Karma When the Law of Grace works, the Law of Karma
ends.
The Law of Karma
A talk given by Sant Kirpal Singh Ji – Chicago, October 1972
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
we are greatly fortunate that we have got the manbody. Manbody is the highest
in all creation, next to God. Even the angels bowed down to the manbody when it
was made. All scriptures tell us that due to the reactions of very good actions
of the past, we get the manbody. So really we are very fortunate. Our good
actions have fructified, and we have got the manbody as a result thereof. It is
a golden opportunity in which we can pay off all reactions of the past.
And also we are free, within certain limits. All bodies other than the
manbody are bound; they have got no free action there. In the human body we are
bound to a certain extent, as a reaction of the past, and we are free also
within certain limits. So if we are wise, we will pay off the old reactions, the
old karmas, and go back home. So it is a time in which we can either go home or
go back again in the wheel of life and death.
Be very cautious. This is a golden opportunity we have got. Try to understand
how to pay off the debts which we have. You will find we are to be very
cautious. Each thought that strikes us causes a reaction. Each thought, each
word and each deed has to be accounted and compensated for in nature. Nature
spares no man. “As you sow so shall you reap.” No exception to the rule. Never
think idly of anything. If you think idly of anything, even that has a reaction.
The fifth Guru of the Sikhs says, “Be afraid of the sins we have done
unknowingly.” They will also have a reaction.
So every cause has an effect. We are to understand this principle, this law.
If we understand this principle or Law of Karma, then we can come out of it and
go back home. Otherwise we’ll keep on coming and going and coming and going. So
each cause has an effect. Every action brings about a reaction. Uproot the cause
and the effect disappears. This has been done by the Masters who have
transcended these laws. But all others are bound by the bonds of karma, which is
the root cause of physical existence. Of course, these are very good actions,
the reactions of which have given you the manbody. But still we have to be very
careful what we do: either we are trying to go back down or back home.
So there are three kinds of karma. One kind is called
Sanchit. “Sanchit” means
“which are stored as yet,” not fructified. So suchlike karmas, you
see, from hundreds of births back, are just in store, not yet touched for
reaction.
In India at the time of the Pandavas, there was one Dhritarashtra. He was a
great yogi but blind from birth. Lord Krishna asked him, “You are blind from
your very birth. What caused it? What karma have you incurred, the result of
which you are blind from birth?”
And he told him, “by yogic power I know up to one hundred births back; and I
have found no action the result of which I would be blind.”
So Lord Krishna. who was a yogishwar, just gave him help to go back still
further. And he found that in his 106th birth back he had done the action which
resulted in his present blindness.
So mind that there are akashic records, you see. Whatever we speak, whatever
we think, that is recorded in the akash. Those who can read those records, they
can give you statements made hundreds of births back.
Ever
since we have left the house of our Father, ever since we have been sent to the
earth, we have been coming and going. Action and reaction has been going on.
Some has been paid off by Pralabdha karma.
Pralabdha karmas are the karmas which are in fruit, which are
fructified, and on which our present existence is based. First, we have got the
manbody. That is the result of very high karma, good karma. Now also we are
bound within certain limits unless those reactions are paid off, and the seeds
of no further actions are sown. So pralabdha is the karma on which our present
life is based. It is what is called “fate” or “destiny.” Fate or destiny is a
reaction of our past karma which is now in fruit.
The third class is
Kriyaman, the actions that we do daily.
So as I submitted, man is free within certain limits and bound within certain
limits. Just take the example of a boy who is flying the kite in the air. He may
have, for instance, two or three hundred yards of thread with which he is flying
the kite. But his father is at the back, keeping two hundred yards of thread in
his control. He has allowed only a hundred yards of thread to his son; enough to
enable him to fly the kite. So he can fly the kite only up to a hundred yards,
not more.
So these karmas are of different natures. Some karma bears fruit very
quickly; others, a little later; others, very long. Take the example of the
courts. There are small cause courts, there are high courts, and there are privy
council courts. Is it not so? Ordinary cases are settled in weeks or a month or
so. Cases intricate take months to decide in high courts. And there are other
cases of a very intricate nature; they take years to decide in privy council.
You follow my point? So we incur action and reaction daily. They are bearing
forth fruit: some quickly, some later, some still later. As in the case of
Dhritarashtra I quoted you: he was reaping the fruit of karma incurred 106
births back.
Some of the Kriyaman karma we reap in this life; the remaining is transferred
to the Sanchit karma. Karma is the cause of rebirth; and each birth is, in turn,
followed by death. There the cycle of enjoyment and suffering results. Some are
happy; some are not happy. So, “as you think, so you become.” Ignorance of the
law is no excuse, mind that. We say we don’t know, but what we have sown, we
must reap. Whether we sow good actions or bad actions – both are binding.
Handcuffs or chains may be made of iron or gold; but they are equally binding.
These karmic laws are difficult to understand; but if we follow what I am
telling you, we can save our life, our coming down to the earth.
So fortunately we can learn how to pay off debts and come off this wheel of
life. We daily sow seeds. They will bear forth fruit. Some are being fructified.
Some are being laid in the Sanchit karma, in store. The store of our karma is
great. So in this plight if we meet some Master who knows this law of nature,
how to wind it up and liberate us from that law – he takes on the process of
winding up all the karmas of the initiate. He takes over. It is a very
difficult, very hard job, being a Master.
First of all, what does He do? He gives you a contact with the Sound Current
within, by practising which the Sanchit or storehouse karmas are burned away. It
is a great blessing: all sanchit karmas are burned off. They will not fructify
in future lives.
