Previously I used to think that people are rich or poor depending on the karma of their lives but after listening to your talks stating there is no karma then why is there such a differentiation in the people’s life. As I am listening to lots of your talks, I hear about you mentioning karma, how there is no sin or reward and punishment.
I don’t believe that God punishes us as he is God of Love and He does not judge us the way we humans think, But it makes me wonder, why is it mentioned in Indian scriptures and Bible that there is sin and he died on the cross for our sins and in our Hindu scriptures you do face consequences depending on your deeds.
So even in an ignorant state, what about humans who always try to do good deeds for human causes? Does it contribute to anything in spiritual progress if they genuinely do it with the intention of helping and not being carried away by others’ praises as I have met people who do good deeds for the sake of helping people.
If we go to the original sense of the law of karma, it simply refers an action deviating from the Divine Will or to put it in another way deviating from the deepest truth of our being, swabhava and swadharma. That is how Gita and the Isha Upanishad ultimately describe it. If we were to generalise it, since it is not easy to know the Divine Will, we may say that all that leads to the growth of Peace, Unity, Love, Wisdom, Harmony come from the Divine whereas all that leads to or creates chaos, disorder, confusion, disunity, division comes from the undivine forces. The Gita speaks of the law of action and consequences very simply connecting it to the mode of nature and its natural consequence. Thus, actions done under tamas or mechanically and unconsciously only create delusions in the mind, even if it be outwardly an apparently good action such as giving gifts or helping someone. Similarly actions created under the impulsion of rajas results in happiness and suffering. Actions under the impulsion of sattwa bring light of knowledge and inner joy and peace. Finally actions done to fulfill the Will of the Divine in ourselves and the world, in remembrance and surrender to the Divine bring the ultimate freedom or moksha.
The most important element that determines the quality or value of an action is the inner motive rather than the action itself. The knot of ‘sin’ therefore is selfishness and egoism as well as desire. Similarly the greatest of punishment is to be away from the Divine Presence in oneself due to the thick veils of the ego, even if outwardly one is the emperor of the three worlds. In fact it beings inner suffering because the more we deviate from the Divine, the more we miss upon the natural joy. Then to get this joy we often deviate further spiralling down into a vortex of darkness. Physical suffering is not any punishment. It comes to all due to imperfect nature of material life. But the suffering that follows wrong action, selfish actions is the inner suffering even amidst plenty. And this suffering is not a punishment but a sign to call us back to the truth from which we have deviated. The reward of right action aligned to the Divine Will is no outer riches but an increase in inner plenitude, in inner peace and harmony and joy.
This in short is the law of karma. To summarise, sin is to deviate from the Divine Will or the Truth within us through selfishness and egoism. Deviation from this truth is due to ignorance and desire. Suffering is not punishment but a reminder, a call to change, to align with the Divine Will in us. Reward is a growing inner closeness with the Divine which naturally brings Peace, Happiness, Light, Harmony and all the rest for which we struggle but never find.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
