Explanation Of Karma

In this talk, Ektaji explains the basics of Karma in a very practical and relevant way. This was recorded in a live session and you can not only listen to the teachings but also the back and forth discussion that was involved in the understanding.

Transcript

Salaam.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Right from the beginning,

From the beginning of this creation.

I'm not talking about the Big Bang,

I'm talking before the Big Bang.

What was there?

Nothingness.

Not even space.

Nothingness.

Can you imagine nothingness?

Nothingness.

It's emptiness.

It's not even emptiness because emptiness is actually an opposite of fullness.

We are not talking only of something that you have ever perceived with your five senses or anything that you can understand through this intellect.

It's nothingness.

That nothingness is still energy.

It's massive energy.

Unfathomable energy.

And that massive unfathomable supreme energy is called the Brahman.

Brahman in English is called consciousness or the supreme power,

The supreme energy.

It's not Brahma.

OK,

I am saying Brahman.

I'll spell it for you.

Brahman.

Brahman is the consciousness,

That nothingness.

Then what happens?

This nothingness existed.

Then what happened to that nothingness?

What happened?

What happened to that nothingness?

Who is someone?

There is no someone.

It's nothingness.

Do you understand nothingness?

Nothing exists.

It's just energy.

In that energy itself there was a vibration.

That is the big bang.

Within nothingness something came out.

So you can say that that Brahman from within its own self manifested Prakriti.

That which you look around and see.

This is Prakriti.

Matter.

So from Brahman came Prakriti and Purusha.

What is Prakriti?

I just told you.

Matter.

What is Purusha?

A little part of that energy which is with the matter.

Every little matter around you has little bit of energy.

If it's a moving matter it's kinetic energy.

If it is a matter that does not move,

Non-living item,

It is potential energy.

But there is energy.

You've studied physics.

You know what I'm talking about.

So every little piece of matter around you,

Even if it is one little millimeter of matter,

It is endowed with some energy and that is Purusha.

This is absolutely clear.

Brahman broke into Prakriti and Purusha.

This Prakriti is nothing but the five elements.

What are the five elements?

Earth,

Water,

Fire,

Ether and air.

What is ether?

Space.

There are only two words in English for Akasha.

It is ether or it is space.

It's the same element.

Prakriti is nothing but a permutation and combination of these five elements.

Somewhere the fire element is 99% and water element is 0.

0001 and air element is 0.

0025 and another is 0.

0025.

So what is that predominantly called?

Fire.

It is,

But even fire has the other four elements within it.

They might be in 0.

0001%.

Are you getting this?

Yes?

Everything around you,

Every human being,

Every animal,

Every living,

Every non-living object is a combination of both.

Purusha and Prakriti and in Prakriti he has the permutation and combination of the five elements.

Clear?

This is the basis of creation.

If this is clear,

After this it gets very easy.

When Brahman created this Prakriti,

It endowed Prakriti with four characteristics.

First is Dharma.

What is Dharma?

What is Dharma?

Nature.

Water has its nature.

It flows.

Fire has its nature.

Heat.

Every metal has its nature.

Every little thing that you look around has its nature.

Do you understand it now?

That is Dharma.

What is the nature of a human being?

Intellect.

Intellect.

Or Viveka what we call it.

A human being was endowed with intelligence over other parts of this Prakriti.

An animal,

An insect,

A butterfly,

All this were not given the Viveka that a human was endowed with.

So what comes with Viveka?

Freedom to choose.

Are you seeing this?

Does an animal have the freedom to choose?

No.

It is run by nature.

Nature tells the animal time to wake up.

Wakes up.

Flies around.

Nature says time to eat.

It hunts for food.

It eats.

Nature says time to have sex.

That's when it mates.

Not like us.

They don't have sex every night.

Are you seeing this?

They are run by nature.

Nature tells them when to eat,

When to sleep and they follow nature.

Now do you understand the meaning of Viveka?

That freedom to choose between right and wrong,

Good and bad.

That little freedom was given to humans.

Are you seeing this?

The basic nature of a human was to be able to exercise this freedom in a sensible manner.

Means I chose good over bad.

