At the present time, so many people are suffering and often questions arise, for example, why am I in this situation? Why do I have the parents and siblings that I have? Why does my boss shout at me and not at the others? Why does my friend have better parents than I do? The answers to these types of question are both simple and complex.
To understand the reasons for the situations we find ourselves in, it is necessary to understand the philosophy and eternal law of karma. It is similar to one of the laws of physics, which says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and also similar to the proverb in the Bible, “A man reaps what he sows”, more commonly quoted as, “as you sow, so shall you reap”.
It can also be understood by looking at nature. The seed of a pear tree, when planted, will only produce a pear tree, not a mango tree. To carry the analogy of a seed even further, some seeds produce a result in a few months and some, like fruit trees, produce fruit only after years, and that too only if I water it, nourish it and make sure the birds do not eat the fruit while it is still unripe.
We are constantly giving and taking with other people. Sometimes we give happiness, sometimes we give sorrow. We do this with our thoughts, words and actions.
If someone does something I do not like, I may feel angry, but I do not say anything. However, I avoid eye contact, or do not smile, so the other will feel our anger and feel sorrow.
However, I may not keep it at thought level; I may shout in anger and say hurtful things, and thereby cause sorrow. Or I may carry this further and hit them or hurt them physically, causing sorrow and pain with my actions. All of this will come back to me, not necessarily from the same person. It may come back to me through a different source, but it will come back to me.
As we said earlier, some seeds take longer to bear fruit. Some actions and thoughts and words are more complex and become patterns of behaviour that bear fruit much later on. In fact, a full understanding of our situations in life requires an understanding of rebirth.
Much research has been done into reincarnation – in the west through psychiatry, hypnotism and near-death experiences. In India, because the concept of rebirth is so widely understood and accepted, the soul reborn as a child is often able to recall, in quite some detail, people and places from their previous birth, and these stories are well documented.
When this law of karma is understood deeply, then the soul will take great care to neither cause nor take sorrow. The soul needs to also clear away the negative karma from the past, so that the repercussions do not reach into the present moment. This is done through the fire of meditation, the fire of yoga, through a direct connection with the Supreme Being.
There could be no more important time than the time we are passing through, to make this easy and simple connection and ensure we carry only pure thoughts, words and actions into our next life.
B.K. Dr. Nirmala is the director of Brahma Kumaris Rajyoga centres in the Asia-Pacific region.