Then for
Kriyaman karma, the karma that we do daily, he prescribes the
maintenance of the diary. You see? Now mark the purpose for which the diary is
meant. It has a very important work to do. He is enjoined to lead a clean life
and weed out all imperfections in him by self-introspection from day to day.
This he is instructed to do.
The
Pralabdha karma is not touched. It is a result of that karma that we
have got the present life. If Saints touch this, then the life will end; the
very moment a Saint touches the Pralabdha karma, the life will end! So he does
not touch it because it is the cause of the physical body, which would vanish
due to interference in nature’s law.
So a very small amount of karma remains to be tolerated by the initiate
during the present life.
Now
Sanchit karmas in store are burned away by coming in contact with the
Sound. The more you come in contact with the Sound Principle within you, the
Naam or Word, the two aspects of which are Light and Sound, your Sanchit karma
will be burned away. Pralabdha karma is not touched. Kriyaman karma is just as I
told you: for that he makes you to be very strict. Don’t spare yourself. You
should criticize yourself as you like to criticize others. And weed out day to
day. Some of the remaining karmas are Kriyaman, you see; they are also polished
down, softened down, by the Master, by the disciple’s devotion.
Now, you see, when you sit by a Master the mind keeps silent for a few
minutes. Mind does not make any trouble. You have no thoughts, as a result of
the radiation of the Master. And the qualification of a Master is given as,
sitting in whose presence your mind does not rake up any trouble for a while. As
I told you yesterday, if you go to a man who sells scents he may not give you
anything, but by radiation you get perfume. Similarly, in His presence, if you
sit fully receptive for a time, your mind won’t make all kinds of trouble.
That’s by radiation. And if you have a contact within? You see? Then the phial
of perfume is given to you.
So Pralabdha karmas, you see, are not touched, because over them we have no
control. They have to react. What has to come to pass must come to pass. No
exception to the rule. There is, however, one possible way out: one may so mold
and develop his inner self through the guidance of the Master-soul that he or
she may not feel the bitter sting of the karma.
Just take the example of an almond or walnut when it is not ripe. You can put
a needle through it. But when it is ripe, the shell is separated from the
kernel, and if you put in a needle, it won’t pass through the shell. Is it not
so?
When you sit by the Master, He wants to give you a way up, to rise above
body-consciousness; then even if all outer things do come up as a result of the
Pralabdha karma, they don’t have the pinching effect. That’s the blessing of the
Master. A child is to be operated on; the mother takes the child in her lap
while the operation is being done. And the child is satisfied: he sits in the
lap of the mother, you see.
Those initiated, those who are devoted to the Master within, they do get
bitter results of reactions of the past, but they are not felt. If we rise above
body-consciousness daily, they will not be felt. There is a case of one
Abdullah, who was a devotee of Mian Mir in India. As a result of the Pralabdha
karma, he was suffering very much but he rose above, back of the eyes. And the
Master came: “Oh, what are you doing? You have sown the seeds. You must bear the
result of that. Why are you sitting up there? Come down!”
But this is the Grace of the Master, if we follow Him. For the Kriyaman karma
we are to weed out all imperfections through the diary. Those karmas which are
in store, those are burned away the more you come in contact with the Light and
Sound Principle. So recent karmas which you do daily, they are weeded out by
self-introspection. Whatever remains that also is smoothed down by the love of
the Master; the pinching effect does not remain the same.
So as I told you, it is like a walnut or almond: when it is not ripe, you can
put a needle through; but when it is ripe, the shell is separated – you may try
to put in a needle, but it won’t pass. Similarly, it happens something like
that, when you are concentrated at the back of the eyes. You find you can stay
there – or you, at will, work at the level of the outgoing faculties. Then let
all these things come! Man will die; man will suffer; we may be operated on;
this and that. But how great a blessing you have got with you!
So for that reason, you see, what is required now? Is there another kind of
karma? One is Kriyaman, another is Pralabdha, the third is what is in store –
Sanchit. But there is another form of karma. This is called Neh-karma, karma performed without any
attachment or desire for the fruit thereof. You see? This is superior to the
other forms of karma, which are more or less a source of bondage. This type
helps a little to liberate one from karmic reactions, from bondage. If you do
some job without desiring any fruit, that won’t bind you. This is one thing. But
so long as the ego is there, how can you not? You won’t feel that you are not
the doer. You follow my point? So long as you are the doer, whether you are
doing good actions or bad, even at your heart of hearts, you know, “I have done
good actions,” you see. That will bear forth fruit.
So
Neh-karma or selfless karma comes up only when you become a Conscious
Co-worker. You find also that in the yoga systems such as Karma Yoga it is
taught that you can become Neh-karma – not to want any fruit. But how can you
become neh-karma unless you become the Conscious Co-worker of the Divine Plan?
Unless you know that “He is the Doer; I am not the Doer”? So long as you are the
doer, you’ll bear the good fruits also – heaven, and other things in this life,
too. So you will find it is only karma born of desire or Kam that leads to
bondage. This is why, you see, that Moses taught, “Desire not”; that Buddha
taught, “Be desireless”; that the tenth Guru of the Sikhs taught, “Don’t have
any desire for the result.” The highest of all is to be Neh-karma. That is doing
karma in accordance with the Divine Plan, as a Conscious Co-worker of the Power
of God.
