I was really compelled to express my gratitude towards a doctrine which changed my life forever, a doctrine which holds its existence from the time immemorial and still defines each and every of our actions, immaterial of our faith in it. The doctrine of Karma is a theory which controls this entire universe and as per me it is the best spiritual material a consistent mind can ever come across. Loads of material is there at internet and I could have cut/paste them here, but here I would try to explain this theory within the realms of my perception.
Starting from movies like Matrix to serials like Lost and till the speech of Steve Jobs at Stanford, innumerable times I have come across the term Karma being used in English society. Curiosity arose to know, what at all is there in this doctrine that westerners keep chanting it every now and then? This was the time when I first became interested in theology and did a comparative study
Rational minds often don’t believe in the existence of God. At a time, I too was unable to explain as to why someone dies of hunger while someone is wasting food just to satisfy his tongue. At one side a girl is torturously raped and on the other side a child dies of illness in front of its own mother. Why at all God is so partial and just to explain this thing, atheists take the name of chance/luck/nature.
So the basic question that bothers everyone is that if at all there is God, then why is he so partial/blind. Now let us leave this spiritual plane and enter the material plane. Material plane is governed by Newton’s third law which states that for each and every action, we are bound to get an equal and opposite reaction. If a ball strikes the ground then ground will also strike the ball. Tit for tat. This law holds universally, so further examples are not required
Now let us enter the reference frame of this world. If this world will create pollution then the world will have to suffer from global warming. If this world engages in world war, world only will suffer. Definitely, no one else would.
Consider the reference frame of society. If the society will not deal with crimes, crimes will increase and society only will suffer in the future. Once again, tit for tat.
At personal level, we can say that if you not take care of your health you only would suffer, no one else. If you would not study, you will fail. Here too, tit for tat.
So at all levels and frames, one has to reap what he sows and this exactly is the gist of Bhagwad Gita where Lord Krishna defines that one has to pay for its actions. Spiritual plane considers Karma at a much larger scale. Some of our actions are immediate in reciprocation. Many worldly actions are dealt in this world alone and we taste the results in our present life only. But spiritually good/bad Karma gets counted even after this life. If one helps a poor by giving him food/water/shelter, he would not get any help from that poor now as a reaction. His spiritually good action would for the time being give him satisfaction of self, but in later life he would be rewarded in a fashion so as to be more focused on attaining Moksha. A murderous dictator may die as a king but he would be penalized either in this life or the next. Here is why some persons are born handicapped, mentally challenged or utterly poor. They were destined to be born like this only, can anyone offer any other explanation?
But still what is the fault of a child if he dies of hunger, what is the fault of an innocent girl if she gets raped? Here is the answer. We have to consider the society frame now. We allowed corruption, loss of values, loss of order and did not raise a voice. We followed the policy that prevention is better than cure and hence restricted girls from going outside instead of dealing with perverts. So who would pay for all this? Obviously society and since that girl is a part of society, she had to bear the consequences. If society follows order, no one would die of hunger and no one would get persecuted. Short span of life of the child may be a result of many of his past actions or the present actions of society.
Gist is the same, sow good to reap good and do this at all levels. We have seen societies where no one died of hunger or no one got raped, it’s a matter of choice what kind of society we build in.
Newton’s third law of motion is the extension of Doctrine of Karma at material plane and since the third law is scientifically verified, why should a rational mind defy its application at all levels? The most interesting theory is yet to come and that is the theory of reincarnation which is a direct corollary of the Doctrine of Karma. This theory is unique to Hinduism alone and no other religion believes in terms like past life or the life after death. Not only in India, but even in the world, there have occurred innumerable instances where a person manages to remember his/her past life. I remember seeing one such case in a TV serial which even scientists failed to explain. So these continual occurrences all around the world further add to the credibility of this theory
4 comments:
the doctrine of karma is beyond the perception of a worldly man, but you have dealt with it quite meticulously
You have also cleared that these things are within my realms of understanding, would take some time to rspond to your post. wait till then
i would come to you once again to share my point of view
Good post. To use a different line of thought, the theory of Karma implies that one can not escape the consequences of one's actions or inactions. It explains - to some extent - as to why we are where we are, and helps us in getting to where we want to, by impelling us to perform some good karma, that would eventually help us reach our destination.
This is also an assurance to one and all that the outcome of our good deeds will eventually reach us, though there could be some delay in this happening. This way, one could be motivated to perform good deeds even in adverse situations.
As always, I'd say, Very Interesting. I specially liked the analogy between what the society is currently going through and the theory of Karma. Immensely logical and relevatory! Congratulations.
religious views apart.. I think the stuff you wrote bringing the scientific/rational point of view into purview was justified and interesting.
I otherwise did not find much else convincing enough. But some of your arguements are fresh and brilliant! :)
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