I am love.

I am compassionate.

These are all the basis of the human dharma.

Now do you understand why it went into,

Oh your dharma is to be a good person,

Your dharma is to be noble.

Do you understand now?

That's how we came to that.

But understand the basic logic under it.

Then only will this become very clear and established in your head.

Dharma is the first characteristic or quality for every prakriti.

What is the second?

Karma.

What is karma?

Action.

And we will talk more in detail.

There are three kinds of action.

Everything has action.

Just because I am a living being,

I am walking and talking,

It looks like I am doing action and this chair which is just sitting here is not doing action.

But it's wrong.

It's a wrong understanding.

It's an incomplete understanding.

Karma is just not acting like this.

Karma has much more under its gamut.

We will understand that in detail soon.

What is the third characteristic?

Any of you have done karma session with me before?

Prima.

Prima is love.

Love is the basis of this creation.

Love is not an emotion.

An electron,

Proton stay together.

Love.

Earth does not let you fly away.

It exercises its gravity on you.

It's love.

Water flows towards the mud.

It's love.

Birds are singing.

They are not singing so that you appreciate their voice.

It's love.

Everything is love.

Love is not just one emotion that you feel for your spouse or your kid or your mother or father.

We have reduced that big beautiful existence of this universe to one little silly emotion that I feel and I call that love.

Love is much more.

The crux of this creation is love.

The sun loves you.

It's giving you light.

It's going all around you.

However bad you are and however good you are,

The sun does not judge.

The moon is giving you its coolness.

It's giving you light in a dark night.

Everything is love,

Is prema.

Prema is the crux of this creation.

Even this attraction that you have towards money,

Towards another individual,

Towards things,

This is also love.

Why?

Finally,

Right at the beginning,

We were only that one ball of energy.

This ball of energy is now scattered into so many purushas.

The inherent thirst of these small little purushas or small little prakrtis is to go back to that ball of energy.

That is why we all love each other.

That is why we have attraction towards things also because finally we are one.

Are you understanding this?

If even a little part of your body breaks away,

How will you feel if your finger broke away?

Wouldn't you feel incomplete without it?

Wouldn't you have that thing that I want that finger back?

It's just like that.

We are a ball of that one single consciousness or that energy which has broken up like this.

And we are all attracted towards each other.

Everything,

Living,

Non-living,

What you can see and sometimes there are so many things in this room that you cannot see with your eye.

Where a cat can see,

We cannot see,

Sometimes in the dark.

Sometimes even bats can see what we cannot see.

You know this.

This is science.

So there are so many things here that are beyond the range of what my eyes can see.

Everything is just prakrti and purusha.

And everything wants to be together.

There is this love.

Why do we have this belongingness?

It's that inherent prema in all of us.

In everything it exists.

Now do you understand your love for objects,

Your lust for objects,

It comes from there really.

Are you getting this?

So prema is the third characteristic.

What is the fourth?

What have we been doing for so many weeks now and this course participants for four days?

And what are we doing in this?

Learning what?

So what is the basis of it?

Why are we doing it?

What is Gurudev trying to say here?

To learn about life together with peace of mind.

To become more aware of ourselves.

Awareness.

What is live in the present moment?

Increase my awareness.

What is be hundred percent?

Increase my awareness.

Are you seeing this?

If I am thinking that my happiness is in people's situations and things it's because externally I am lost.

I am not aware of who I am.

Are you seeing this?

Becoming more aware about myself.

And what is awareness called?

Gyanah or knowledge.

That is the fourth aspect.

Got it?

Gyanah is knowledge or awareness.

Not knowledge about this prakriti but knowledge about the self.

So everything in this prakriti was endowed with the ability to become aware of the purusha within.

Can you see this?

So beautiful na?

Everything and everybody in this prakriti was endowed with this gyanah.

The lucky enlightened people.

They go within themselves.

They meditate and that self awareness comes.

Self realization happens and that is what we call enlightenment.

Yes?

Swabhava gyanah.

Swa-self.

It has come from myself like Gurudev.

He was just meditating at the banks of the river and this kriya happened to him.