Now you find four kinds of karma. Present karma is taken care of by the
diary. And whatever is left, if you are devoted to the Master, that is also
smoothed down. Pralabdha karma is not touched; you have to bear the bitter
fruits of that. But while sitting at the Feet of the Master, if you are
following His instructions and rising above body-consciousness daily – dying
daily – then outer pinching effects, bitter effects of the reactions of the past
won’t affect you, as in the example that I gave. Now you’ll find how important
it is to do your practices daily.
In brief, the Law of Karma is nature’s stubborn and inexorable law from which
there is no exception. Even the avatars bear the fruit of it – what to speak of
men. It is said of Lord Rama that he killed the brother of the King of Ceylon by
standing behind a tree; in our scriptures it is given. When the man died, he
said, “Well, Rama, I did not have anything against you; why are you killing me?
You will have to suffer.”
So it happened that Rama in his next incarnation came as Lord Krishna, and
that man whom he had killed took the form of a bhil (very low caste, almost a
savage) in the jungle, you see. And Lord Krishna was lying in the jungle with
his left foot over his right knee. And there was a star on his foot, you see,
which is always on the feet of avatars or incarnations. The bhil hunter saw it
and thought, perhaps it was the eye of a deer; so he shot the arrow and it hit
the foot of Lord Krishna, and he died of that. Even avatars are not exceptions
to the rule; what to speak of ordinary men.
Be careful! Every thought that crosses you, that reacts. “As you sow, so
shall you reap.”
That is the general rule for those who are on earth. You see? “As you think,
so you become.” It is from the abundance of the mind that the tongue speaks.
Every action has a reaction, for that is nature’s Law of Cause and Effect. One
has therefore to bear the fruit of his actions; no exception.
Is there any remedy for this? Masters have got a remedy, as I just submitted
to you. I quoted the case of Abdullah, the devotee of Mian Mir. In daily life,
if you have to have an injection, you can withdraw your attention here (in the
back of the eyes). “All right – now inject!” You feel much less pain. If you can
withdraw your attention fully, that may be cut off.
So this is a very regular way which Master puts us on. It is only when one
transcends the body-consciousness and becomes Neh-karma or actionless in action,
like the still point at the center of the ever-revolving wheel of life, that the
stop is put to the motion of the great wheel of karma. If a machine is running,
and they want to stop the wheel, they will insert something into it and the
machine does not work. So the Law of Karma does not work in the cases of those
who rise above body-consciousness accurately.
That is why Buddha said, “Be desireless.” For desire is the root cause of
human suffering – all suffering. Some die; some are born; some are sick; some
are poor. Length of life, whether we are high or low, poor or rich – all this is
based on the reactions of the past.
So what happens? The spirit sitting in the chariot of the body is steered
blindly and headlong into the field of sensual pleasures by the five powerful
steeds of the outgoing faculties, which are driven by the intoxicated mind. You
see? So mind also has to be controlled. If something is given to the mind that
is more blissful, more peaceful, than it is accustomed to through the senses,
only then it can be controlled; not otherwise. It is because the reins of the
intellect are dangling loose and the steeds are running fast, headlong, that we
incur actions that result in reactions. We go on like anything ever since we
have come down to earth from the Father. We have been on earth, we have been
coming and going, coming and going, coming and going. The human body we have
been having as a very great fortune. But we did not use to like the human body,
because we did not understand the Law of Karma.
There are two karmic laws: one is the Law of Karma; the other is the Law of
Grace. If you come to the Feet of the Masters, there the Law of Grace works, I
tell you. Your present karma is also softened down – and they give a diary for
that. The Sanchit karmas are burnt away by giving a contact with the Sound and
Light Principle within you. And, while no power can withstand the Pralabdha
karma, what the Master gives you is to rise above body-consciousness daily, so
that the pinching effect is lessened. How fortunate we are! That is why it is
said it is a great blessing to have a living Master. Don’t you realize that?
Even the incarnations undergo the law; they are not exempt from the law of cause
and effect – what to speak of the average man.
These are things that are prescribed by the Master. Ever since they have been
coming they have been telling us what to do. “Be born anew.” You follow what is
the basic teaching behind it? “Be reborn.” I have been explaining to you in my
talks what is meant by being reborn. One birth is into this human body, another
is into the Beyond. If you are reborn daily – die daily, take cross daily –
then? All these should naturally follow. Then you escape the effect of the wheel
of life, of karma. Now do you see how important it is to do the practices as
prescribed by the Masters? Masters don’t spare anybody.
Guru Nanak says, “Look here, oh Master, what is the use of coming to Your
Feet if the Law of Karma is not satisfied?” He gives an example: “What is the
use of going to the feet of a lion if the jackals are still howling at you?” It
is a great privilege to sit at the Feet of a Master, I would say.
So what is meant by being “born anew” is rising above body-consciousness –
and that is also what is meant by being “twice born”. And in ancient India these
things were given to children of five, seven, or nine years, when they were
initiated. What is learned in childhood, I would say, what is learned in the
womb of the mother, that will last forever. We should be very careful how we
bring up children, mind that – whether they are in the womb or outside.
So this is what is said: to be born anew, to die daily. “Learn to die so that
you may begin to live.” Then you will have everlasting life; you will escape –
evade – the circle of births and deaths. You follow me? Very delicate point it
is; but we must understand it and live by it. How is that done? By the Grace of
the Master! If by the Grace of the Master we learn to die while alive, then you
know the other law (the Law of Grace) is working, you see. When grain is poured
into a grinding machine, those grains which are put in between the blades will
be ground; but if some grains stick to the handle of the machine, they will be
saved.
