THE AWARENESS OF KARMA .(PHILOSOPHY, MYTHOLOGY AND RITUAL)

 

                       

                     THE THREE PARTS OF RELIGION

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           PHILOSOPHY, MYTHOLOGY AND RITUAL

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                     BEFORE CONSIDERING FURTHER DEVOTION TO DUTY HELPS US IN OUR SPIRITUAL PROGRESS, LET ME PLACE BEFORE YOU IN A BRIEF COMPASS ANOTHER ASPECT OF WHAT WE IN INDIA MEAN BY KARMA. IN EVERY RELIGION THERE ARE THREE PARTS. PHILOSOPHY, MYTHOLOGY, AND RITUAL. PHILOSOPHY OF COURSE IS THE ESSENCE OF EVERY RELIGION, MYTHOLOGY EXPLAINS AND ILLUSTRATES IT BY MEANS OF THE MORE OR LESS LEGENDARY LIVES OF GREAT MEN, STORIES AND FABLES OF WONDERFUL THINGS, AND SO ON, RITUAL GIVES TO THAT PHILOSOPHY A STILL MORE CONCRETE FORM, SO THAT EVERY ONE MAY GRASP IT - RITUAL IS IN FACT CONCRETISED PHILOSOPHY . THIS RITUAL IS KARMA.

                        THERE ARE MANY  OTHER ASPECTS OF THIS SCIENCE OF WORK. ONE AMONG THEM IS TO KNOW THE RELATION BETWEEN THOUGHT AND WORD AND WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED BY THE POWER OF THE WORD. IN EVERY RELIGION THE POWER OF THE WORD IS RECOGNISED, SO MUCH SO THAT IN SOME OFTHEM CREATION ITSELF IS SAID TO HAVE COME OUT OF THE WORD. THE EXTERNAL ASPECT OF THE THOUGHT OF GOD IS THE WORD, AND AS GOD THOUGHT AND WILLED BEFORE HE CREATED, CREATION CAME OUT OF THE WORD. IN THIS STRESS AND HURRY O OUR MATERIALISTIC LIFE, OUR NERVES LOSE SENSIBILITY AND BECOME HARDENED. THE OLDER WE GROW, THE LONGER WE ARE KNOCKED ABOUT IN THE WORLD, THE MORE CALLOUS WE BECOME, AND WE ARE APT TO NEGLECT THINGS THAT EVEN HAPPEN PERSISTENTLY AND PROMINENTLY AROUND US.

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                        HUMAN NATURE, HOWEVER, ASSERTS ITSELF SOMETIMES, AND WE ARE LED TO INQUIRE INTO AND WONDER AT SOME OF THESE COMMON OCCURENCES, WONDERINGS THUS IS THE FIRST STEP IN THE ACQUISITION OF LIGHT. APART FROM THE HIGHER PHILOSOPHIC AND RELIGIOUS VALUE OF THE WORD, WE MAY SEE THAT SOUND SYMBOLS PLAY A PROMINENT PART IN THE DRAMA OF HUMAN LIFE. I AM TALKING TO YOU. IAM NOT TOUCHING YOU, THE PULSATIONS OF THE AIR CAUSED BY MY SPEAKING GO INTO YOUR EAR, THEY TOUCH YOUR NERVES AND PRODUCE EFFECTS IN YOUR MINDS. YOU CANNOT RESIST THIS. WHAT CAN BE MORE WONDERFUL THAN THIS? ONE MAN CALLS ANOTHER A FOOL, AND AT THIS THE OTHER STANDS UP AND CLENCHES HIS FIST AND LANDS A BLOW ON HIS NOSE. LOOK AT THE POWER OF THE WORLD! THERE IS A WOMAN WEEPING AND MISERABLE, ANOTHER WOMAN COMES ALONG AND SPEAKS TO HER A FEW GENTLE WORDS, THE DOUBLED UP FRAME OF THE WEEPING WOMAN BECOMES STRAIGHTENED AT ONCE, H SORROW IS GONE AND SHE ALREADY BEGINS TO SMILE.  THINK OF THE POWER OF WORDS! THEY ARE A GREAT FORCE IN HIGHER PHILOSOPHY AS WELL AS IN COMMON LIFE. DAY AND NIGHT WE MANIPULATE THIS FORCES WITHOUT THOUGHT AND WITHOUT INQUIRY. TO KNOW THE NATURE OF THIS FORCE AND TO USE IT WELL IS ALSO A PART OF KARMA-YOGA.