This is enlightenment.

A gyanah that comes from within.

Everybody is blessed with it.

We take our times to reach there.

Everybody takes their own time to get there.

But we all have it in us.

Gyanah to become aware or knowledge.

So you understand the four aspects that every prakriti whether it is living or non-living has been endowed with?

Yes?

Dharma,

Karma,

Prema and gyanah.

Now we will go deeper into karma.

So what is karma?

Who remembers from the video?

Three things he said.

Who remembers?

There are three.

Latent action and impression.

So one latent impression in the mind.

That is called Sanchita Karma.

Is there space to write now?

So first is Sanchita Karma.

Sanchita means?

Latent.

The word latent.

Latent means what?

Perfect.

That which is in a seed form and any day can sprout has the potential to manifest.

This latent,

The word latent.

That is the meaning of Sanchita.

Understood?

Yes?

So what is the meaning of Sanchita Karma?

When did I collect Sanchita Karma?

From the past.

Which past?

Just these 30,

40,

50,

60,

80 years that I have lived?

Past life.

Perfect.

Many lifetimes I have gone through birth and death and birth and death.

So first we will visit the topic of reincarnation.

This is not your first lifetime.

Though you do not know this,

But you have been born many times before and you will be born many times after this.

Unless you put in so much effort that you get enlightened in this lifetime.

Which is a big possibility.

And we should all aim for that.

But what happens at death?

Namrata had asked this question,

No?

When the body dies,

Does my mind also die?

You tell me.

What will happen?

When this body falls down and is dead,

Will the mind also die?

No.

Why?

Because only Prakriti died,

Not Purusha.

Perfect.

He is the only one who is paying attention in class.

No,

We are paying attention.

What am I?

I am a combination of Prakriti,

This body that you can see and the energy that is running this body.

That energy that is running this body is nothing but the Purusha.

And this 5-7 foot piece of flesh and blood and bones is Prakriti.

Including the organs,

Brain and heart is Prakriti.

Clear?

So there is this energy.

My Purusha is running this Prakriti.

I am a combination of Purusha and Prakriti.

At the end of 18-19,

If you are very lucky,

120-140 years,

What will happen?

This Prakriti falls off.

It dies.

But the Purusha moves on.

Mind is like a ball of energy.

It is an invisible ball of energy.

Can you see your energy?

You say I have a lot of energy today,

Don't you?

I will say show it to me.

Can you show it to me?

I don't have any energy.

What is this?

I have a lot of energy.

I don't have any energy.

This prana shakti in me can go up and down.

So what is mind?

Mind is that invisible energy that you are.

When the body dies,

This ball of energy moves on.

What is third law of thermodynamics?

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed.

So it is a ball of energy.

It cannot be destroyed.

At death,

Only the Prakriti falls off.

So now this ball of energy,

What happens to it?

It takes another body form.

So now you are carrying a ball or karma bag or karma bank or a karma ball,

Whatever you want to say.

It is an invisible bank that you are carrying with yourself.

You have created karma in the past life.

We will come to it how we created the karma later.

First let's understand the three types of karma.

I am still explaining Sanchita.

Are you all with me?

So I have a karma bank and I have created some Sanchita karma in my past life with some people.

Some of them are positive karma.

Some of them are negative karma.

You understand positive and negative?

So I have lots of good deeds I have done.

So I have lots of pluses in my bank and lots of bad deeds that I have done.

Lots of minuses.

So now this big ball or big bank I am carrying with me.

This determines what is going to happen in future.

So now we come to the point of how is this karma created?

How is karma created?

With that karma is not created.

It dissolves.

Karma is created.

Come on,

Many of you have done the session.

How is karma created?

The worship of the actions.

Attachment to the action.

Beautiful.

I am sure you are an Ashtavakra participant.

Take that as a compliment.

I do an action.

If I am attached to this action,

I create karma.

Simple mathematics.

The action in itself does not create karma.

The attachment to the action creates karma.

I am thirsty.

I get up,

I take a bottle of water,

I drink water and I put the bottle down.

Have I created karma?

Got it?

You do not create karma by these things.

