How Does The Law Of Karma Work?

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Everything that you can see and experience through your five senses in this life is all a reflection of your past-life accumulated karma.

Eg. your parents, your grandparents, the house you live in, your job, your degree, your qualification, everything reflects your past-life accumulated karma, for they are the “effects” of your past-life “causes” (karmas).

The seeds of new karma are sown based on your ‘inner intention’ at the time of experiencing the effects of old karma. They are the causes or the ‘karma’. Eg. When one intends, “This hotel food is so yummy! I would love to eat that food’, a seed of karma is sown.

Karma is caused every moment to moment in life. And when the life ends, the Soul, along with all karma (the causes), leaves from the physical body and goes onto form a new body. The karma brought forward from the past life lie stockpiled onto the Soul and they are called the ‘Accumulated Karma’ or Sanchit Karma. Now, as and when in this life, each of the accumulated karma gives its fruit one after another, we experience its ‘effect’ in our life. This is what is called ‘fate’ or the Prarabdha Karma. In the above example, when it’s time for the karma to ripen and give fruit in this life, one is inspired to eat the hotel food and the act of eating happens.

People generally believe that karma means going to work, performing meritorious deeds, doing charity and religious activities, etc. The Enlightened Ones however call this karma-fal (fruit of karma or the effect).’ Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, “Starting from being in the mother’s womb to all the way to the cemetery, everything one does; it is all an Effect. It is all mandatory.” Thereafter, the law of karma gives a further effect of the karma, which is ‘the effect of effect’ or the kriyamana karma. Eg. On eating the hotel food, one ends up becoming sick, having dysentery.

Let’s consider one more example to understand the cause and effect of karma.

Suppose Mr. X is an engineer in this birth. It is because in the past birth, Mr. X intended something like, “My friend is an engineer. See how he is minting money. I wish I could be an engineer.” Therefore, even if people push Mr. X into becoming a doctor in this life, he would become an engineer only. It is because of the strong intention he had in his last birth. Ever imagined how today’s toddlers are able to unlock the smartphones and use mobile apps even before going to school! It is a reflection of their past life accumulated karmas!

From The Effects, One Gets A Reflection Of His Past-Life Accumulated Karma

But due to ignorance, while experiencing the effects, one does raag-dwesh (gets involved in feelings of attachment and hatred). This further creates new seeds of karma, the effects of which one will have to suffer when they will mature in the next life.

From this, we get to understand that we don’t need to focus on the causes made in the past birth, as the law of karma will naturally bring its effects to us in this life. We actually need to be aware of the causes we are making now in this life, as they will be the reason of our suffering in the next birth.

Eg. when someone insults us or causes any loss or damage to us, we instantly feel the other person is at fault, isn’t it? We feel hurt, become furious, blame the other person and harness bad intentions. This is how we sow new seeds of karma. Therefore, Gnani enlightens us about the many ways in which we can improve and even stop sowing new karma in every instance. Let’s have a look..

1. Be in the company (satsang) of Gnani: Gnani keeps us constantly aware that the person who insulted us is only an instrument to deliver the effect of our karma. We ourselves had accumulated the cause karma of receiving insult in our past life, which has resulted as an effect in this life. Hence, this insult is the result of our own karmas. With this awareness, we will not sow the seeds of new karma, as a result of which we will not have to suffer on this account.

2. Every night introspect wherever you missed the awareness. For each such instance where we put the blame of our karma onto others, we shall pray to the God residing in the person we blamed, “I made a mistake by blaming you, when actually it was the effect of my own past-life karma. Please forgive me and give me strength so that I do not repeat this mistake.”

3. Every morning, do this prayer to God. “Oh God, may no living being be caused the slightest hurt through my thoughts, speech or action.” This is a very pure intention, which when harnessed every day, will lead us to the path of liberation from all karma.

4. The highest nine intentions. The following intentions too, when harnessed daily, will help bring about the best reflection in our next life, and make us pure in our interactions.

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• Oh God! Please give me supreme strength to not hurt nor cause anyone to hurt slightest ego of any living being. Please give me the supreme strength to conduct my speech, thoughts, and actions in a manner such that no living being’s ego gets hurt at all.

• Oh God! Please give me supreme strength to not hurt, nor cause someone to hurt to the slightest extent, the foundation of any religion. Please give me the supreme strength to conduct my speech, thoughts, and actions in a manner such that the foundation of no religion is hurt at all.

• Oh God! Please give me supreme strength to not criticize, offend, or insult any preacher, monk, nun or religious head.

• Oh God! Please give me supreme strength to not dislike or hate, nor cause someone or encourage anyone to dislike or hate, any living being at all.

• Oh God! Please give me supreme to not speak nor cause someone or encourage anyone to speak the slightest of harsh or hurtful language towards any living being. If someone happens to speak harsh and hurtful language, please give me the strength to speak soft and kind language only.

• Oh God! Please give me supreme strength to not indulge into, nor cause someone or encourage anyone to indulge into, slightest of sexual sins, desires, gestures or thoughts for any living being, be it male, female, or of neutral gender. Please give me the supreme strength to remain free of sexual impulses and passions forever.

• Oh God! Please give me supreme strength to not get engrossed in any particular taste. Please give me the supreme strength to consume food that has a balanced taste.

• Oh God! Please give me supreme strength to never criticize, offend, or insult any being, who is present or absent, living or dead; nor cause someone or encourage anyone to criticize, offend, or insult such being, to the slightest extent.

• Oh God! Please give me the supreme strength to become an instrument for the salvation of the world.

5. Attain Self-Realization. This will help put a permanent stop to sowing new seeds of karma. Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, “Fruit of good intent is sweet and fruit of bad intent is bitter, and if one becomes free from good and bad intents, he attains the state of the Absolute Supreme Self (Parmatma).”

Living Gnani can make us free!

How? He, through his divine powers, removes us from the darkness of ignorance and gives us the light of the knowledge of the Self (Self-Realization). Thereafter, He teaches us the mechanism through which we can prevent sowing new seeds of karmas. Following his teachings, as each of our remaining past-life accumulated karma will get totally discharged without any new seed of karma being sown, we will attain the ultimate liberation (Moksha) from all karma forever.