So all thought word and deed are action in the context of karma. Thoughts have the least karma and actions the most, but everything has a result and what is important is that everything has a cause.

Now it is this cause that determines the level of karma. Many of you have not understood the idea of free will. It is not doing something out of personal choice but it has everything to do with your will. When your will is completely free or absolutely liberated from all ties, bonds and chains that is true free will. Free will is therefore very different from choice. A choice means that you have exercised an option between two things or more than two things, but free will is when that option has been exercised exclusive of the limitations of these chains. These chains are many. They are the chains of your attitude, your nature, who you are, your social conditioning, your power to intellectualize, your tight rein on yourself, your inability to surrender and so on. When these chains work, then the choice remains just that, and does not become free will. So free will, you will now understand, is very rarely if ever really used by the human race as a whole, and yet it is the purpose of your existence. Your existence is to exercise this free will and act and say and think after going beyond these limitations. Whenever any action, thought or word comes out of these limitations it creates karma. When any action comes out of true and pure free will it results in no karma, because then the only result of this action is unity with the divine source of light. So everything is planned and yet not planned.

Q : I don’t understand the last bit.

My child, when we say that everything is planned you understand it erroneously. The planning is certainly there but your free will is still given to you. Let me explain this as I can see that you are not clear. It is planned that you fall in love with a person but then how you work out this plan is your free will or choice depending on whether your actions are in tune with your maker’s or in tune with your limitations. If they are in tune with your maker’s then the limitations of conditioning and society and psychological barriers will not affect you and you will walk the footsteps of the maker fearlessly. But if you begin to cling to the person, or treat him badly, or come completely under his power and control, or any such behavior, you have acted out of these limitations and you have created fresh karma. The love between you was planned but the exercise of that love was not. That can happen only in your physical form and that is why karma.

So does a murderer have to pay for his crime if there was a pre-plan?

That is a good example. X has killed you in a previous life. Now the plan in this lifetime is you have to work out your karma with X, and X wishes to make retribution for his past action towards you. So the plan of retribution is made and he comes to you in this life as your servant. Because of the past life connection you take a dislike to this servant, and because society permits it, you become a cruel master and make his life a living hell. Yes, that is X’s retribution but your karma is set because you acted out of choice and not free will. If it had been free will all limitations would have been set aside and you would have only seen god within your servant and given him that treatment. Remember one moment of true realization of god in another is enough to completely banish all karma. Is that more clear?

Q: How do your nature and social conditioning influence your karma?

Yes, your nature and social conditioning are very important hurdles in the way of free will. Your nature, your attitude, your characteristics have nothing to do with karma. So a gentle, kind man can have as many or even more karma than an angry, cruel man. Your natural characteristics are what you have allowed to stick to you. Everything can stick to you but what you allow to stick to you becomes you nature. So if you let anger stick to you will be hot-tempered, if you let compassion to you, you will be gentle, and if you let fear stick to you will either be a bully or a coward. So your nature has nothing to do with your karma but has everything to do with building up more or reducing them, because it is the cause of many of your limitations.

Social conditioning is another planned or pre-planned choice. How? You decide to become an Indian, an American, a Chinese, or whatever because that social structure is one you have chosen in order to perform your mission, and remember what I have said repeatedly --------your ultimate mission is unity with our Lord and there can be no unity when there is karma. So you (referring to one of the sitters)decided to be an Indian, a girl, and a Parsi, because you considered that this would help or hinder you to reduce your karma. Yes, my dear child, I did say hinder. Your higher selves are wiser and know that hurdles must be placed in the way so that you can leap upwards instead of always fixing your eyes downwards on the ground. So the social conditioning will help or hinder you, and it is very valuable because if you act or speak or think out of this you create karma, but if you leap over the hurdle you have jumped up closer to your Lord. Do you understand? So do not use these as excuses to excuse your actions. You know that if you act only out of your limitations, it is merely a choice and not free will.

Is everything clearer now? You all discuss very often about why there should be retribution if it is karma and preplanned. Do you understand why now?

Q: Is there anything like good karma?

It is very important to talk of good karma also. If you have done something good but done it out of these limitations again there is karma built, but it is from a good deed and so is called good karma. But is good karma beneficial to you in the long run? NO, because it is the absence of ALL karma that leads to unity. Good karma is caused because the good deed was done, not because you recognized another as god. True god realization was not present, but you did it, maybe out of compassion, but also because you wished to benefit from it, wither materially or spiritually. Ah, I surprised you my child. Yes, spiritually. Don’t you all do and say and behave in order to evolve spiritually. Isn’t that a gain you want? Is that complete god realization? Yes, it is very tough, but after several lifetimes of doing good for the purpose of spiritual gain you will understand enough to know that there is no such thing as spiritual growth…there is just god realization. Till then if the good deeds come out of these limitations, let them. They do serve a larger purpose of love and peace so do not be disheartened.

For free will the only thing essential is wisdom. Knowledge takes you to the limit of your limitations; wisdom goes beyond. When there is knowledge there is choice, when there is wisdom there is free will.