You go to the bathroom ten times a day.

Do you create karma?

Bathroom karma.

No.

There is nothing like that.

Do you see what I am saying?

Action does not create karma.

Attachment to the action creates karma.

Now what is attachment?

Raga or dvesha.

I like this,

I want this,

I want this to be like this only.

This should be like this.

This is raga.

I do not like this.

This should not be like this.

This is wrong.

She is bad.

He is bad.

Raga and dvesha.

This equals attachment.

So now tell me how is karma created?

So give me an equation.

Attachment equals raga equals dvesha.

Give me a karma equation.

Action plus attachment.

What is attachment?

I do not understand.

Perfect.

So action plus raga is equal to karma.

Can you see it?

Raga or dvesha.

That is equation number one.

There are many equations.

Action plus dvesha is equal to karma.

You are not qualifying it but generalizing it.

Come bring it closer so that they can see.

So far clear?

It is so simple.

I like Ramesh.

I want to be with Ramesh.

I want to be with Ramesh only.

This is raga.

You have created raga right from your first birth as a microorganism,

As a bacteria or an algae or whatever you are.

Or as a plant or as an animal.

You created raga,

Dvesha,

Raga,

Dvesha,

Raga,

Dvesha.

Raga for food it could be as a microorganism but you created it.

I want more food.

I want more food.

It could be that simple raga starting with just food because that is the thing of every living.

Even microorganisms eat.

Yes?

Even microorganisms have sex.

Are you seeing this?

These are the two basic ragas that we have been carrying from lifetime to lifetime to lifetime to lifetime.

Food and sex.

How feverish you are about food is raga.

Maybe you don't care about food.

You just eat to live.

Then you are free of it.

Got it?

Other side of the coin is also there.

You are nice and healthy and you hate food now because it made you fat.

That is dvesha.

Are you seeing this?

This impressions we have started creating from our first life on this evolution path.

Is it clear?

In all your lifetimes maybe as a bacteria to a plant to an insect to a butterfly to a mosquito to an elephant's life.

Whatever lifetimes you took.

These are all your lifetimes I am telling you.

And finally a lifetime as a human.

Is this clear?

That attachment to something.

Even your attachment to your butterfly husband or fish wife when you were a fish yourself.

That has gone from lifetime to lifetime in this form.

Are you getting it?

Now when I have a raga towards something or somebody that becomes my karma and I carry it.

If it's a good thing,

If I have done something good it's a plus.

If it's a negative deed where I hate somebody it's a minus.

Are you seeing this?

This is how I have created karma.

Now I understand this applies to plant life,

Animal life.

What about human life?

Is just action creating karma?

Also thoughts.

Perfect.

Thought plus raga is equal to karma.

Are you getting this?

What was a human birth bestowed with over an animal?

The freedom to choose between right and wrong.

Correct?

The moment we were given this freedom we had one more extra tax that we would pay if we made a wrong choice.

Are you getting this?

So even if I don't act but I thought that I will throttle Somya.

I didn't go and throttle her but I have harbored that bitterness.

Just that thought has created a negative karma.

So then what is wrong for you may be right for someone else.

How do you discriminate?

That thought over there is positive or negative.

It doesn't mean right and wrong here.

It's raga and duisha.

Right thought would create a positive karma and negative thought would create a negative karma.

It's not only right thought.

It's a thought of attachment.

I like Somya.

I like Somya.

I want to be with Somya.

My feverishness to be with Somya is my raga for Somya.

This only turns to duisha.

Have you seen after a few days Somya starts talking to Srinath.

I don't like Srinath.

He always says back to me.

Now I don't like Somya also.

Now my raga for Somya has become a duisha for Somya.

Are you seeing this?

The gymnastics of the mind.

It's not the question of whether raji thinks that my like for Somya or my dislike for Srinath is right or wrong.

It doesn't matter.

My attachment to a person or a situation or a thing created karma.

I think I am going back to the main question.

He said where does this raga and duisha come from?

It also comes from karma impressions.

Your first birth also you took.

Whatever you took.

Maybe you were a bacteria,

Microscopic,

Invisible.

But you developed your first raga to food.

