I have always been a bit hesitant to touch upon this subject looking into its vastness and depth. But one of my dear friends asked me to take a dip into it. The concept of Karma is a very complicated one. Before we jump into the theory of Karma, I would like to explain what is karma with my limited knowledge.
A word of caution to my viewers is that this answer is going to be very long since I am dealing with philosophy here.
The concept of Karma is derived from Hindu philosophy and extensively explained in Bhagavad Gita. Karma means action. The word karma is derived from the Sanskrit root kri, which means to act, do, or make. Karma is any kind of action, including thought and feeling. Karma is not limited to physical actions or deeds. Our wish, though, feelings are also termed as Karma. For example, blessings, boons, bane, curses, and desires also qualify to be karma. When you think bad or curse someone it affects your mind and body as well as that of the other person. Similarly, when you think good about someone it has a positive effect on both the person.
Can the effect of karma carry forward to the next birth? I do not know. But it can definitely carry forward to the next few generations. Suppose you plant a mango tree your future generations will also be able to enjoy the fruits. So the effect of your good Karma will extend up to the next generation. Do something bad that will also possibly carry forward.
It also means the effects of action. Karma is both action and reaction, the metaphysical equivalent of the principle: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
As per Indian philosophy Karma, yoga has been given the highest place above Gyan & Dharma yoga. One would be able to follow Dharma - once you know your Dharma, you achieve Gyan. And only when you achieve Gyan(wisdom) you will be able to understand Karma and follow Karma yoga. Let me give a small example…
For a student doing the study is Dharma. When does his Dharma acquires knowledge or wisdom (Gyan) to do the right action or Karma ( for example to do the job of an engineer, doctor, teacher, or lawyer )? Wisdom is far beyond bare knowledge. Wisdom is the art of applying knowledge – when, where, how, and how much. People are assessed for their Karma - right or wrong, good or bad. It is only Karma that has an effect. Dharma & Gyan in itself doesn’t have any effect till such time it manifests into action.
Dharma Yoga, some call it Bhakti Yoga (devotion, spirituality) is not itself the destination. These are simply paths to find your true self or to attain your goal. Most of us mistake the path as the goal. Now suppose you have become an accomplished doctor, this was an intermediate goal, not the final one. Your final goal could be to earn money or to serve the society. For that choosing medicine is a path, so being a doctor is your Dharma. But suppose you don’t practice medicine, what is the use? By Dharma – you are a doctor, you have the wisdom of medicine, but you are not doing your Karma. So Dharma & Gyan become important only when you do your Karma. Externalities like wearing an apron, stethoscope, or knowing medicine don’t make you a doctor till such time you do your Karma means practicing medicine.
Similarly doing a master's & Ph.D. in economics alone doesn’t make you an economist. Knowledge about your Dharma doesn’t make you Dharmik till such time you practice your Dharma. It is true for all aspects of life – music, philosophy, science, sports everything. Your knowledge of religious scriptures, your attire, or even following the rituals doesn’t make you a true follower of any religion. At best superficially you could claim to be Hindu or that matter follower of any other religion in terms of externality which is as good as wearing an attire – it is not even your skin forget about your whole self.
Most of us fail in our chosen path or profession, Dharma, because our devotion, love, or passion are spurious or superficial. No amount of degrees alone could make you Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Vivekananda, Kalidasa, Leonardo da Vinci, Tagore, Albert Einstein, Raman. In fact, many of them were not even formally educated in their respective field. They achieved success because of their unconditional submission and devotion to their chosen path. All of them are famous because of their Karma. Dharma (path) and Gyan will lead you in the right direction to do your Karma. So all three have to be aligned. When they are aligned, they become one- inseparable core. And when you achieve this, you reach inner bliss. One achieves divine pleasure in whatever he does. They don’t have to do anything separately, love flows out of them automatically. They get transformed, become live wire, and you become electrocuted the moment you come into their proximity. In an ultimate sense, many of them become selfless. In fact, unless you reach that stage of selflessness doing great Karma is not possible.
Most of us do Dharma, Gyan, and Karma for selfish reasons and self-consumption. This is where we commit “Karma Dosh”. The effect of the same could follow us in the next birth as well, and we keep on blaming God or Destiny. But as I said one can not escape the effect of Karma. We face inexplicable happenings or events that occur in our lives, and we don’t find any apparent explanation as to why such things happen to us. This happens because we don’t focus on doing the right Karma. Doing the right Karma is possible only when you know your Dharma, because only after following your Dharma does one gain wisdom for doing the right Karma. Word or caution – Dharma is not about externalities, it's not about taking a bath, it's about getting sunk/soaked into it to the core-love it, submit yourself to your path.
We can fake it with our external attire. But the inner core remains unchanged. We wear saffron or white or green – but we do not adopt the virtue of sacrifice, love, peace, compassion, or forgiveness, we do not give up our anger, greed, and lust. Without doing that our submission or devotion is not complete. We may still gain some knowledge about the scriptures and rituals in an academic sense, but not wisdom. And unless we gain wisdom, transformation is not possible, we will never be able to do right Karma. And we will inevitably falter. And there is no escape from the effect of bad Karma.
