MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

Over the last three Sundays, we have seen a little of what Advaitic philosophy tells us about karma. The law of cause and effect with respect to our individual life experiences. 

Many of us would like it to be as simple as tit-for-tat. As we've read, though, as with all physics and quantum theories, the simplicity is complicated by so many factors. As with physics and quantum, we can come to deeper understandings as long as we are prepared to put the work into absorbing the necessary strands of learning. For some, this work is thrilling and uplifting. For others, it is a matter of pride and competition. Then, others just can't be bothered with the effort, as there are far too many distractions in life. 

By now, it is hoped, you will recognise the sattvic, rajasic and tamasic responses!

A question may arise as to what is right or wrong about any of these reactions. Advaita doesn't make a judgement on this. We are what our makeup of praarabdha and purushartha (established pattern and efforts to change it) result in us being and what we might become.

That said, no matter which society we are born into and how much difference there may be between all those societies (cultures), in every place, there is a sliding scale as to what is acceptable behaviour and what is reprehensible. This brings us to the question of good versus evil. It raises the spectre of individual responsibility versus the common good. Also, when we dig into it, we find that all societies have a similar idea of what constitutes 'good living' versus ' wrong living'. The world over, we all want to live without hassle, in peace and safety.

Scientifically, we know that everything we perceive is matter. Matter comprises all sorts of building blocks, which, for this post, we shall refer to as tanmatras**. Socially, we know that communities are made up of many individuals. Just as matter can only form shapes/things by the tanmatras forming solid bonds that hold any given item together, so it is that communities can only remain stable for as long as the individuals within it form the appropriate bonds of kinship. All things of matter will erode: the length of time depends upon many things, not least how well the bonds were formed in the first place and what the environment around them is like. The tanmatras will often be taken up and reformed into new items. All individuals within a community will erode according to their health and environment. All humans, it is to be remembered, are made up of matter only. All communities eventually erode, often to be replaced with reformed ones.

A key difference between humankind and all other matter is that our central nervous system has evolved to such a degree that we debate what is good and what is not. Other sentient species on our planet do have social bonds and appear to have determination as to status within their societies, but only the human critter has formed philosophy and advanced strata of laws and statutes to guide the mass of individuals along a communal path of decency.

Every society, then, forms its own philosophy of right and wrong. The basis of all such philosophies is to achieve the betterment of those groups by encouraging the self-improvement of the individuals within the group. 

The human critter has the incredible ability to correct itself.

We are blessed with the antaH-karana**, the four-fold processing unit most commonly referred to as the mind. Again, one word loses the subtle complexity!

Back then, to our individual karma—our tale of action. What needs to be understood is that action is the result of a process that begins with the seed of a desire in the individual. From desire arises thought, first of the 'I want...' variety and then quickly supplanted by the 'do this or that to get it' thoughts. Then, action arises. What action we take must result in a corresponding reaction in the jiva's timeline - it might be immediate, such as indigestion due to overindulgence as we satisfy our food desires, or very long-term. Neither should we think that karma means 'bad things happen to bad people.' There is positive karma also - and none of us is free from it. Simple physics. Cause will always have effect.

It is important to understand that the matter of which we are made is totally neutral. The physics/quantum nature of our existence has nothing to do with the quality of any action. The goodness or badness of anything is a concept held only within the intellect. By becoming so aware of our existence, we have also had to contend with the consequences of that awareness. It is the very essence of what makes us 'human'.

The next point to understand is that this is not a static thing. Our concepts of what is right and wrong have mutated over the centuries. Actions that were once celebrated—like the persecution of religious minorities or the subjugation of other races—are now widely recognized as evil. This didn't happen because the physical world's moral character changed but because human society evolved in its understanding. We can, through a study of history, also recognise there is a cyclical nature to such behaviours. Whilst societies may learn and seek to move the human race along a better path of community collaboration and peace, it will only hold for as long as the balance of individuals within it opts to follow that path.

This brings us to the wider karmic cycle. Communities will always reflect the majority tendency of the individuals within them, which is when we start to see cliques. This is why we get 'desirable residence' areas versus those that are feared or jeered. 

As individuals, we have to determine how we wish to behave in the world. Are we prepared to stretch ourselves and seek to live life lovingly, no matter how strong the tide is currently against that? Can we fund the moral fibre within ourselves to spread capital 'ell' Love by being the example - not by preaching, thumping, threatening, but by accepting that there are many streams feeding into the river of Love and letting it flow? 

**Tanmatras, antaH-karana... the first is the name given to the elements in Advaita - which looks at the physics of creation as much as the metaphysical; the second is the exploration of what makes the human psyche. If you have found this month's series of posts interesting - would you like posts on these also? Thank you to all who have read and responded.

MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

Continuing this little series of posts on the Law of Karma. This one is a sort of summary (summation?) of the first two posts...