So it is said that it is a great blessing to have a living Master and to keep
his commandments. That’s the main thing. So “one has therefore to forsake the
flesh for the spirit” if one is anxious to escape from the perpetual wheel of
life on earth. I’m quoting from the Bible; there are similar quotes in other
scriptures like that. But if one, under the guidance of a Master, learns the
practical process of self-analysis at will and rises into the Beyond – death in
life – the whole angle of vision is changed. The result is that after that one
continues to live on earth without attachment. When you rise above
body-consciousness daily, all your attachments are gone. You may have hundreds
of thousands of dollars with you, or no money at all; you don’t care. You won’t
try to usurp the rights of others; you won’t try to squeeze the blood of
others – because you will know that you will incur karma, and you won’t
want those actions to go along with you. So when you rise above
body-consciousness daily, the whole angle of vision is changed. You won’t do
anything unbecoming because you won’t want to carry it with you – “ill gotten,
ill spent.” Christ said, “He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is
not worthy of me.” You follow my point? “He that findeth his life shall lose
it...” Just follow the meaning: very clear, very simple words. If you rise above
outer life then you’ll have everlasting life. “Learn to die so that you may
begin to live.” “He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” What life?
The one outside which we withdraw from. You see? It is not dying, but
withdrawing your attention from all outside and rising above body-consciousness.
He said, if you do it “for my sake, you will find it.”
Then again you will find that in the Bible it is said, “If any man will come
after me” – hear, please, what he says – “let him deny himself and take up his
cross daily and follow me.” What is “taking up the cross daily”? The cross is
the symbol of the human body standing with outstretched arms; we are to rise
above it. Then we can follow him. Once we rise above our whole angle of vision
is changed, as I said before: you won’t torment anybody; you won’t squeeze the
blood of anybody; your whole outer contact with the world will be above-board,
fair, honest.
How can we ever expect to be saved from the wheel of coming and going if we
don’t keep the commandments of the Master? Saying “we have got no time, we have
this and that obligation” won’t do; after all, we are sowing seeds further from
day to day.
So, you see, “death in life” or “death in Christ” is referred to in the East
as “fana fil sheikh” or “death in the Master.” You see? “Learn to die so that
you may begin to live.” Death in Christ means withdrawing from outside and
coming in contact with the Christ Power within you. In Persian it is said as I
told you: “Fana fil seikh”. In the Hindi way, the Sikh Masters say, “Gur go
tobee” – “Be one in the tomb of the Guru.” As “I and my Father are one.” The
initiate who becomes one with the Guru and the Guru-in-Him, he is experiencing
death in Christ or death in the Guru.
This can save us from coming and going, you see. The longer we go on sowing
seeds, the more they will grow – they will bear forth fruit. Be cautious not to
grow any. What is that by knowing which, nothing more is desired to be had?
Coming in contact with the God Power within you. And that is why all scriptures
speak very highly of the Masters, those who are Word made flesh: because, as
Maulana Rumi says, “If you sit one hour with the Master” – if you are receptive;
not with your body sitting and you wandering outside – “that will give you an
effect which you cannot have by a hundred years of penances.” If you sit by
someone who sells scents, you will get perfume by radiation – free. And if he
gives you a phial of scent – if he initiates you into the Beyond – then? From
the day you come to the Feet of the Master and He initiates you, He takes up the
work of winding up all your actions – but only if we obey the commandments of
the Master one hundred per cent.
So those Masters who are Word made flesh can immolate karma by a look; all
the initiate’s sins, karmas, can pass by the Master’s look and word. Eyes are
the windows of the soul. He whose soul is drenched with God, who is that Power
made flesh, he is “the Bread of Life that has come down from Heaven.” You see?
Whosoever partaketh of it shall have everlasting life.” And further – how can we
eat this Bread? Eyes are the windows of the soul: through the eyes. By sitting
in a receptive mood, forgetting all others, you feel peace, your mind won’t rake
up any trouble, all is quiet. If you go deep down in the depths of silence,
you’ll find the very silence becomes vocal. These are hard facts I am putting
before you.
So in the presence of the Master, the karmas fly like autumn leaves before a
wind, you see. For a time, no thought occurs in your mind: it’s just subdued.
And such actions react, mind that (in their own way): the moments you have got
with the Master, say five or ten minutes, or a year, that will have reaction or
not? That is also an action; but it won’t react in the same way. No. The result
of that time spent in that way is that you won’t have mental troubles as long as
you are doing it – and this is true whenever you are receptive, whether you are
physically near the Master or away from Him. The physical presence, of course,
cannot be underrated: You see for yourself. But those who are even living far
away on the other side of the ocean while the Master is living on this side, can
direct their attention in that way – just as you can hear someone’s voice or see
who is speaking from thousands of miles away, through radio and television. This
is a law of nature; science is finding out laws of nature which are hidden. They
are not finding them all, but they are trying.
So great is the power of retribution; and none can escape its fury – but it
does fly in fear of death before the winding blast of the Word. Master uses the
Word for this purpose by giving you a contact with It.
There are two ways to finish up the vast and limitless storehouse of karmas
(and we have many still in store). There are two ways, and the first one is to
allow them to exhaust themselves. But I have quoted you one instance, and there
are others too, in which actions done more than a hundred births back reacted in
being born blind in this lifetime. How long will it take? Millions of years it
would take, and it would be quite uncertain then. The mind again goes on sowing
seeds; there is no end to it. So one way is to exhaust the storehouse in due
course of time, which is almost not possible.
The other way is to obtain from a Master-soul a practical knowledge and
experience of the science of life, on the earthly plane as well as on the
spiritual planes, too. And to work right now for transcension from one to the
other, while there is still a chance and an opportunity of the human body –
because we can do it only in the human body and in no other body.