Every Karma has to have its effect, reaction, or counteraction. At times we can see the reaction and at times we may not be able to see the reaction. But there is no denying that every action must have its effect or reaction, it may take years to see the effect. Suppose you plant a seedling of a flower you would get the result quickly, however, if you plant a sapling of a mango, it will take years to grow and bear fruits. The tree would keep on giving fruit much after your death, the next generations may enjoy the fruits. Similarly, for certain Karma, the effects could manifest much later or could follow you in your next life even, still such time the effect of the Karma dies down.
Many religions believe in life beyond life. Even in real-life scenarios suppose you create an institution or organization - which could live for hundreds of years. We can not change our past Karma – so good or bad whatever has to happen will surely happen. But we can surely correct our Karma in the present life. Correcting our Karma is important for our present as well as for future life.
We have discussed the above taking into consideration our Karma alone. Whereas many a time the results are the outcome of simultaneous other Karma as well. Suppose in cricket you are batting, now the results don’t entirely depend on your Karma alone since the bowler is also doing his Karma. So the effect or the counter effect could be the result of multiple sets of actions together. In such a case explanation of the law of Karma could be a little complex. Suppose you hit a six in one particular ball, in the next moment the bowler could ball a masterpiece and you get out despite your best defense. Or the fielder at slip misses a catch. So one may or may not get the expected result or may get an unexpected result because of multiple Karma together. But the law of Karma works.
However, the people who are devoted to their Dharma & Karma keep on working irrespective of the result. Failure does not dissuade them from their Karma, they take failure and success in equal strides. They are poised under every condition. Sthitaprajna is a Sanskrit term used to define such people which means “contented,” “calm” and “firm in judgment and wisdom.”. In the Bhagavad Gita, sthitaprajna refers to a man of steady wisdom. He is free from motives and ego. He who does is Karma without thinking of results. It is exactly in this light I would like to quote the following.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse: 47
The verse is—
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥ २-४७
Karmanye vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana,
Ma Karmaphalaheturbhurma Te Sangostvakarmani
You have the right to work only but never to its fruits.
Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.
I have already explained in the above section that the result is not entirely because of our Karma alone, it could be the cause and effect of multiple Karma. In the war of Kurukshetra, the result was not decided purely by the might of Pandava, Lord Krishna played a big role also so many events during the battle were already decided by the past Karma – like the chariot wheel of Karna got stuck on earth because of his earlier Karma. You will find so many such incidents in Mahabharata, the law of Karma has been extensively described there, where every incident is connected to something from the past or future. Not only Mahabharata, you pick up almost any ancient epic, you will get references to the law of Karma.
Suppose you are working in an office- what you would be doing or not doing is already predecided. So you are not entirely responsible, nor in your control nor you are entitled to take credit or discredit. Further many functions are teamwork. Now what you could do best is to do the job(Karma) with all sincerity and dedication. So, doing our Karma is in our hands. Now you could extend your Karma as well by taking additional responsibility, and extra work. All these could lead to promotion, which would allow you to do Karma in a better way because you are moving closer to the decision-making process. So, you are enhancing the domain of your Karma by getting closer to the leadership position. What happens when you bring yourself closer to power – you derive power from the source, system, or boss to do your job (Karma) in a better way? But these are not your power, you are using the system's power, so the result doesn’t belong to you. You can take satisfaction in doing your job to the best of your ability. However, most of us make the mistake of thinking of ourselves as powerful and misuse the power entrusted to us. This is where our downfall starts.
Similarly, all our power is derived from the Supreme Being, we don’t have anything of our own like the job. You are paid to do the job, you go empty hand there and come out an empty hand. Well, you get some pension, some retirement bonus – in life, those are the effects of our Karma, our bank balance. If you have done good Karma, your bank balance could carry forward to your next life in case you have a big balance. But if you have done bad karma, then it could carry forward to the next life in case you have a big negative balance. The loan must be repaid. It doesn’t end with our life.
For God, it is like transferring you from one location to another location or one post to another. You are not relieved from duty or life cycle till such time you are truly connected to the Supreme being. That’s the reason the saints talk about “Nirvana” getting free from the endless cycle of Karma. Now, this is a stage beyond Karma Yoga – only a few can reach this level, and they are the enlightened ones. The earthly pleasure of sorrow or sadness does not affect them. They are beyond our understanding. They are eternal sources of endless bliss and delight. You will find most of Swamiji’s names end with “Ananda”. Though how many of them could actually delight you is a different matter.
We do exercise to build up muscle which can be seen from the outside. But it also builds up our internal strength improving our digestive, respiratory, neuromotor function, memory, blood circulation, concentration, confidence, etc. Which couldn’t be seen from outside. But most of these effects are limited to yourself unless you help somebody or harm somebody with your physical power.
