Destiny And Karma

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The Law of Karma and Destiny

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Jeff’s car was hit by a drunk driver and he is being airlifted to a nearby hospital. Jeff will never be able to walk again.


Little Nathaniel is 5 but the cancer that afflicts him will not let him live to see his 6th birthday.


Sometimes the best student in University may not do well in life.


Omar was born in war-torn Dafur. Due to the country he has been born in and through no fault of his, young Omar will never have a proper education and will only know violence and hunger throughout his life.


Life


Lord why did this have to happen to me ?

“

”


“God works in mysterious ways and

we aren’t always meant to understand

why things happen the way they do”


But why would God make one person the child of a poor family and the

other the child of a wealthy family.


Why would he let one child be born physically impaired and the other healthy?


Is there some Universal rationale behind which all of us are granted different circumstances in our lives?


Law of Karma (Law of Give-and-Take)Governs the all human life(even devolved humans)


Law of Karma (Law of Give-and-Take)Governs the all human life(even devolved humans)

• According to the Law of Karma every positive deed generates a‘Merit’ while every negative deed generates a ‘Demerit’.

• Every person has to undergo the consequences of the merits anddemerits of accounts created by him.


Sir Isaac Newton (4 Jan 1643 – 31 Mar 1727)

Newton's Third Law states that,

“For every action there is

an equal and opposite reaction”.


As you sow, so shall you reap


Person A swindles Person B

B gets 5 units of pain


Person A swindles Person B

As a result A creates a negative account with B.

B gets 5 units of pain


5 units of pain

Consequently Person A will have to suffer 5 units of pain from Person B

for the account to be settled.


Account cannot be settled as B dies soon after A swindles B

It will need to be settled when both Aand B reincarnate on Earth together

Previous Lifetime Next Lifetime

Account carried over


A B

• When Person A does get 5 units of pain from Person B, he will wonder whyPerson B is so intent on hurting him.

• The answer lies in an account that was created in a previous lifetime.

What have I done to him that he keeps on troubling me?


Mark buys his buddy Chris a couple of drinks at the bar. The next day Chris returns the favour.


The reasons that the act of consuming alcohol is a sin :

1. We reduce the subtle sattvacomponent

2. We increase the subtle tamacomponent

3. An increase in the subtle tama component leads to an overall increase in the spiritual pollution in society.

Refer to the article on Sattva, Raja and Tamaon our website.


Picture courtesy wikipedia.org

Selflessly helping the poor in need will generate a merit


Sanchit KarmaOr

The Accumulated Give-and-Take Account

Over many lifetimes we continue to add to our accumulated give-and-take account


Law of Karma and how the give-and-take plays out is complex and

depends on various factors such as:

• Intention behind the act

• Severity or extent of the act

• Situation at that time

• Happiness or anguish faced by the person wronged

• Who has been robbed (an average person or a seeker of God or a

Saint, a spiritual organisation etc.).

These factors also determine the intensity of the account created whether positive or negative (if it is a sin).

What decides – intensity of merit / severity of demerit (sin)?


Depending on the intensity of the merits or demerits that one incurs in one

lifetime, after death one goes to either the positive or negative subtle regions

of the Universe.

Merits

More Demerits

Beyond merits and demerits


Lord why did this have to happen to me?

“”

But if we were to understand this law

• We could have a philosophical view of why bad things happen to us

• We could strive try not to create any more negative accounts


Birth Death

Afterlife

Unless we settle all our accounts, we cannot gain liberation from the cycle

of birth and death

Subtle Regions of the Universe

Earth Regions


Entire Accumulated Account (Sanchit Karma)

Portion to settle in the current lifetime which is known as our destiny


Willful action

65%

35%

Destiny(Prarabdh)


Portion to settle in the current lifetime which is known as our destiny

This pie chart shows the proportion of our lives which is destined versus free will


Proportion of destiny versus willful action over time

First birth In the current era Last birth

Destined Actions

Free Will

0%

100%

65%

35%

100%

0%

Destined Actions Willful Actions


The spiritual purpose of our lives

1. Settle and complete our destiny and subsequently our accumulated accounti.e. experience happiness or sadness according to our destiny

2. To do spiritual practice to grow spiritually thereby coming out of the cycle ofbirth and death


Example of Destiny

A person parks in a proper parking zone obeying all rules and while he is in his office a tree falls on his car.