Two ways. The first course will take millions of years to reach the goal and
even then is quite uncertain because the mind again will go on sowing seeds
which will bear more and more fruit. By adopting the second course, one seeks a
competent spiritual Master who can wind up the karmic accounts of the bankrupt
spirit. When such a Master takes in His own hands the process of liquidation of
the endless procession of past karma, you see, we are very fortunate.
As I just quoted to you, one Sikh Master says, “Oh Master, what is the use of
coming to Your Feet, if our karmas are not finished? What is the use of going to
the feet of a lion if the jackals still howl at us?” When you come to a Master,
what does He say? “All right – no more. Thus far and no farther.” He says, “From
today onward, are you taking the advice? Keep the diary; do no more. Criticize
yourself as you would like to criticize others – and weed out.” Simply saying,
“I am a sinner, I am a sinner,” that won’t do. Be very watchful on every thought
that accosts you. And come in contact with that Naam Power, a contact with which
you have been given. That will give you more bliss and mind will, what you say,
die.
When you get that nectar of life or water of life, and experience the bliss
of that, the mind will leave off all outer enjoyments. Where there is no desire
there is God, you see. What is man? God plus desires. And what is God? Man minus
desires. And these desires are raked up by mind through the outgoing faculties.
Very simple way, I think. You follow me?
So if we follow that, everything will come out all right. And first He says,
“Do no more” – and puts him on the high road. You see, you’ve got high roads
here where cars go fast; you’ve also got the high roads within you of Light and
Sound. Go fast! There’s no retardation on the way; you can go quickly back to
your home. He gives you the high road Godward. He does not usually interfere
with the Pralabdha karma, because in that case your life would end; but He gives
you a contact with the spirit within you, which is the Light and Sound
Principle; and that contact with the Holy Word also reduces to ashes all Sanchit
karmas and unfructified recent karmas and finishes them off.
In Jap Ji, after Guru Nanak has given his instruction on the way of life,
last of all He gives an example: When the hands, feet and body are besmeared,
they are washed clean with water; when clothes get dirty and polluted, they are
cleansed by soap.
But then He says: “When one’s mind gets defiled by sin, it can be purified
only by communion with the Word, which is given to you by the Master on the very
first day. He gives you two things: first, to rise above body-consciousness, to
die daily; second, to come in contact with the Word within you. He washes all
sins of the past away.”
Guru Nanak says: “Men do not become saints or sinners merely by words. But
they carry deeds with them wherever they go. As one sows, so does one reap; oh
Nanak, men come and go by the wheel of birth and death as ordained by His
Will.”
In the Finale of Jap Ji He gives: “Our actions, good and evil, will be
brought before His court. And by our own deeds shall we move higher or be cast
into the depths.”
It is two ways before you: one is to go up to your Father’s home; the other
is to go down. The human body is a junction, I would say. You can have your way
back to God; or you can come back, that’s all. But we can choose to go up only
by understanding the law of cause and effect and acting up to our understanding.
Then the Master looks to the winding up of our actions. We come to Him for that
purpose, and His ways are two. First He admonishes, “Do no more.” When our
Master was here, you see, sometimes out of hundreds of people one person would
stand up and say, “Sir, I have done this sin.” Our Master would ask, “Well, is
there anybody who can bear the brunt of that sin?” Who would dare? No. Then he
would say, “All right. Do no more. And do it!”
On the very first day, you see, we are told, “Keep your diaries.” You are
fortunate, I would say. In the old days men used to sit by the Master for years.
When they saw the vessel was clean, only then they put something in it. Now you
get something on the very first day. Two things are given: rising above
body-consciousness, and contact with the Naam within you. If you rise daily the
outer pinching effect won’t affect you, you’ll become air conditioned. Pralabdha
karma also won’t affect you so much as now; the angle of vision will change by
rising above body-consciousness daily. Is it not a blessing?
Guru Nanak concludes the Jap Ji by saying: “Those who have communed with the
Word, their toils shall end, and their faces shall flame with glory. Not only
shall they have salvation, oh Nanak, but many more shall find freedom with
them.”
Not just one. So that is what is wanted, you see, to save us from the wheel
of life and death. It is therefore of paramount importance that we should seek a
Master competent enough to wind up the otherwise endless cycle of births, seek
refuge at His Lotus Feet, and free ourselves of the bewitching influences of our
actions, our deeds, which is the Law of Karma.
You have been given, of the two ways, the one way which is the only way back.
That is, you’ve been given a contact with Naam or Word within you and you have
also been given how to rise above body-consciousness daily, to “take the cross
daily.” “Those who do not take their cross daily, they are not my disciples.”
That is what Christ and all other Masters have said.
You should be very careful what you think. Sometimes in frivolous ways we say
so many things, and that carries an effect. You have to be very
self-disciplined: think twice before you speak; when you speak, just think
whether it will do good or bad to others. If it is good, then give it out for
the benefit of others; if not, don’t tell.
So this is the Law of Karma, you see. If we understand it.... We have been,
fortunately I think, put on the way with the Grace of God and the Grace of our
Master. His Grace is working; with His Grace you all are being blessed with
these things. Whenever Baba Jaimal Singh used to initiate anyone, he would say,
“Look here, I am now residing within you. Take care for me! Don’t think that I
am not looking after you.” That is the Master Power within you. Don’t deceive
Him! Even if you deceive Him, He won’t be deceived, you see. Be true to your own
Self, this is what I always say. If you are true to your own Self, God is within
you, the Master Power is within you.