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                       JUST AS EVERY ACTION THAT EMANATES FROM US COMES BACK TO US AS REACTION, EVEN SO OUR ACTIONS MAY ACT ON OTHER PEOPLE AND THEIR ON US. PERHAPS ALL OF YOU HAVE OBSERVED IT AS A FACT THAT WHEN PERSONS DO EVIL ACTIONS , THEY BECOME MORE AND MORE EVIL. AND WHEN THEY BEGIN TO DO GOOD, THEY BECOME STRONGER AND STRONGER AND LEARN TO DO GOOD AT ALL TIMES. THIS INTENSIFICATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF ACTION CANNOT BE EXPLAINED ON ANY OTHER GROUND THAN THAT WE CAN ACT AND REACT UPON EACH OTHER. TO TAKE AN ILLUSTRATION FROM PHYSICAL SCIENCE, WHEN I AM DOING A CERTAIN ACTION, MY MIND MAY BE SAID TO BE IN A CERTAIN STATE OF VIBRATION, ALL MINDS WHICH ARE IN SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES WILL HAVE THE TENDENCY TO BE AFFECTED BY MY MIND. IF THERE ARE DIFFERENT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS TUNED ALIKE IN ONE ROOM, ALL OF YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT WHEN ON IS STRUCK, THE OTHERS HAVE THE TENDENCY TO VIBRATE SO AS TO GIVE THE SAME NOTE. SO ALL MINDS THAT HAVE THE SAME TENSION, SO TO SAY, WIL BE EQUALLY AFFECTED BY THE SAME THOUGHT. OF COURSE, THIS INFLUENCE OF THOUGHT ON MIND WILL VARY ACCORDING TO DISTANCE AND OTHER CAUSES, BUT THE MIND IS ALWAYS OPEN TO AFFECTION.

                            SUPPOSE I AM DOING AN EVIL ACT, MY MIND IS IN A CERTAIN STATE OF VIBRATION, AND ALL MINDS IN THE UNIVERSE, WHICH ARE IN A SIMILAR STATE, HAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING AFFECTED BY MY MIND, AND THIS POWER OF MIND UPON MIND IS MORE OR LESS ACCORDING AS THE FORCE OF THE TENSION IS GREATER OR LESS.

 

                                    HOW TO BECOME

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                                       WHAT IS DUTY?

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                              IT IS NECESSARY IN THE STUDY OF KARMA-YOGA TO KNOW WHAT DUTY IS. IF I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING I MUST FIRST KNOW THAT IT IS MY DUTY, AND THEN I CAN DO IT. THE IDEA OF  DUTY AGAIN IS DIFFERENT IN DIFFERENT NATIONS. THE MOHAMMEDAN SAYS WHAT IS WRITTEN IN HIS BOOK, THE KORAN, IS HIS DUTY, THE HINDU SAYS WHAT IS IN THE VEDAS IS HIS DUTY, AND THE CHRISTIAN SAYS WHAT IS IN THE BIBLE IS HIS DUTY. WE FIN THAT THERE ARE VARIED IDEAS OF DUTY, DIFFERING ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT STATES IN LIFE , DIFFERENT HISTORICAL PERIODS AND DIFFERENT NATIONS. THE TERM "DUTY" , LIKE EVERY OTHER UNIVERSAL ABSTRACT TERM, IS IMPOSSIBLE CLEARLY TO DEFINE, WE CAN ONLY GET AN IDEA OF IT BY KNOWING ITS PRACTICAL OPERATIONS AND RESUTLS. WHEN CERTAIN THINGS OCCUR BEFORE US, WE HAVE ALL A NATURAL OR TRAINED TO ACT IN A CERTAIN MANNER TOWARDS THEM, WHEN THIS IMPULSE COMES, THE MIND BEGINS TO THINK ABOUT THE SITUATION.

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                        SOMETIMES IT THINKS THAT IT IS GOOD TO ACT IN A PARTICULAR MANNER UNDER THE GIVEN CONDITIONS, AT OTHER TIMES IT THINKS THAT IT IS WRONG TO ACT IN THE SAME MANNER EVEN IN THE VERY SAME CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ORDINARY IDEA OF DUTY EVERYWHERE IS THAT EVERY GOOD MAN FOLLOWS THE DICTATES OF HIS CONSCIENCE. BUT WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES AN ACT A DUTY? IF A CHRISTIAN FINDS A PIECE OF BEEF BEFORE HIM AND DOES NOT EAT IT TO SAVE HIS OWN LIFE, OR WILL NOT GIVE IT TO SAVE THE LIFE OF ANOTHER MAN, HE IS SURE TO FEEL THAT HE HAS NOT DONE HIS DUTY. BUT IF A HINDU DARES TO EAT THAT PIECES OF BEEF OR TO GIVE IT TO ANOTHER HINDU, HE IS EQUALLY SURE TO FEEL THAT HE TOO HAS NOT DONE HIS DUTY, THE HINDU'S TRAINING AND EDUCATION MAKE HIM FEEL THAT WAY. 

                    IN THE LAST CENTURY THERE WERE NOTORIOUS BANDS OF ROBBERS IN INDIA CALLED THUGS, THEY THOUGHT IT THEIR DUTY TO KILL ANY MAN THEY COULD AND TAKE AWAY HIS MONEY, THE LARGER THE NUMBER OF MEN THEY KILLED, THE BETTER THEY THOUGHT THERE WERE. ORDINARILY IF A MAN GOES OUT INTO THE STREET AND SHOOTS DOWN ANOTHER MAN, HE IS APT TO FEEL SORRY FOR IT, THINKING THAT HE HAS DONE WRONG. 