Example of willful action or use of free will

A person drives home drunk inspite of knowing that it is wrong to do so and hits a tree.


All major events life are destined


?

Apart from just negative accounts with other people problems in life there are other spiritual elements that can influence us as part of our destiny

1. Distress caused by a person’s departed ancestors who have passed away ?


?



2. Being affected or possessed by ghosts


?




3. A reduction of vital energy within us


?





4. A block in the Spiritual Energy System (Kundalini) within our bodies


?






5. Black Magic / Voodoo done on the person


?






5. Black Magic / Voodoo done on the person

6. Distressing vibrations in the premise that we live and work in


Who do we have the most give-and-take account with in our current life time?

Give and take account with %

Spouse 27

Parents – child relation 25

Siblings 9

Close friends 9

People romantically involved 9

Colleagues 9

Other relatives 4

Other acquaintances (neighbours, friends and associates) 4

Others 4

Total 100.0


Factors influencing compatibility

Type %

Physical 5%

Psychological 8%

Likes and dislikes 2%

Temperamental characteristics 2%

Personality defects 2%

Ego 2%

Intellectual 2%

Spiritual 85%

Total 100%

<15%


Types of Destiny

Mild Medium Severe


Types of Destiny

Types of Destiny Mild

Examples Minor illnesses, more than average efforts required to get a partner


Types of Destiny

Types of Destiny Mild Medium


Financial losses, marital problems, inability to have children


Types of Destiny

Types of Destiny Mild Medium Severe



Major accidents, severe disabilities, untimely death


How to overcome destiny

Destiny Spiritual Practice

Spiritual problem Spiritual solution

Spiritual practice that is undertaken as per the 6 basic principles

of spiritual practice burns destiny and eventually gets one out of

the cycle of birth and death


Types of Destiny

Types of Destiny Mild Medium Severe



Major accidents, severe disabilities, untimely death

How to overcome? Moderate spiritual practice

(4-5 hours per day)

Intense spiritual practice

(10-12 hours per day)

Cannot be changed with one’s spiritual practice alone.

Only the grace of a Spiritual Master (Guru) can alter it


Please refer to the SSRF website

•Who is a Saint and

•What spiritual practice one can do to ‘Start your Spiritual Journey’.


5 units of pain

Person A will have to suffer 5 units of pain from Person B for the account

to be settled.

Let’s take a look at an example of how spiritual practice can help nullify our destiny.Example of settling accounts through spiritual practice


Example of settling accounts through spiritual practice

A starts spiritual practice

The spiritual energy generated from spiritual practice goes towards nullifying the give-and-take impression in B’s mind

End result : B then forgets about the account he has with A.


Person A Person B

Difference in spiritual levels between two people after the same years and effort of spiritual

practice can be attributed to the spiritual practice being used to nullify severe destiny

30%32%40%

Initial spiritual level Spiritual growth


Settling the Accumulated Account


Amount to settle as destiny in the current lifetime

Theoretical accumulated account after the current lifetime

100

- 6

94

Theoretically

*

This means at this rate a person should attain liberation from one’s accumulated account within 16-17 births i.e. 100 / 6 = 16.67

*



Amount to settle as destiny in the current lifetime

Theoretical accumulated account after the current lifetime

100

- 6

94

100

- 6

94

+10

104

Theoretically Practically

With willful action we add more accounts

Practically the Accumulated Account after the current lifetime

*

*

This means one continues to get stuck in the cycle of birth and death due to the improper use of ones freewill or willful action.

Settling the Accumulated Account


•We are now in Kaliyuga the Era of Strife.

• The proportion of pain in one’s destiny is most likely to increase as one

keeps getting born in Kaliyuga.

• Using free will to do spiritual practice is the only way out.


Here no account is created between Nicole and Kristen, no merits or demerits, as the

activity and the actions are in line with our basic purpose of life which is to grow spiritually.


Merits

More Demerits

Beyond merits and demerits

• At a practical level Earth is the only plane of existence where one can do

spiritual practice to grow spiritually and settle our accumulated account or

Sanchit Karma.

• Merits and demerits both keep us in the cycle of birth and death.


• Spiritual practice should conform to the

six basic principles

• If spiritual practice is done sincerely,

regularly and in progressively higher

steps…

Then

• it is possible for a person to not only

overcome all his destined accounts but

also his entire accumulated account in

one lifetime itself.

If you think that this tutorial will help your near and dear ones please do

forward the link to them.