The Laws of Action
Karma [action] is the action principle of the universe; every cause has its effect, every action has its reaction. The law of karma is a comprehensive law embracing all action in all the planes of existence. Karmic law maintains law and order in the universe and the whole of creation is bound by its inexorable impact. The law of karma is based on the principle of causation and there is science behind all phenomena. Because of this inherent order, understanding is possible and there is meaning in our search for truth. There is no chance in the cosmic order but man has yet to grasp higher laws and suprasensory phenomena.
The law of karma operates in the energy mediums of ichcha-shakti [power of desire], jnana-shakti [power of wisdom], and kriya-shakti [power of action]. The different energies are meant for different functions of volition, cognition, and action—the motive, thought, and action. Our motive is an emotional act, our thought is a mental act, and our action is a physical act and all involve a definite quantum of respective energy. All our motives, thoughts, and actions are concrete phenomena and can be measured quantitatively in terms of their energy expense.
The physical laws are simple, and their causation follows a sequence in a straight line and their effect is immediate and obvious. The physical laws can be discerned through experimental verification and accepted for general understanding. The nature of operation in the psychic and spiritual planes is highly abstract, subtle, and complex to grasp. The psychic and spiritual laws transcend time, space, and limitations of the physical plane. Their causal relation does not follow a sequence.
In higher planes, hundreds of causes in association produce a cumulative effect, sometime, somewhere. The subtler the plane, the more intense and concentrated is the energy form and greater is its power, wisdom, and joy. We can have more enduring and elevating peace and joy in the higher realms of thought, beauty, and spirit. The different forms of energy are inter-convertible from one form to another, and from one plane to another.
Man established in the higher plane can exercise his will power and manipulate the energy and phenomena of the lower planes. Understanding higher laws and techniques to evoke higher centers, man can acquire extra-ordinary powers or siddhis. Man can tap the potential of psychic and spiritual energies and faculties within him to his immense advantage. The law of karma embraces past, present, and future linked in one continuous causal chain. The law of karma balances the opposing forces either through smooth integration or through, strife if necessary.
All action in tune with dharma [right action] contributes to universal balance and harmony and for the good of the whole. All action in adharma [unrighteousness] causes chaos, conflict, and suffering thus disturbing universal balance and affecting total life. We reap what we sow. All our motives, thoughts, and actions sows psychological seeds in the subconscious form of impressions. These psychic records are the eternal witness to all our motivations, for nothing escapes this automatic imprint of the psyche. When the acts are often repeated these impressions get stronger and become our habits and tendencies, traits of character and conduct.
Through good and bad karma we build our credits and debits in the book of life and the totals renew from life to life. We are partly free and partly determined, for we are the products of our past vasanas [bad tendencies] and samskaras [fundamental impressions], embedded in our swabhava [individuality]. We are free to build a new future, and by righteous action we can give a benevolent turn to life and exhaust the past impact. We are not helpless tools in the hands of any external agency and our lives are not fatalistic, for we can tune in to the law of life.
Man is endowed with a rational and discriminating faculty and has free choice to make or mar himself. Man is endowed with the voice of conscience for right action, but the noise of ego eclipses the silent voice of the heart. Man shall have blow after blow on the anvil of life, till he realizes his folly and tunes to dharma. Man is free to violate the moral law and free to suffer and he alone is responsible for the consequences of his action. The suffering is a blessing in disguise, it is a moral exercise, and has the rich reward of understanding through experience. Man can free himself from the bondage of karma through right understanding and right action in tune with dharma.
Every motive, thought, and action has direct bearing on our life as the law of karma operates in all the three planes. If motive is pure, the karma does not affect the soul, for, motive is important in determining the effect of karma. We get measured reaction for the wrong action in the physical and social plane but it does not affect the inner being. If the motive is evil and although not executed in action, the karma binds the soul, for the intention is bad. All our good and bad karma accumulate in our psychic center, chitta [consciousness], our personality center, and we build our load of karma.
Through sincere, intense prayer, and repentance for the wrongs done, we can cleanse the dark impressions of the sub-conscious. By intense and sincere prayer we generate spiritual vibrations that can clear the impressions by giving vent to them. Thus we can lessen the burden and lighten the load of karma and purify our psychic center. All action in tune with dharma in the spirit of yajna [sacrifice] dedicated to the cosmic cause does not bind. All action without egoistic motivations, without desiring the fruits thereof, does not bind. All action in total surrender in sublimation of the ego, as an instrument of the supreme, does not bind.
We are all effective partners in the collective karma and are collectively responsible for social evils ; it affects every one. Man is a part of the collective life and stands in the same relation as a cell in our body and has to be in tune with cosmic life. It is the duty of every one, not only to be positively dharmic in personal life, but equally resist adharma wherever found.
The karmic impact on life are of three kinds: prarabdha, sanchita, and agami in continuous form. Prarabdha is our past impact already taken effect and awaiting clearance in time and `we’ cannot alter its course. Sanchita is our past impact on our present just taking shape and by exercising self-restraint we can overcome its adverse effect. Agami is what we build for our future through present action and this is entirely in our hands and we can be free from it. Body is only the vehicle of the soul and at the time of death, the soul leaves the body along with the psychic centre tagged on to it.
The jiva [individual] carries the psychic bundle, the karmic load, from life to life in the spiritual journey, till the realization of the true self. The karmic operation binds only the narrow self, through egoistic motivations, and on self-realization, the karmic center dissolves itself. Even in a Jivan Mukta [realized person], the prarabdha continues to work till it exhausts, and finally the soul is liberated from the body.
~Jijnasu
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, April 1967