                          BUT IF THE VERY SAME MAN, AS A SOLDIER IN HIS REGIMENT, KILLS NOT ONE BUT TWENTY, HE IS CERTAIN TO FEEL GLAD AND THINK THAT HE HAS HIS DUTY REMARKABLY WELL. THEREFORE WE SEE THAT IT IS NOT THE THING DONE THAT DEFINES A DUTY. TO GIVE AN ONJECTIVE DEFINITION OF DUTY IS THUS ENTIRELY IMPOSSIBLE. YET THERE IS DUTY FROM THE SUBJECTIVE SIDE. 

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                   ANY ACTION THAT MAKES US TO GODWARD IS A GOOD ACTION, AND IS OUR DUTY, ANY ACTION THAT MAKES US GO DOWNWARD IS EVIL, AND ACTION THAT MAKES US GO DOWNWARD IS EVIL, AND IS NOT OUR DUTY. FROM THE SUBJECTIVE STANDPOINT WE MAY SEE THAT CERTAIN OTHER ACTS HAVE A TENDENCY TO DEGRADE AND TO BRUTALISE US.  BUT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO MAKE OUT WITH CERTAINLY WHICH ACTS HAVE WHICH KIND OF TENDENCY IN RELATION TO ALL PERSONS, OF ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS. THERE IS, HOWEVER, ONLY ONE IDEA OF DUTY WHICH HAS BEEN UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED BY ALL MANKIND, OF ALL AGES AND SECTS AND COUNTRIES, AND THAT HAS BEEN SUMMED UP IN A SANSKRIT APHORISM THUS. "DO NOT INJUIRE ANY BEING, NOT INJURING ANY BEING IS VIRTUE, INJURING ANY BEING IS SIN".

                      THERE ISA SAGE IN INDIA, A GREAT YOGI, ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFUL MEN I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. HE IS A PECULIAR MAN, HE WILL NOT TEACH ANY ONE, IF YOU ASK HIM A QUESTION HE WILL NOT ANSWER. IT IS TOO MUCH FOR HIM TO TAKE UP THE POSITION OF A TEACHER, HE WILL NOT DO IT. IF YOU ASK A QUESTION, AND WAIT FOR SOME DAYS, IN THE COURSE OF CONVERSATION HE WILL BRING UP THE SUBJECT, AND WONDERFUL LIGHT WILL HE THROW ON IT. HE TOLD ME ONCE THE SECRET OF WORK", LET THE END AND THE MEANS BE JOINED INTO ONE".

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                        WHEN YOU ARE DOING ANY WORK, DO NOT THINK OF ANYTHING BEYOND. DO IT AS WORSHIP, AS THE HIGHEST WORSHIP, AND DEVOTE YOUR WHOLE LIFE TO IT FOR THE TIME BEING. THUS, IN THE STORY, THE VYADHA LIFE TO IT FOR THE TIME BEING. THUS, IN THE STORY, THE VYADHA AND THE WOMAN DID THEIR DUTY WITH CHEERFULNESS AND WHOLE-HEARTNESS, AND THE RESULT WAS THAT THEY BECAME ULLUMINATED, CLEARLY SHOWING THAT THE RIGHT PERFORMANCE OF THE DUTIES OF ANY STATION IN LIFE, WITHOUT ATTACHMENT TO RESULTS, LEADS US TO THE HIGHEST REALISATION OF THE PERFECTION OF THE SOUL.

                     IT IS THE WORKER WHO IS ATTACHED TO RESULTS THAT GRUMBLES ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE DUTY WHICH HAS FALLEN TO HIS LOT, TO THE UNATTACHED WORKER ALL DUTIES ARE EQUALLY GOOD, AND FORM EFFICIENT INSTRUMENTS WITH WHICH SELFISHNESS AND SENSUALITY MAY BE KILLED, AND THE FREEDOM OF THE SOUL SECURED. WE ARE ALL APT TO THINK TOO HIGHLY OR OURSELVES. OUR DUTIES ARE DETERMINED BY OUR DESERTS TO A MUCH LARGER EXTENT THAN WE ARE WILLING TO GRANT. 

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                      COMPETITION ROUSES ENVY, AND IT KILLS AND KINDLINESS OF TEH HEART. TO THE GRUMBLER ALL DUTIES ARE DISTASTEFUL, NOTHING WILL EVER SATISFY HIM, AND HIS WHOLE LIFE IS DOOMED TO PROVE A FAILURE. LET US WORK ON, DOING AS WE GO WHATEVER HAPPENS TO BE OUR DUTY, AND BEING EVER READY TO PUT OUR SHOULDERS TO THE WHEEL. THEN SURELY SHALL WE SEE THE LIGHT!