| Cycle of Deeds
The human being is entangled in the cycle of deeds called as karma chakra. The thought in the mind is the seed, which grows and generates action. The action certainly gives its result. Even if you escape the result of your action in this world you cannot escape from it in the upper world. In fact the result in the upper world is very severe due to the compounded interest due to the delay in getting the result. Therefore blessed are those who are punished in this world itself. Jesus says “It is better to punish yourself for your sin in this world itself than to fall into eternal hell”.
The punishment reduces the thought (which caused the deed) to the state of a tiny seedling. However the punishment cannot destroy the thought completely. The thought exists in a very minute called the state of subconsciousness. Even you are not aware of your subconscious thought. When the soul comes from hell to the earth and enters a new human body, the child contains all the qualities or thoughts of previous births, hidden in the subconscious state. Therefore the child is unaware of anything and appears to be the most innocent and sacred. In the child the thoughts are like seeds that have not germinated. Whatever may be the external atmosphere in which the child grows; those strong thoughts will certainly germinate and grow up to be tender plants if not strong trees. But if the external atmosphere is favorable, the strong thoughts become trees, and weak thoughts will become plants. These germinated thoughts will result in corresponding actions. The actions will give their own fruits whether here or there.
The fruits are the punishments, which will again reduce the thoughts to seeds. This is the cycle of the deeds. When it is said that you are enjoying the fruit of the action of your previous birth, it has to be understood in the context of this cycle. The action of your previous birth was punished in hell and has reduced your thought to the form of a seed. In this birth the seed grows and results in its corresponding action. Such action can give you its result in this world if you are captured here itself. The judicial system in this world also functions under the direction of the Lord only. If you have escaped the judicial system in this world, it too is by the will of Lord alone. The Lord might have judged your case and might have given you a chance of transformation. Sometimes you are punished wrongly in a case. Do not abuse the court or God. Perhaps you are punished for some other sin. Do not think that you have escaped a punishment that you deserve just because the court finds you ‘not guilty’. Perhaps God is directing you for a severe punishment in hell, which cannot be provided by the court here. Therefore do not think that you have fooled the court or that the deity of justice is blind with a cloth tied on her eyes. Even this court is functioning according to the will of the Lord because the Lord governs everybody and everything in this world. Therefore do not blame God or do not say that God does not exist if some criminal escapes punishment of human courts.
Destroying the Seed
Now the main point is how to escape from this cycle? You cannot escape from this cycle by preventing the deed or punishment. If you are tied with a rope, you will not do the deed as long as you are tied. You will do the deed as soon as you are released from the rope. You may escape the result of your deed here by someone’s recommendations, but you cannot escape from it in hell. The only way to stop this cycle is to destroy the thought which is the initiating seed of this cycle. How to destroy it?
The seed is a thought which is a living property (sentient property) or a property of life. If it were an inert property like light or heat, it could be prevented by physical methods. Only knowledge, which is another living property, can destroy this thought. Only a diamond can cut another diamond. The wrong knowledge, which generates this sin, is dangerous. Ignorance, which is zero, is better than wrong knowledge, which is minus (negative). Therefore only righteous knowledge can destroy wrong thoughts. You can differentiate the right knowledge from the wrong knowledge through careful, patient analysis and discrimination. The knowledge of God alone can create devotion in your mind and develop it. Thus by knowledge alone can you get rid of this cycle and attain and please God. Shankara says “Jnanat eva tu kaivalyam”, which means that knowledge alone can give salvation. Jesus preached the same spiritual knowledge throughout His life.
The atheist is always rigid and does not accept God even if a miracle is performed by God physically. He will attribute it to hypnotism and magic. When Lord Krishna showed the vision of His cosmic form in the court, Duryodhana fell unconscious, but he attributed it to an illusion and hypnotism. Therefore a rigid foolish atheist can never be transformed and he shall be condemned forever like a student debarred by the university. One must have an open mind to recognize the truth and must have the courage to come out of one’s conservative rigid circle. The atheist blames the devotees regarding their foolish conservative limits, but he himself is trapped by such limits! For a wise person even a subtle experience in small incidents taking place in his life is sufficient proof to realize the existence of God. God is giving proof of His existence even in very small incidents that take place in every walk of your life. If you sit and analyze your past life with careful, shrewd analysis, you can see the existence of God at every step and how He is trying to help you always.
Some say that God loves only His devotees and thus He is partial. This is meaningless. If all people in the world loved Him equally and if He still loved only a select few, then alone can it be called partiality.
At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami
Anil Antony
www.universal-spirituality.org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org
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| souljourney108 - 2007-05-12 8:29 PM
Try this one deed...stop the entertaining of thoughts.
Please report back your experience.
Peace,
Soul
Some people say that meditation is sitting with perfect silence without any process of thought. Such a contention is meaningless because it virtually amounts to a nice sleep only. These people further misinterpret that such a meditation is concentration on formless God (Nirakara). Gita says that one cannot concentrate on formless God (Avyakthahi Gatih). The meditation of formless God becomes true if one concentrate on the true knowledge of God. Veda says that true knowledge is the real form of the Lord (Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma). Knowledge is formless. Therefore the formless God means only the true divine knowledge about the Lord. This is the correct interpretation of Sankaras philosophy. The great ancient Vedic sages sat in the formless meditation and this statement means that they concentrated on the divine knowledge (Brahma Jnana), which was expressed as Upanishaths in their mutual discussions (Satsanga).
The actual meaning of the word Dhyanam is the process of functioning of intelligence (Dhee or Buddhi) and this pertains to the field of knowledge (Vijnanamaykosa). Some people interpret that meditation means concentration on the form of the Lord like the light blue colour, peacock feather on the head, flute in the hand etc., Instead of concentrating mentally upon such objects, one can see these things in a photo or see the objects directly kept on a table. If these things constitute the divinity there is no need of concentrating on these things. One can attain the divinity by applying light blue colour on his own body, by putting a peacock feather on the head and by catching a flute by hand. Such a divinity can be attained without any meditation. So meditation becomes meaningless in such a line. This is the reason why Sankara discarded the meditation of a form (Saguna Brahman). Ofcourse attraction by such things towards the Lord will help a person to develop the attachment on the Lord. One may be attracted to Lord Krishna by such things and then finally get attracted towards His divine knowledge as preached in Bhagavatgita.
Such things may be initial promoters but the final is only the divine knowledge, which will help any one in his effort (Sadhana) to please the Lord. The divine knowledge resulting in the realization will impart a tension free peace and tranquility to the mind. By such state one will attain perfect health of body and mind and thus the benefit is directly seen here itself.
Ex:- If one realizes that this gross body of the soul is only the external dramatic dress as said in Gita (Vaasamsi Jeernani), he will immediately realize that these family bonds are only the bonds in the drama. The soul forgets the bonds of the previous birth as an actor forgets the bonds of previous drama. If these bonds are real the soul should have remembered its relatives of the previous birth. Such a divine knowledge on memorization enters the nerves of a person and he will not have any tension about his family members. He does his duties without any trace of tension. This is the salvation while alive (Jeevanmukthi). Thus meditation means continuous remembering of the divine knowledge which yields the direct fruit here itself. Such a person gets a fruit in the upper world also. The only one Lord is the authority here and there also. Anybody blessed here will be blessed there also. If one is not blessed here he is not blessed in the upper world also. The grace of the Lord or the anger of the Lord is uniform here and there. One who is not blessed here cannot be blessed there. Thus the true knowledge blesses any person here and there. Meditation is continuous thinking of such knowledge and other interpretations are either useless or of little use.
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Cycle of Deeds