Based on some action required.

Nature.

You cannot say that it's nature.

I don't care for food.

I just eat food so that this body survives.

But somebody else loves food so much and becomes a football.

You can't say that it is because of nature I become a football and because of nature I am a stick.

No.

It is your raga and your duisha that is leading to the karma.

In other words if you eat food for your dharma to keep the body up.

If you eat too much food that means you have a raga for the food and therefore you accumulate karma.

So action is not bad in itself but when the liking or over liking for something.

Perfect.

You got it?

Your attachment.

How did the raga start?

With your first birth.

The first birth that you took.

The first birth that you took.

See that's why you were saying that.

Brahman broke into purusha and prakriti.

That highest level of knowledge comes in yoga as he is talking.

This is basics.

We are in nursery class today.

So she is asking how did this first raga and duisha come into my mind.

So every prakriti you remember was given dharma,

Karma,

Prema,

Jnana.

Yes so it was prakriti has already broken out.

So you are going to go through many experiences in life.

That is done.

So with that first experience of even coming to birth.

Whatever rebirth you took first.

That first experience only.

You saw food and food.

It was just meant so that you survive in that microorganism little body of yours.

But you created a raga.

Oh no I want more food.

I want more food.

And that's how you went from one life to another life.

That's why I tell you food and sex are the primary ragas that we have created.

Attachment to those.

And then the others started slowly slowly as you took higher births.

Got it.

It is a part of the dynamics but it is not a part of the dynamics to go over birth.

Let me ask you this.

In prakriti we have these four items right.

When you say sex it's procreation right?

Yes.

To survive.

To survive.

That was the only reason nature made it.

So why is it not part of the prakriti?

Like one of the points?

It is.

It is.

It's a part of the karma.

It comes.

The nature.

It's a part of nature.

So it is the food to survive.

Just procreation is just meant for multiplying.

That's it.

But you picked it up as a way of giving pleasure to the mind.

But that's not the problem.

And animals don't do it.

Wouldn't raga as a microorganism,

My raga for food also be my nature?

I mean how did it start?

It was probably my nature.

It wasn't my nature that I wanted that raga for food.

But the material is nature.

No that you have gone over word.

That's what I am again telling you.

Coming back to the basic point.

Even as an animal there will be a fat animal and a thin animal.

One animal wants to eat more and more and more and more.

At a very subtle level it has a raga.

And at a very subtle level the other is balanced.

Doesn't care so much.

So my first life's raga or teshah and then I created karma in my first life whatever whenever it was.

Can it affect in my current life?

Absolutely.

So now,

Beautiful.

That's why we are coming.

Perfect.

So now action plus raga creates karma.

Action plus dvesha creates karma.

Thought plus raga creates karma.

You understood the fourth one.

Thought plus dvesha equals to karma.

I have created all these karmas.

These go on accumulating in this bag.

Now you die.

Death happens.

At death what happens?

The prakriti leaves the purusha.

With the purusha goes this karma bank.

It is attached with you.

Invisible.

You cannot see it.

Because your prakriti is dead.

Eyes are only on the prakriti anyways.

You move from death because of this karma bank whatever was the strongest impression in the previous life time.

That is obviously what you remember right at the point of death.

Because your entire life time starts flashing in front of you.

And your strongest impression becomes the cause of your birth.

I'll give you an example.

When you sleep in the night,

Tonight you experiment.

Keep observing the mind with your eyes closed.

Okay you are going to sleep.

And keep observing what is the last thought.

Or you decide that tonight I am going to think of this.

Or sing a song.

And keep singing the song till you get sleep.

What will happen in the morning?

You will still sing the song when you wake up.

The moment you wake up you will still be singing the same song.

Have you noticed?

Those who are aware a little bit have already experienced this.

Those who have not,

Doesn't matter,

Experiment tonight.

Very naturally this happens.

This is the mechanism,

The design of maya or whatever,

Order of creation.

This strongest impression that comes to my mind at the last thought at death is responsible for my life.

Next birth.

Yes?

So if I have the strongest impression of hating Soumya,

It will come up at my last moment.

