WHY DO GOOD PEOPLE SUFFER? - 4
Question: Could you explain this law of karma?
Answer: The law of karma, simply stated, is the law of cause and effect. My Beloved Master referred to the law of karma as the law of the seed. As you sow, so shall you reap. You cannot sow thrones and reap apples. The law of karma is universal in its application: it applies equally to all. We are sowing seeds everyday in the field of life. Every thought that I think, every word that I utter, every deed I perform, every emotion I arouse within me, every feeling, fancy, wish that awakens within me, are seeds I am sowing in the field of life. In due course, the seeds will germinate and grow into trees, and yield fruit, - bitter or sweet, - which I shall have to eat. No one else can do that for me. There are causes that produce their effect immediately. There are other causes that produce their effect after a long time. As an example, if you go to a party and overeat, it is a cause you have created. This cause produces an immediate effect, - acute indigestion. There are other causes which take very long to produce their effect. But every cause must produce its effect; every seed must yield its fruit. This in simple words is the law of karma.
We are told, all men are created equal. No one can be so blind or foolish as to imagine that there is actual equality of ability or environment or conditions of birth for all. Why, in the same family, all children do not have equality of ability or intelligence. There is a family of which the eldest son is an IAS officer and the younger is unable to pass the SSC examination. We have a proverb in Sindhi which says: “The mother gives birth to children, each brings with himself his destiny.” In other words, each one brings his karma with himself. There is a family of which youngest son is a multi millionaire, while the eldest is so poor that he and his children are virtually starving, literally begging for food.
Two questions arise:
1. Is this inequality the result of karma?
2. And if so, is it fair?
The answer to both, - as the great teachers of India have taught us, - is in the affirmative. You are the architect of your own destiny. You are the builder of your own life. Every thought, emotion, wish, action creates karma: and we have been creating karma for thousands, perhaps millions of years. If our thoughts, emotions and actions are benevolent, so called good karma results. If they are malevolent, evil or difficult karma is created. The good or evil we generate attaches its effect to us and remains in our life current until we have satisfied it by balancing it out.
Question: Why is our past karma kept a secret from us?
Answer: Don’t you think it is a great mercy of God that our karmic links are not known t o us> Else, it may be difficult for us to live in the world. Thus, for instance, there may be a man whose wife, in the present incarnation, was his bitter enemy in an earlier incarnation and had now become his wife only to settle previous accounts. If all this were revealed to us, what would be our condition?
Question: How did bad karma originate?
Answer: Man was given free will; he was given the right of choice. He can choose between what the Upanishads call preya and shreya. Preya is the pleasant: the path of preya is the path of pleasure that lures us but leads to our degradation. As a Danish proverb has it: “After pleasant scratching comes unpleasant smarting.” Shreya is the good: the path of shreya may, at first, be difficult to tread but ultimately leads to our betterment and well-being and spiritual unfoldment. At every step man is given this choice. Many of us, alas, choose the easy path, -the path of pleasure, - and so keep on multiplying undesirable karma.
Question: If all that happens today is the result of our past karmas, does it mean that everything is pre-destined?
Answer: No, certainly not! We are the architects of our own destiny. We are the builders of our future. Many of us blame fate, kismet for our misfortune. But let me tell you, dear friends, that you are the builders of your own fate. Therefore, be careful especially of your thoughts. We pay scant attention to our thoughts, believing that they are of no consequence. We say, after all, it was only a thought, what does it matter? Every thought is a seed you are sowing in the field of life, and what you sow today, you will have to reap tomorrow.
God has created a universe of beauty, fullness, happiness and harmony. Each one of us is a child of God. God wishes each one of us to be happy, healthy, prosperous, successful and to enjoy all the good things He has created. We keep ourselves away from all those bounties because of our karma. Change your karma and you will change the conditions in which you live. And you can change your karma by adopting a new pattern of thinking.
-to be continued.
