Karma , yes , that's the one word that means more to me than possibly most others , like trust , life . devotion, religion . That singularly most powerful word in my life is "Karma"
Despite my Hindu Kshatriya upbringing, strong Sikh influence and mild knowledge of Buddhism, I am convinced if there is any destinical play , it is energized by the Karma "points ". I see Karma as a mileage program run by the almighty, you get miles for every journey, every action, however small or big, will give you miles, you travel coach like the world , no miles , that is living like crowd, if you travel business class (supreme karma ) you will get miles which you can redeem later , either for an upgrade or free travel, In life terms a better life .
The issue however is that what is "good karma" to me may be bad karma to someone else . I am a vegetarian for last 20 years ,is it good Karma . For me , yes , but from others perspective "NO" ...so what truly is Good Karma .
Krishna uses three words: akarma, karma and vikarma, meaning inaction, action, and non-action. What is action? According to Krishna, mere doing is not action .A doing with a doer, in which one thinks himself as a doer, is action. As long as I remain a doer, whatever I do is action. Even if I take sannyas, it is an act, an action. Even renunciation becomes an action if a doer is present in the act.
Inaction is just the opposite kind of action; it is action without a doer. It means absence of the doer. An ego-less action is inaction.Inaction is not laziness as is generally understood; it is very much action, but without a doer at its center. This thing has to be clearly understood. If the center, the ego, the I, the doer, ceases and only action remains, it is inaction. With the cessation of the doer every action becomes inaction.
Krishna’s every action is ego-less, and therefore it is inaction. Even when he is doing something, he is really in inaction.
Between action and inaction there is akarma or non-action, which means a special kind of action.
This thing which is midway between action and inaction, which Krishna calls non-action, needs to be understood rightly.
What does Krishna mean by non-action? Where there is neither a doer nor a doing, yet things happen, there is non-action. For example, we breathe, which we are not required to do by our own effort. There is neither a doer nor a doing so far as acts like breathing are concerned. Similarly the blood circulates through the body, the food is digested, and the heart beats. How can you categorize such acts? They come in the category of non-action, which means action happening without a doer and without a sense of volitional doing.
There are a few things in man’s life too that just happen. And these are non-actions. In fact, these actions are divine operations. Just like falling on love ....Do you think it is you who breathe? Then you are mistaken. If you were the master of this action known as breathing, then you would never die really. Then you can continue to breathe even when death knocks at your door. But can you say you are not going to stop breathing? Or try it otherwise – stop breathing for a little while and you will know you cannot stop it either. Your breath will refuse to obey you, it will soon resume its breathing. In breathing you are neither the doer nor the doing itself. Many things of life are like breathing; they just happen.
If someone understands rightly what non-action is, and comes to know its mystery, he will soon enter into a state of inaction which is acting without a center, an ego. Then he knows that every significant thing in life happens on its own; it is utterly stupid to try to be a doer. And he is a wise man. He alone is a sage.Going back to karma basedon conviction , Now, there are many things implied in this. First, What is good? Each society defines good according to itself. What is good to a Jew is not good to a Jain; what is good to a Christian is not good to a Confucian. Not only that, what is good in one culture is bad in another culture. A law has to be universal. For example, if you heat water to one hundred degrees centigrade, it will evaporate -- in Tibet, in Russia, in America. , Certainly the law of karma is neither a scientific law nor part of any legal system.
Then what kind of law is it? It is a hope. A man wandering in immense darkness, groping his way, clings to anything that gives a little hope, a little light -- because what you observe in life itself is something totally different from the law of karma. A man who is a well-known criminal may succeed and become the president, the prime minister; or vice versa: he was not a criminal before, but when he becomes the president or prime minister of a country he becomes a criminal... So in life this strange situation happens: bad people reach good positions, become respectable or honored, not only in their time but throughout history. It is full of their names. In history, Gautam Buddha, Mahavira, Kanad, Gautam, Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzu -- people like these you will not find even in the footnotes. And Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, Nadirshah, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler -- they make up the major portion of history. In fact, we have to write the whole of history again because all these people have to be completely erased. Even the memory of them should not be carried on, because even their memory may have evil effects on people. So the one thing to be remembered is: in my vision of life, yes, every action is bound to have some consequences, but they will not be somewhere else, you will have them here and now. Most probably you will get them almost simultaneously. When you are kind to someone, don't you feel a certain joy? A certain peace? A certain meaningfulness? Don't you feel that you are contented with what you have done? There is a kind of deep satisfaction. Have you ever felt that contentment when you are angry, when you are boiling with anger, when you hurt somebody, when you are mad with rage? Have you ever felt a peace, a silence descending in you? No, it is impossible. You will certainly feel something, but it will be a sadness that you again acted like a fool, that again you have done the same stupid thing that you decided again and again not to do. You will feel a tremendous unworthiness in yourself. You will feel that you are not a man but a machine, because you don't respond, you react. A man may have done something, and you reacted. That man had the key in his hands, and you just danced according to his desire; it had power over you. When somebody abuses you and you start fighting, what does it mean? It means that you don't have any capacity not to react. I stayed quiet .
I look back at last 3.5 years and think , yes . Karma is what I will be judged on , it may be right or wrong, I have played my cards the way my Karma directed me to.
After-all , I will live with my conscience for far longer than the friends and the events ....
Today's poetry by Gulzar , a song which lives with me every year . This movie "aandhi" btw was released on 14th Feb, 1975 . It is over 40 year old, yet so young and contemporary .
कुछ तेज कदम राहे
पत्थर की हवेली को, शीशे के घरोंदो में
तिनको के नशेमन तक.......
आंधी की तरह उड़कर, एक राह गुजरती है
शरमाती हुयी कोई, क़दमों से उतरती है
इन रेशमी राहो में, एक राह तो वो होगी
तुम तक जो पहुचती है.....
एक दूर से आती है,पास आके पलटती है
एक राह अकेली सी, रुकती हैं ना चलती है
ये सोच के बैठी हूँ, एक राह तो वो होगी
तुम तक जो पहुचती है......
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