Everybody talks of Karma. It’s a simple law – what you give, you get. It’s the law of the boomerang. What goes around, comes around. It’s a law of action and reaction. It is very simple to understand – if you plant mangoes, you will not reap pineapples. As you sow, so shall you reap. Nothing is new about this law. It seems to be a universal law that exists on planet earth. But there are some things about the law of Karma that you probably didn’t know. What the world knows is very simple – if we do good, good will come back to us and if we do bad deeds, we will suffer.
Nothing can escape the law of Karma. Not only does it work in this lifetime, it also works beyond death. Even when we die, we take our Karma with us and we will be reborn. In fact, our rebirth is based on our past actions, our past Karmas. But who does the Karma belong to? The body dies, the body is consumed on earth. It goes back to dust. It is buried or cremated. Then who is it that actually takes the Karma to the next birth? Well, it is ME (M E) the mind and the ego. The ME who was in one body drops the body, at death and is reborn in another body with all the Karmas carried forward. In fact, while alive the body is not the one who really performs the actions. The body acts on direction of the mind and ego – ME. Therefore, the Karmas should belong to ME; the subtle body, not the physical body. When the body dies, the mind and ego escapes along with Karmas to take another birth and this cycle go on and on and on.
How can we escape from Karmas?
You have probably heard that the goal of life is to escape from the cycle of death and rebirth. What does it mean? The law of Karma states that whatever actions you do, you have to pay for them – good or bad. Karma is the law. What is Karma? It means actions. Can you escape from action? No, you can’t escape from action.
What the world doesn’t know is that the realization we are not the body and mind can eliminate all Karmas. If we are fortunate to realize the true self, this self-realization liberates us from Karma. It liberates us from both good Karma and bad Karma and it liberates us from rebirth. Therefore, Karma is just a universal law that keeps the world going. The Creator of the cosmos has created this Karmic law so that there is continuity on planet earth. But is that the goal? Our ultimate goal is Nirvana, Moksha, escape from Karma, escape from the cycle of death and rebirth and this comes from the realization of the truth. Am I the body? No. The body dies. Am I the mind? Where is the mind, I cannot find! Then who am I? If I am not me, the mind and ego, who am I? I am that divine life energy that gives life to this body-mind complex that seems to create its Karmas, only to be trapped in this cycle of death and rebirth. We become prisoners in the Leela or the Drama of God. We get stuck in this Cosmic Illusion or Maya and suffer because ultimately whether we do good Karmas or bad Karmas, we are reborn and if we are reborn, like the Buddha said all those who take birth on earth will suffer. Therefore, let us learn these facts about Karma which the world doesn’t know. The world talks about us doing good Karma, but beyond doing good Karmas, the challenge is to realize the truth of Karma and to escape from Karma itself. That is Nirvana, Moksha, Liberation and Enlightenment, the ultimate goal of life.
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