Gati - results (hereafter)

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction... 'as we sow, so we reap.'  The results of mental, verbal, or physical actions are;

a)  the joy or sorrow that we experience while doing the action

b)  the impression, good or bad, which it leaves within us (vaasana)

c)  the outer results we get in terms of circumstances, which fructify in their own time. Some results of action are immediate, whilst others may not come till some time later, such as weeks, months, or years. Still, others may take lifetimes to be exacted upon us.

During our lifetime, we enjoy or suffer the consequences of all actions done in our past, be it within this life or any of our past lives. All actions create vaasanas in our minds. At the time of death, the predominant vaasanas from this and earlier lives are drawn together to determine the quality and 'texture' of future incarnations; the vaasanas also determine the type of body and the field of experience we shall obtain hereafter.

Sattvic; at the time of death, a predominantly sattvic mind goes on to gain the highly subtle body of a presiding deity and enjoys subtle fields of experience... or he may be born as a human being and enjoy a high standard of living or gain a sattvic environment in which to fulfil the sattvic vaasanas brought into life.

Rajasic; a predominantly rajasic mind at the time of death, manifests as a human being in an action-oriented environment where he can exhaust his vaasanas of indulgence and activity.

Tamasic; a person with predominantly tamasic vaasanas at the time of death, manifests as a human being in an inert or poor environment or as some form of animal or plant; there, he can exhaust his vaasanas of inertia and live in a state of non-thinking.

From this, you would think living a sattvic life seems common sense, would you not? However, you will gather that even the best intentions can go awry if we are not watchful of the vaasanas within us - those grooves of experience that mark us, however subtly. It is also one of the anomalies of life that we very often identify the grooves in others but are less able to see those within ourselves. Very often, it is only when we are faced with our mortality that we properly begin to assess ourselves. Either that, or we continue in total denial of who we truly are! 

Indeed, how you receive the knowledge within this karmic concept will come down to where you lie in the spectrum of saatva, rajas, or tamas. It will be immediately understood, or taken on board, challenged and tested... or totally rejected... This is not a judgment but a statement of fact. We are who we are but we can be something more. Even the best of us can always find something within us to improve. This is the kernel of living life lovingly.

MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

Thank you for responding to last week's intro to exploring The Law of Karma. This is such a vast subject, not one that stands solo. Whilst these posts arise from the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, there is a universality (secularism) to the principles that can be recognised, regardless of one's background or philosophical leanings. It is a challenge to "nutshell" the concepts, and questions and doubts will certainly be raised - and that is fine! Advaita welcomes the questioning mind, the searching spirit, and the doubting intellect. 

In many respects, it is as simple as 'what goes around comes around'. Accepting that action executed, every decision taken, must undergo its consequences, whether expected or not, is a little more complicated.  Firstly, we have to absorb the concept of vaasanas - the impression left by experiences. These are the 'programming' of our individuality. As long as we work on our vaasana instructions, we will be caught up in desires, agitations, and the actions resulting from seeking to quell them. The actions will 'imprint' according to the result obtained, which leads to affirming existing vaasanas or creating new ones that will bring on further action.

It is the law of cause and effect that governs karma. Let us look a little closer. Each person is who they are based upon the yield of past actions. From birth through to the end of life, if actions are of noble and pure intent, that person might be said to be one of dignity or goodness. Equally, we see others who live with viciousness and immorality, and we mark these as 'bad eggs'. Everyone has a concept of what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. What drives this is not only the circumstances around them (which can be seen and easily 'accused') but also the very nature of each individual, the personality with which they are born. Hence, we can find 'bad eggs' arising from otherwise agreeable roots, and conversely, we see giants of virtue coming out of the worst of circumstances.

Thus, we can conclude that what drives a person's life is not so much the environment but how they respond to it - and this is ascribed to karma. We can look at this and say, 'Well, that was their destiny,' and leave it at that. How lacking in curiosity would that make us?!

Karma is not simply destiny (which has the sense of being written in stone, and therefore, nothing can be done about it). It is much more dynamic than this. To fully understand karma is essential in Vedanta, for it clarifies how we even have come to be reading the philosophy itself. The 'destiny' part of karmic law is that which is called praarabdha. It is the 'effect' of the causative past in current life and all previous existences. It can be seen that balance has to be brought to bear, deeds answered for, and to this extent, we must live out destiny. However, along the way, each jiva (the individualised soul) has the capacity to climb the spiritual ladder, cancelling out the karmic account and developing ever greater strength to correct the course of praarabdha.  This self-effort is called purushaartha (wealth of cosmic man), and this is the seed of the phrase "Lord helps those who help themselves". Thus, it can be said that the present praarabdha is a result of past purushaartha. Equally, every action from this moment of understanding can have purushaartha behind it to ensure an improved praarabdha as we go forward, leading to final liberation (moksha) from the whole cycle.