Similarly, when we exercise the power of love, compassion, and forgiveness we derive infinite strength. You become stronger internally and you get infinite strength externally. You get transformed internally, you become the source of endless love & compassion. You derive the power of love from the Supreme Being, you get connected to the Supreme Being – the endless source of energy. It is like getting connected to the electricity Grid. When you start loving everybody, every life in whatever it may be – God keeps on supplying uninterrupted power to you. You get dissolved in the Supreme Being, unified. Nothing is yours, neither your victory nor your failure. You surrender everything to God. Whatever you get is transmitted to humanity. One could reach this stage when one gets devoid of lust, greed, and anger.
Your one touch could heal a thousand pain, and make people forget their sorrow. When a child goes to his mother, all his pain vanishes with one touch like magic. It acts like a magnet. This is the power of selfless love. The same power could be felt when you come into the proximity of a saint – it is much more in enormous form because the love is for the entire humanity. You often see a divine glow in pictures of God, which is more of a symbolic form. I would try to explain it further. Possibly many of you are aware of the concept of “Aura” According to spiritual beliefs, an aura or human energy field is a colored emanation said to enclose a human body or any animal or object.
When you get angry, it not only gets manifested in external appearance but it affects your internal system, your behavior and decisions could be irrational. People would want to stay away from us. But if we are very glad our entire system will be relaxed, we will be rational in behavior and our decision-making capacity will be at best. It will have a reflection on our faces, people will feel good talking to us. We will wear an aura of positivity around us, a field of positive energy that radiates around us. The more you cultivate this positivity, the energy field gets stronger and the more people are attracted to you. You act like a magnet. This has been proved in metaphysics. You would be knowing that every living object radiates some kind of energy/heat. Which could be captured by using a thermal camera. A thermal camera can detect a living object within a 2 KM distance.
Back in 1970, Guy Coggins built a camera that could capture people’s auras, otherwise known as the electromagnetic field surrounding the body. There are supposedly about 100 of these cameras in existence, and one now belongs to Christina Lonsdale of Radiant Human, who goes on tour with her mini geodesic dome, photographing people’s radiant energy on Polaroid film. The portraits are stunning, strange, and so cool—thanks to a double exposure that first takes a portrait and then the aura. Where different color signifies different characteristics.
THE RADIANT HUMAN TAKE ON COLOR THEORY
RED -Strength, Will Power, New Beginnings, Leadership, Action, Practicality, Passion. Reds are encouraged to get plenty of exercise and get into nature to achieve balance. Heavy and dark typically indicate low energy.
ORANGE -Creative, Confident, Independent, Collaborative, Excellent People Skills, Loves Challenge. Can be emotionally aloof, so to revive orange energy get into the water, or visit a river or ocean. Orange is usually found in entrepreneurs, successful salespeople, or those who work with many people.
TAN - Detail Oriented, Cautious, Logical, Strategic, To-Do Lists, Highly Intelligent.
Tans make great planners and work well with structure. It is recommended that tans visit natural wonders or watch/read inspirational biographies to avoid getting stuck in a limited train of thought.
YELLOW -Optimistic, Enthusiastic, Open-Minded, Loves Variety and Freedom, Generous, Playful, Whimsical. Yellows provide an atmosphere where people are comfortable being themselves.
GREEN -Growth, Goal-Oriented, Determined, Focused, Ambitious, Competitive, Perfectionist. Greens' worst enemies are themselves, often holding themselves back. They are encouraged to identify and be accountable for what they want: They should write it down, and go for
BLUE - Depth of Feeling, Trust, Devotion, Loyalty, Nurturing, Personal Relationships, Supportive, Intuitive, Sensitive.
Singing in a choir (one voice of many), attending or taking part in theatre, or any water activity like sailing, paddle boarding, etc., will help this color feel more connected.
PURPLE -Visionary, Unconventional, Non-Judgmental, Playful, Loves to be Inspired, and Delight Others. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, purples must trust in their vision and share it with others. Keep a journal.
WHITE -Higher Consciousness, THE SOURCE, Destiny, Intense Energy, Cosmic Wisdom. Congratulations you’ve made it!
Now, these are simply analyses. When you work on your inner self the aura color could be changed as well could be extended. That means through your karma you could control the aura. This energy field affects the other person. So when you think good about other people, it reaches him, affects him. And when you think bad about somebody then also it reaches him and affects him. This is where the importance of blessing and curse is. This is just the power of thinking and feeling, just think what is the power of touch. You don’t even have to say anything – just hold your hands, keep your hand on someone's shoulder or head, or just give a hug. You could change their world. This is where lies the power of the spoken word. Because the words come from your thoughts. So to clean your deed you have to clean your thought and to do that you have to follow the correct path (Dharma) and earn wisdom (Gyan). It is this Gyan that will purify your thoughts and make you ready to do your Karma.
This is the same as modern-day production theory. If you want a very excellent product then you have to have the best of everything from raw materials, people, machinery, processes, product design, technology, skills, environment - temperature, pressure, humidity, air quality, and finally product packaging and marketing.
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