It will definitely come up.

And next Janma I will be born as Soumya's daughter.

Is that maya?

Is that called maya?

We are coming to maya.

Slowly.

Let's finish Karuman.

You will understand maya.

It's kind of contradicting in all of these.

We say animals follow the kaputi.

If they are following the kaputi,

Then where is the raga and rishas arise?

Raga and rishas arise there also.

It's not that it's not a rice.

But they accumulate way less compared to us.

What kind of happen?

Because of viveka is given to us and not to them.

Not to them.

Because of viveka.

We got that freedom to choose.

They will not indulge in sex.

Just the simple thing of indulging.

The freedom given to us to indulge in sex every night leads to an obsession.

And people can go crazy.

You know there are menias like that.

So we can go overboard but an animal will never go overboard.

He never crosses the line.

He will just have that procreation only that once in your whatever is its time.

But why is human thought like the supreme crown jewel of creation?

Isn't that an irony sometimes?

Yeah.

Human life is just a bridge.

There is a higher life which you and I cannot see because we are stuck at the prakriti level.

Eyes belong to this prakriti,

Remember.

There is a higher life beyond this human life.

And we are just a bridge from this animal life to that divine life.

Don't stop on this bridge and don't get stuck here.

We are a mixture of little down and little up.

We are half way like he is saying.

Go the whole way.

Become divine.

You will get there.

And that's what we are talking about.

So we understood how we create karma with these four equations.

How this karma bag got populated with all positive and negative karma.

And this bag I carried from death to birth.

I lived that entire life.

I again died.

Again there were more impressions collected in this bag.

Again I carried it from my death to birth.

And I have been lost in this cycle.

So what is the reason of being lost in this cycle?

My own self.

The karma bag.

Impressions.

If I clear this bag then what will happen?

Will this cycle happen?

No.

Are you getting it?

This cycle is happening because of this bag.

Yes.

The moment I clear off this bag of all my impressions I will be out of this cycle of birth and death and birth and death.

Then I have one more freedom which I don't have right now.

What is that freedom?

Choose to come back.

To choose to come back in a human form.

You can choose to come back.

If you don't want you don't come back.

You don't have that choice right now do you?

You don't have that choice.

You are stuck in your ragas and duheshas and your strongest raga is going to be the cause of your next birth.

Or your strongest duhesha is going to be the cause of your next birth.

Are you getting this?

So the freedom from the cycle of birth and death can be had only when this karma bag is empty.

Now we understood what is sanchita.

Sanchita is this bag full of impressions that I am carrying.

Clear?

First is clear?

First sanchita?

Yeah?

Second is?

How many of you remember?

Prarabdha.

Prarabdha is current.

My current karma.

Whatever is happening in my life right now.

Right now you are sitting in this session,

In the karma session.

This is your prarabdha.

Right now you are married to so and so person.

This and this person is your child and this and this person is your mother and you have a house here.

Current karma.

This and this is your job.

This and this is your boss.

This and this is your friend.

Current karma.

Are you getting it?

Prarabdha.

Yes?

Now how did the prarabdha come?

From where?

From my sanchita.

I had a sanchita karma with person A.

That person A I had a very strong raga or duhesha for him or her in my previous lifetime.

That person comes back into this lifetime to settle the account.

To settle the account.

To settle the account this person has come back into my life.

If I gave lot of duhesha to that person he has come back to return that duhesha to me.

So if you hate somebody even if you are not talking you are still throwing duhesha out for that person.

He is going to come back into your next lifetime to give it back to you.

So stop hating people please.

Honest request.

But maybe I am hating some person because that person had came in here.

Obviously that is the reason you are hating.

But somebody has to stop right?

Somebody has to come first.

You come first.

You drop,

He will drop from your bag.

You convert every negative karma to positive.

Reviews

Good explanation of karma and related aspects. Thanks

Very clear and insightful

Wonderful! Thank you!

I'd love to find a class like this to join.

Excellent talk. I normally lose patience with long talks, but she is good! I just wish I could get a list of the vocabulary involved.

Ant that explains that.

Loved this information and I will listen to it again to absorb more.