So this is the Law of Karma that is going on like anything, from which there
is no escape, I tell you, for ordinary men or incarnations either – they also
had to undergo it. It is only through the favour or Grace of the Master that we
are saved. You know, incarnations also respect the Masters; Masters are their
gurus. Lord Krishna had his guru, Ingris Rishi, who gave out this very way; Lord
Rama had his guru, Vashisht. Well, to sit at the Feet of a Master is a great
blessing, you see. He winds up all your actions of the past. We have simply to
keep His commandments; nothing more. He does not want anything from you in
return; He is pleased when you are saved. That is why our Master at the age of
ninety was working for the good of humanity. In the old days He would have had
to take rest; but now they don’t rest, They go like anything – the more He
saves, the better. They work under the orders of God, you see.
Now you see how blessed you are – how fortunate you are! First you have got
the human body; further, you have something that will save you from coming and
going. If you are attached to the Master Power within you, where will you go?
Why do we come back to the earth again and again? Because we are attached to the
world. If we are really attached to the Master Power within us, nobody will
bring us back; we’ll go where He goes. In very simple ways the Law of Karma
works. You find now how blessed we are? We don’t realize the importance of the
boon we have been given.
So please, remain where you are. You are to keep up your diaries strictly,
and find time daily to die. You see? “Take cross daily.” Only sitting won’t do –
rise above body-consciousness daily, and come in contact with That. Not here
alone, you see, but in the spiritual planes above, too. There are so many planes
– macrocosm is in the microcosm.
Further guidance is also required. The more you are devoted to the
commandments of the Master without and within, the sooner you’ll reach your
home. That’s the ultimate purpose of having the human body; all scriptures say
so. Even those Rishis of old whose souls enjoyed bliss in the higher planes,
when they return to earth they select the human body: because in that body only
you can go back home.
We do pity others: why don’t you take pity on your own Self to save you from
the wheel of coming and going? Charity begins at home, does it not? If we cannot
have pity on our own Self and save ourselves from coming and going, what pity
can we have for others? So have pity on yourself, that’s all I can say.
You have got the golden opportunity of this human body. But once it passes
out of your hands? Kabir says, “Who knows when you will get this human body
again and be able to do this work?” So this is for very calm consideration, you
see.
If you follow exactly, you are sure to go to God. You are not to come back.
When you are under the control of a Master, then no lord of judgement can sit
over you; it is the Master who takes all karmas in His hand to punish you or
save you. That power has been given by God to His hand – Christ also owns it,
and all other Masters say so. They are the God in them, that’s the only thing;
they are Word made flesh.
I hope you have followed what I have said about this Law of Karma. Try to!
This is why all the great men say, “Think twice before you speak.” Guru Arjan
says, “Be careful of the sins you commit unknowingly.” By frivolous talk so many
things come up, you see – talk only when it is necessary. Quit talking in a
frivolous way. Also see, if what you are saying is going to do good to somebody
or harm somebody. Then I think you will be afraid of how many seeds you might
sow.
Questions and answers concerning “Karma”
with Sant Kirpal Singh
Q. Please explain why the enactment of the drama of life.
A. It is all an expression of the inexorable Law of Karma. Desire is the
root- cause of all bondage and re-births. Unless one becomes a Conscious
Co-worker of the Divine Plan by complete self-surrender and annihilation of ego,
the goal of spiritual perfection cannot be attained. Please refer to the “Wheel
of Life” for exhaustive explanation.
Q. Why must our past lives be concealed from us?
A. It has a significance. The entire human life is a drama based on the
inexorable Law of Karma which results in union and separation of the souls for
the liquidation of their mutual give and take. If one is told about these karmic
debts involved and the sons or daughters born to us are only our past debtors,
the reason and sense of their breeding will be harmed. It is one of the chief
functions of the negative power to conceal these truths from the humans for
keeping the earth life agoing. You will be perhaps astonished to know that Kal
has obtained three main boons from the Almighty, as contained in Sar Bachan.
These are:
1. Nobody will know of his or her past life;
2. Nobody should know about his or her exact time and date of death; and
3. The Living Master should not grant holy Initiation to the humans by
showing miracles but simply hold Satsangs and if the dear ones come up of
themselves and seek Initiation, only then should they be initiated.
Q. When metaphysicians heal, is this the power of God or Kal?
A. Healing done by metaphysicians falls within the scope of negative power
when the karmic debts involved are put off for the time being, and have to be
repaid sometime with compound interest. The gracious God Power does not actually
punish the souls but deals out justice tempered with mercy in accordance with
our karma. The Decrees of Heaven are in no way subject to error and the Divine
Dispensation is invariable flavoured with Grace.
Q. Can karma apply to nations as well as individuals?
A. Yes. The cumulative reaction of karmic debt of nations results in wars,
epidemics, destruction by fire or floods etc. For exhaustive explanation, a
reference is invited to the book “Wheel of Life.”
Q. How does karma work on lower animals?
A. Lower animals or forms of creation are bound by their past karmic debt and
they do not contract any more karma during their life span. They simply are born
to undergo their karmic liquidation.
Q. Can a sinner like myself attain the God-hood this very
lifetime?
A. Yes, you can attain God-head during this lifetime provided you work for it
strictly according to the behests of the Master. Let His words abide in you and
you abide in Him. You have been granted the sacred boon of the holy Initiation
which is a valid visa on to the Sach Khand and it is your earnest efforts and
steadfastness which would bless you with fruition of your wish in due course.1
Q. Does God grant any dispensation of grace to those of us who have been
guilty of gross crimes, such as myself: I have killed hundreds of men under
combat conditions … Men are put into a position and forced to kill.
