The Karma Chameleon

The word karma meaning “action” in the strictest sense has always been a topic of debate and discussion in all parts of the world.

In India, this word has got so much integrated with our thought system that with or without much contemplation, we are instantaneously able to relate this to “As we sow, so we reap” . Hinduism elaborates on the laws that are pertaining to karma and how the entire phenomenon of creation is governed by the laws of karma. We shall come to it later.

Let us begin from the standpoint of a novice. Throughout our lives we see all sorts of diversities and disparities around us. There are always opposites in every aspect of creation ...the rich and the poor ..the able bodied and the disabled...birth and death...joy and sorrow.

What could we possibly attribute these differences to?.

Why are some babies born in affluent families treading upon the path of aggrandisement while a few others are born into families that lead impoverished life?

Can we dismiss all these differences as a random outcome of creation?.

But then as the Vedic exponents have claimed and propagated :

We ourselves are the witnesses of so much of orderliness in the way the elements of nature operate .The sun never fails to rise in the eastern direction and set in the western direction , the earth never takes a break from revolving around the sun or rotating on its own axis. The sea never stops experiencing the continuous evolution and expiry of waves. All these are essential components of this cosmic creation. When all these behave in such a predictable manner as though they are abiding by the laws of creation with utmost obedience and discipline, how could the human beings and the circumstances that determine the quality of their lives alone be a random outcome of creation?.

There needs to be an answer to all this. The only difference between the other elements of creation and the rational human beings are that we are blessed with the faculties of “free-will” and “intellect”. The omnipotent creator of the universe has empowered and authorised us to decide and enact our actions and thoughts in a way WE CHOOSE TO ,while the other elements of creation have been deprived of this faculty.

To be endowed with such a privilege does not come free of cost. The cost we pay for this is to hold the complete responsibility for all our actions and reap the consequences accordingly. Even according to scientific theories, every action triggers a reaction. Hence good actions fructify as positive experiences and bad actions fructify as undesirable experiences in life. This is the law of Karma.

But the next question that crops up in our minds is:

Then all good people should lead a blissful and gratifying life and all wrong doers should be punished intensely in their lives. But sometimes we do see contradicting happenings in our own lives and the ones around us. The answer proposed by Vedas is that we should not confine our assessment- only with regards to our current lives. We have to take into consideration that we are all a part of cyclic and multiple courses of birth and deaths in the cosmos. So the effects of our actions could be felt in either the current life or any one of our reincarnations.

But first and foremost we should have an unshakable faith in the fact that the Superpower that is the cause of all creation is unbiased and just at all times and does not endeavour to inflict unwarranted pain at any point in our lives. Every iota of happiness and sorrow that we experience in our current lives is what we have earned for ourselves because of our past actions. No one else or any other entity in the universe is to be blamed for it.

Strong belief in the above theory has two fold effects. The first one being, it serves as an incentive for us to lead an ethical and moral life so that our current doings would pave way for a good future. If our past actions are responsible for our current life, then drawing a corollary, our current actions should determine the quality of our future life (or lives).

The second effect being we can free ourselves from feeling victimised and getting entangled in the clutches of self-pity. To elaborate on this, if we believe that all the happenings in our lives are just random outcomes of creation, while we immensely enjoy the happy moments, we shall feel victimised when we are subjected to undesirable happenings. We shall wrongly conclude that the sorrow that we are undergoing has been unduly imposed on us. This would further reinforce the feeling of helplessness in us. On the other hand if we realise that only because of our “not-so-good “actions in the past , the current sorrows are inflicted upon us, then we shall reconcile to the fact and start thinking ahead on what needs to be done next to set everything right and do the needful.

The law of karma goes a long way in giving us a mental makeover to take control over our lives and feel the necessity to adhere to the Dharmic laws. It teaches us not to affiliate ourselves with the concept of fatalism. It reinforces the fact that how and what we want to be henceforth is completely in our hands and minds.

To demystify the key concepts of life and get a better insight into the very purpose of all this, lectures on the interpretation of Vedas and Upanishads go a long way.

A living legend is Swami Paramarthananda, a disciple of Swami Dayananda Saraswathi. His logically organised lectures and his methodical reasoning out of the various concepts of Vedas makes it very easy for us to comprehend the essence of the great works.

For more details refer to:
http://sastraprakasika.org/Swamijis/Paramartha/c_l_para.asp
http://www.vedantavidyarthisangha.org/

The Abode Of The Queen

Last weekend was a long weekend as the humankind chose to commemorate the achievements of the labour movement. Simply put ....May Day holiday. S and I decided to spend one of those days in a place of historic importance. Windsor Castle was the closest and the most practicable option.

Anybody living in the United Kingdom would be aware even in the deep slumber state of the following fact. Getting hold of a parking space for their car in any public place in UK is a nightmare. So to beat this, we left for the Castle much before a British(er) would wake up on a holiday. That was around 9:00 in the morning. The roads of Windsor looked deserted and we were bestowed upon with the rarest of the privileges of getting to choose a suitable parking slot for our car, amidst hundreds of vacant slots.

We had a couple of tens of minutes at our disposal before the Castle was going to be opened for public view. We expended those minutes on the banks of river Thames while my daughter was becharmed by the ducks and swans in the river. Those were comparable to my daughter in size and were a delightful source of entertainment to her twinkling eyes.

Finally the gates of the Castle gave way for its visitors. The enormity of the building(s) and its surrounding open space would leave anyone gaping and gasping for breath. Throughout our tour of the Castle, we were provided with a “walkie talkie kind of thing” with key pad on it. Each key in the key pad unfolded the description and specialities of a particular area of the Castle through an audio clip. To this day, the Castle is one of the official residences of the Queen.

One of the wonders of the castle is the “Doll House” . This doll house has been created for the queen Mary as a gift by her husband. Whether it was originally intended to be a display of affection of a husband to his wife or was it more of an effort to leave its onlookers flabbergasted, is for its visitors to ruminate.

The Doll House has magnificent collection of miniature items , figurines and art pieces. In fact there was a miniature replication of the castle itself. One could estimate the amount of efforts, time and skill that has gone towards the creation of these exquisite items from the extent of details that has been brought out on them. Awesome is one word that could describe them. Every piece of display item, starting from the carpets to the flower vase to the functional flushable toilet were identical to their original counterparts, except that they were reduced in size of the order of 1:12.

As we moved on to the State Apartments, we got to witness some of the finest pieces of art and collections belonging to the Royals. The resplendence and the sumptuousness of the palace was a testimony of sheer power and wealth that they held, once upon a time. A great portion of them were the acquired wealth obtained as and when the empire colonised and took over the other parts of the world. One of them worth mentioning is Tippu Sultan’s gold Tiger’s head. If only our fore fathers had been united in India a few centuries back, we would have had the opportunity of boasting the ownership of such marvels today.

People who are interested in the complete details of the collection please visit:
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/eGallery/

As we moved on, we wondered about the workmanship of silver furniture, stunning chandeliers, ceilings covered with elegant drawings, wooden carvings transformed into architectural wonders that have touched unspoken horizons of perfection. The grandeur of every section of the palace, be it the State Dining room or the audience chamber or the drawing room makes us think if this is the closest representation of heaven.

It was a visual treat in the truest sense. Once out of the Castle I came to my senses that there were 2 more people who had accompanied me and at that moment I was incognisant of their whereabouts.

OOOOOOOO..

I could spot S distantly carrying our little one on his shoulders as she had fallen asleep hours before (and obviously had refused to get into the pram). The rest of the day got spent tending to S’s back pain and my little one’s crankiness due to lack of undisturbed sleep. Is this what people call as “paying the price???”.