The Vedas say that first of all you need to understand what there are pious and sinful activities, as well as activities that bring the highest benefit, and focus on the latter.
Now many people hear the word "karma", but not everyone knows its meaning. This concept, taken from the ancient Vedic philosophy, has penetrated into various areas of our lives in recent years: the press, computer games, everyday conversations and even shops. Until recently, it was possible to see posts in which, in a joking manner, they were asked to like with the inscription "+1 to karma." In fact, this word has become a household expression of encouraging a good deed. On the forums, it is used as a concept akin to reputation, and someone introduces it as a currency in computer games.
What is Karma? Translated from Sanskrit, this word means action, namely cause-and-effect relationship. If we turn to the Scriptures, then there we can find expressions known to all of us, which also describe the essence of karma.
For example, in the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Galatians “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap: he who sows to his flesh from the flesh will reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life”(Gal. 6: 7-8). Or the following example from the Gospel of Matthew: “Do not judge, lest you be judged, for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with what measure you mete, it will be measured to you also”(Matt. 7: 1–2).
Despite the fact that the concept of karma is very common lately, few people can say what is behind it. If you understand it superficially, it seems that this is some kind of inevitability or suffering. Anyone who seeks to understand this issue in more detail, discovers for himself a universal key to understanding all the events in his life. For such a person, the understanding suddenly opens that everything that happens around him is a string of skillfully constructed and planned episodes.
Gradually, a person begins to comprehend that things like cancer and road accidents do not just happen. Everything has its own need. However, those who do not study the laws of karma tend to indulge in grief and lament that there is no justice in this world at such moments. Such a person sincerely does not understand why this happened to him, for which he received such suffering. And this is really difficult to understand without taking into account the idea of reincarnation.
According to Vedic philosophy, we do not live one life, but an infinite number. Falling into different bodies, we do both good and bad deeds. All of them are deposited in a kind of data bank in the subtle body, which stores all information about us. So, actions from past lives dictate our next birth, family, parents, character, abilities, wealth, etc. Each past life programs our next. It turns out that our future depends on how we live now.
Analyzing the law of karma, first of all, one should understand that for every action there is a consequence. Whatever we do, there will certainly be an answer. Since we are naturally active and influenced by the modes of material nature, we cannot remain idle. Every second of our life we perform some actions, and this, in turn, lays a certain imprint on our future in the form of something that may manifest itself in this fate or in the next lives.
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If a man, before leaving his wife and children, knew about his suffering in the future, do you think he would do it or not? If he knew that in his next life he would be born as a child who would be abandoned by his father and who would suffer all the suffering of life without a dad, he probably would hardly have decided on such an act.
Our problem is that we are in ignorance. And even the fact that we have been listening to lectures and working on ourselves for many years does not guarantee us that we will not fall into the traps of our own illusions. By acting in one way or another, we call on the Universe to respond to our act. Whether the answer is good or bad is entirely up to us.
So, one of the properties of karma is its irreversibility. We can choose an action, but we cannot choose its consequences. Also, we cannot stop what will happen next. We cannot say that we changed our mind when we already pulled the trigger of the pistol. Therefore, if we commit any actions, then we need to muster up the courage to accept what will come after them.
Often in the criminal chronicle they show criminals arrested for petty theft or hooliganism. They are being detained for stealing a phone or trying to rob someone. Their trouble lies in the fact that the momentary desire for profit leads them to commit such acts, and they have to pay in real time. If at the time of the attack, they thought about what the consequences might be, their lives would not be so distorted.
Let's give another example, well known to everyone. When a guy and a girl get married, they swear to each other in love and fidelity. It seems that this has already become part of the tradition, so the newlyweds may not attach much importance to this ceremony. However, at the moment of the oath, the mechanisms of karma are activated. Therefore, when problems begin in family life, and they will certainly arise, the spouses will have to answer again and again for the decision they once made. Therefore, marriage should not be made as a joke or for someone's self-affirmation. This is a very serious decision that entails equally serious consequences not only for the husband and wife, but also for their children.
Reasoning in this way, a person understands that his whole life is woven from actions. Therefore, you need to carefully study what actions can and should be performed and what not. Therefore, further we will consider three types of karma, which will give us an idea of how to live correctly and what to invest in.
1. Punya-karma - actions performed in goodness, for the benefit of all beings, have a constructive character. The result of these actions is godliness.
2. Vikarma - destructive, sinful actions. Suffering is the result. By performing vikarma, a person goes against his own nature and against the nature of other living beings. He wants to act only for himself, out of his own selfish goals.
3. Akarma - pious activities aimed at serving people and God. It brings neither piety nor suffering. This is what the scriptures call action in inaction.
Which is better to do: punya-karma or akarma? At first glance, it seems that punya karma, because for it, according to the law, a person should receive pleasant fruits. However, sages believe that it is better to do akarma. Why? For example, you gave 100 rubles to a person in order to get yourself some kind of benefit, for example, to ease your fate. According to the law of karma, you will have to be born in this world again in order to be given this money.
However, if a person understands that infinite birth in the material world is evil, he does not seek to create a fertile ground for this. Therefore, people who have cognized the truth know that it is better not to appear in this world again, but to receive liberation. That is why they do akarma, an activity that brings them neither happiness nor suffering.
It should be noted that the intricacies of karma are impossible to understand. The scriptures teach that even sages can become confused about what is action and what is inaction. Therefore, one should not think too much about how karma works, how I lived in a past life, where I will be in the next, etc. The Vedas say that first of all you need to understand what are pious and sinful activities, as well as activities that bring the highest good, and focus on the latter. This is the main thing to understand when studying the law of karma.
In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, “The intricacies of action are very difficult to understand. Therefore, one must know well what an action is, what a forbidden action is and what an inaction is”(4.17).
The truth is that a person can act differently than he should according to his fate. Unlike animals, we always have a choice of how to act: piously or sinfully. And freedom is not to be led by your desires, but to be guided by reason.
Let us turn to Bhagavad-gita again: “Therefore, on the basis of the scriptures, you should understand what your duty is, what you can do and what you cannot do. Having studied all the prescriptions, one should act in such a way as to gradually achieve perfection”(16.24).
Therefore, if we want to do bad deeds, we must try to stay on the platform of the mind. So, having the right vector, we will gradually acquire the ability to get rid of the desire to commit sinful activities.
The Vedas explain that if we strive to develop spiritual taste, then gradually we will feel that it is a thousand times stronger and more pleasant than sinful. Having received a spiritual taste, we will be able to control our actions, directing our activities to the service of God (akarma), and thus obtain liberation from the material world.