In short, what one meets in life is praarabdha, and how one meets it is purushaartha.

We have the power of our future within ourselves. Through our purushaartha, we can really make a difference in our soul's journey. Whether we choose between preyas (path of ease) or shreyas (path of good) may be written at birth according to praarabdha, but if we have earned enough karmic points, we will come to understand that choices can be made to change or improve our paths. We cannot completely wipe praarabdha's slate, but it can be said that the future is a continuity of the past, modified with purushartha in the present.

Now, the mix gets a little more complex. Yes, we have freedom of choice between positive and negative actions in terms of our purushaartha; however, those choices are still largely coloured by the depth of our praarabdha.  Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda, gave an excellent example of a boat on a river. Without an engine (no choice), it must only flow as the river flows; if we add an engine (purushaartha), we can certainly give the boat independence of the river...but for as long as it remains on the river, despite being more steerable, it is still to some extent governed by the current already in place; thus if going down river the boat is actually going faster than its engine is driving it, but if it is going upriver, it may be battling to maintain speed.  This explains how, even when we have a good and well-planned life, we can hit heavy 'back-currents', and we wonder what we did to deserve the strife!  We may never know the source of the eddy or the whirlpool. All we can do is seek to regain balance through purushaartha, titiksha, shraddha and so on.

We are, then, a product of our past but can be producers for the future. Praarabdha (law of destiny) applies only to past actions and makes us victims. However, Karma (law of consequential action) ensures the ability to create and quell praarabdha. The logic behind this is well seen in present life with things such as education (the more effort put the better the qualification) and such like; what can take a little more to absorb is that there are many, many, many lives which contributed to praarabdha and there may be many more to endure until purushaartha can yield the most favourable result of all - the balancing of our karmic debt and we can sign off the cosmic account.

Yes, I am aware that you are also being introduced to the concept of reincarnation here. However, even in accepting this is the one and only existence we have, does it not make the urgency of positive living, living life lovingly, all the more imperative? Even if we have only these most fleeting "three score and twenty" to display our light of consciousness, is it not better to ensure our actions speak positively for us?

MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

Recently, some very interesting comments were made on the "karma as action" quote. Karma is one of those words that has been adopted into English and somewhat mutated. 

Not entirely: it is true that karma reflects how we have lived our lives, so contained within that is the idea of getting a comeback on behaving badly. It is, though, way more complex than this, so this month, I am going to focus on providing you with a more detailed understanding of karma and how we all live it, regardless of our philosophical base. 

Action is the insignia of life. Man cannot live without actions. Actions by themselves are neither good nor bad. It is the intentions behind them which make them such. For example, when a doctor performs surgery, it is not called assault with grievous bodily harm, even though sharp implements are used, and the body is slit open. It is being done to improve health.  All undertakings in life may be categorised per the triguna (three qualities), depending upon the intentions behind them.

Sattvic; proper and deep thought behind an action makes it a sattvic undertaking. One thinks about the goal that engenders the action and the consequences and/or results that may ensue. One also thinks about the time, effort, cost and so on. Sattvic thinking enables strong prioritising and setting of clear goals. There is also a consideration of the effects on others when carrying out the action or what might arise from it. There is a strong assessment as to whether any given action is a worthy one or, indeed, worthwhile (i.e., is it sufficiently noble or even worth our investment of time, etc.). "Plan out your work, and then work out your plan!" After planning well, when all one's energies are focused on one's actions, it is more likely to be efficient and successful. What is more, if variations and hurdles arise, one is better equipped to deal with them - as our planning ought to contain 'contingency'. The benefits of sattvic action are often sustainable and long-lasting.

Rajasic; incomplete and distracted thinking makes an undertaking rajasic. Actions based on immature or hurried thinking, half-baked plans or overly sentimental promptings often fall short in terms of purpose and fulfilment. Having too many goals (multitasking) is likely to result in a lesser standard of completion...the term 'jack of all trades and master of none' was made for such as this! Improper thinking, procrastination, disorganisation, and stress… all arise in rajasic action. Undoubtedly, things will get done, but often without appropriate satisfaction, and the benefits will likely be short-term.

Tamasic; rash, whimsical, indiscriminate, impulsive...these are words often associated with tamasic action. The term 'act in haste and repent at leisure' would apply here. Often, tamasic action is driven almost purely by strong emotion, logic having left the building! There is rarely any positive result for such a situation.  There may be immediate gratification, but this is followed by more immediate need, and cycles of guilt, regret, and misery are created.

The aim of life is to always live in the space of sattvic. However, we are all flawed to a degree and thus will all experience some rajasic or tamasic times. Striving for the best is something we can all do. Embrace capital 'ell' Love!