A. Yes, I just explained it. There’s a law of judgement, and there’s a Law of
Grace: there are both. If a candle is burning, there’s always darkness
underneath; when a bulb is burning, there’s darkness above. Both are the laws of
nature. There’s a law of judgement, and there’s a Law of Grace. The law of
judgment is – what do you say? – an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
There nobody escapes. But there’s a Law of Grace which is developed, how? I will
tell you: When you become conscious – the beloved of God, the God-in-man;
because it is God alone who can give that contact with Him. He comes across by
means of some person at whose pole He is manifest. He follows Him, repents for
his past actions; He takes him under His care.
Don’t you remember, in the case of Christ, that a woman of the town came up
to him? She went in where he was and washed his feet with her tears and cleansed
them with her hair. And Simon the Pharisee, who was there, thought, “Well,
strange. If he is a Master, he has become faithless. Does he not have the common
sense to know that this lady here is a woman of the town?” Then Christ – because
he could read the hearts of others – said, “Well, Simon, look here.” He said,
“Yes?” “Do you know, if one man owes somebody 50 pence and another owes him 500,
and the man to whom they owe it forgives them both, to whom he has done the
greatest favour?” And Simon thought, “Perhaps he’s a very overactive Master; he
wants to conceal his sin” – because each man thinks from his own level. He said,
“Yes, the one to whom he has forgiven the 500.” Then Jesus said, “Look here, I
came to your house; you did not welcome me; you did not wash my feet; you did
not offer me anything. And she has come and wept; and with her tears she’s
washing my feet.” He said to her, “All I forgive thee, for thou hast loved
much.”
There is a Law of Grace, too. If you repent and fall down at the feet of
God-in-man, since it is God, if God can create the world, in that case your
reactions are nullified. As I told you just now, who is there to forgive sins?
Only God; God can forgive sins. Is it not so? God can; but the point is, in
whatever plane we are working, we have to abide by those laws. When we rise
above the body and become the Conscious Co-worker of the Divine Plan, as I told
you, all reactions, all the karmas, are wound up.
So there’s a Law of Grace, too – if we earn it. Both are laws; there’s a law
of judgement, also. I tell you: a seed is sown. Was there a hen before the egg
or an egg before the hen? Is there any way out? No? Was there a seed first or a
tree first? So there’s no way out. When you rise above these levels of thinking
– physical, astral and causal – and you become a Conscious Co-worker of the
Divine Plan, all seeds are burned away and cannot grow. That’s how it stands. If
you are a father who has a son who has fought with somebody, would you want to
send him to the police? You’d slap him once or twice, your own self, but you
wouldn’t let him go to the police. It’s something like that.
Love is the greatest law. Love knows what? Keep my commandments. So they
generally don’t interfere like that; but those who surrender everything to Him,
they are saved. As I told you, both are laws: the law of judgment is there, and
the Law of Grace is there, too.2
When Masters come, what do They do? They wind up all actions, all karmas.
How? There is no end to it – action, reaction will go on. We sow new seeds; some
are in fruit; some are in store: it goes on and on, again and again, like that –
there’s no end to it. And even the incarnations cannot say, “I will escape.” So
what do Masters do? To those who come to Them, They lay down a line of action
for the future life: Don’t think evil of anybody, even in thought, word and
deed. Be truthful in all your actions: no acting or posing, at heart having
something, but saying something else; not deceiving anybody. And be chaste in
thought, word and deed. And love all; and do selfless service. These are the
actions to be laid up for the future. If you do that, well, there will be no
sowing.
Comment: That’s pretty tough
A: Anyhow, there’s hope. Never mind. Everything appears to be tough, but
still, there’s hope. But something more is done for the disciple, not only that.
This is for the reaction. The Masters give him a contact with God within, with
the Light and Sound of God within. That goes to nullify reactions, to help him
inside. They have love for all, and naturally these things become easier. This
is one thing. Those karmas which are now in fruit and on which our present life
is based, they do not touch. Otherwise, if they were to touch them, the man
would die; because our life is based on that. But what do They do? They give
food – the Bread of Life – to the soul. They give a contact with the Light and
Sound Principle within: that is the Bread of Life; and the soul becomes
strong.
What is the result? When these present karmas come up – sometimes it is
poverty, sometimes sickness, sometimes this and that – because the soul is
strong, all these reactions lose their pinching effect. It is just like the case
of a fight in which there is one very weak person and the others are very
strong. When the weak one gets one blow, he turns and says, “I’m killed!” And
the others, who are strong, do not care even if they get many blows. It is
because they are strong enough.
So reactions do come up; but you get the strength of soul by eating the Bread
of Life, which is coming in contact with the Light and Sound Principle within.
So the present life passes that way.
When you come in contact with God – when you become a Conscious Co-worker of
the Divine Plan – all karmas which are in store are burned away; just as if you
roast seeds in the oven, they won’t grow. And this is the way in which all the
karmas are wound up. That is why it is said: “What is the use of going to a
Master if these reactions are not ended? If you go to the feet of a lion and are
afraid of jacals, what’s the use of going to a lion? This is how the karmas are
wound up: first, by prescribing a certain conduct of life; second, by an inner,
higher contact.3
1) Extract from “Spiritual Elixir”, vol. II, p.
36 – 45 2) SSE, Dec. 1976, p. 39 3) SSE, Dec.
1976, p. 33
How we can get rid of the karmic reactions
From a talk given by Dr. Harbhajan Singh – Salzburg, July 1992
Today the subject is karma. This is a very, very important subject, because
karma is the root cause of our existence – coming again and again into the
manbody and bearing all the sufferings. This is a very beautiful subject,
because karmas go with us up to our last breath. Our thoughts are very potent
and each thought bears the reaction. Every action has a reaction. So in this
subject I will try to discuss the four matters – I have to differentiate not
only into the physical body, but into the astral, the causal and beyond. So
anyhow it is a long subject but I will try to wind it up. One thing I must tell
you: I am not a lecturer but I would like to talk with you from heart to heart.
It is not a new philosophy; man is older than all the philosophies of the world.
This teaching never changed and would never change. So the experience of our
competent Master that is written in the holy scriptures. What is written in the
holy scriptures that is in this manbody, but whatever is in the manbody that
even does not exist in all the holy scriptures of the world. So all the
competent Masters have told: “Tap inside, go within. It is a wonderful house we
live in.” So in this connection not only I would tell you from the holy
scriptures but I would also tell you from my practical life, which my Master has
blessed me with. So in this connection this subject which will come up, that is
the subject of all of us. Because our purpose is one. We all have come from the
one and the same source and we have to go back to the same source. Our Father is
one and there is no second doer in the world. Who is the Doer? The Christ Power,
Master Power, God Power is the Doer. If we know, that even our Self is not the
doer we can get rid of lots of problems and we can go back to our home eternal.
What is karma? We are bound with our own actions. So I would try to tell you
that this Christ Power, Master Power or the God Power, who is that Power? Jesus
and Christ, they were two. Jesus was the son of man, on whose pole the Christ
Power worked. And Christ lived before Jesus. Christ is the Power. It has no
beginning and no end. It has sustained the whole creation and sustains all of
us. We have direct and independent contact with that Power. So when we know, we
start from this very point then our subject can be cleared. Because if we take
the teaching of all the competent Masters, whether they came in the East or
West, came at different places and different times, They taught the same very
truth with one opinion. And this one opinion exists in all the holy scriptures
of the world. So all these competent Masters, They all came from one and the
same source and went back to the same source. Some time that Power came as
Christ Power, some time He came as Guru Nanak, some time He came as Kabir, some
time He came as Sant Kirpal Singh. So, who is that Power? That is the radiant
form of the Master. That enlivens this body. When that Power leaves us we stay
no more in there. So our purpose, our karmas, our destination starts from the
very teaching because I told you that there is only one Doer. He is the Master
Power, He is the God Power, even in the holy scriptures it is said, there is
none in a million, maybe one in a billion. So did hundred thousand Masters also
come into the world when Jesus came, when Guru Nanak came, and other competent
Masters came? They were the only one. But all those who came with them, who were
they? It is said, directly or indirectly, they worked for the negative power.
Kabir has told that: “They were the evil-doers.” Our reactions, our karma
started more from them, but not from our own self. We were misguided in the
world, and ignorance and misguidance is the root cause of all the karmas.
Now you see everywhere in the world people say, they are meditating. Christ
appears to them. In India people say, Guru Nanak appears to them. If really we
see our life – did our life change? No, we are the same. Christ said: “Blessed
are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” If really Christ has appeared to
somebody, he must have become a living example in the whole world. Our life has
not changed. We are still the same. We are drifted away on the level of senses.
We are totally misguided by the mind and the outgoing faculties of the mind. So
this whole subject I will try to make clear to you. I assure you, when you go
back, you will have a gift of life in your hand. So this is a very beautiful
subject.
The purpose of human life is to meet a good end. And to meet a good end, we
have to attain the higher values of life. And to gain these higher values of
life is not possible unless you have the discriminating power and you have the
consciousness within you. The discrimination power and the consciousness, that
is conceiled in the soul and only on a certain level – when we know the
competency of our Master – only then we can get it. Otherwise it is conceiled,
and when we will go – it is still conceiled. Because there is no end to the
competency of the Master Power, God Power, Christ Power, and there is no end to
the learning. So in this subject it will be very very easy how to overcome the
karmas. While living in the world, you must know how to live in the world. You
must have the art of life. It is not difficult to remain unattached in the world
of attachment, if you really know how to live in the world. How to live
consciously, how to live with discrimination power.
So, how are these karmas created? This world is a playfield of the negative
and positive power. So is the manbody. These two forces are the impelling forces
in this world. They have their destination fully fixed, and they are doing their
utmost. So like in a field: “As you sow, so shall you reap.” If in the field we
sow a seed of chilly, you will get hundreds of chillies out of it. And if in the
same field you sow a mango tree, you will get hundreds of mangos. So the
sharpness of the chilly and the sweetness of the mango that grows in one and the
same field. So every action has its reaction. So we do not know what to sow in
this field, how to get rid of the reaction. Man consciously and unconsciously is
sowing the seed within and they are growing automatically. And there is no way
out. But Masters tell us: “It is very exact as two and two make four – you
can overcome it, when you know it consciously!” And how will you know it
consciously? This will be the subject. Because there is a Law of Karma, but
there is a Law of Grace also. When this Grace, this Law of Grace works, then the
Law of Karma finishes. Means you uproot the cause and the effect will be
destroyed.
Lord Rama killed the brother of the King Lanka, and when Lord Rama came back
as Lord Krishna, he was in the forest taking rest and there one hunter came
along. There was a lotus sign on his feet, the lotus mark of the avatar. It
looked like the eyes of the antilope. So he thought it is an antilope. And he
shot an arrow and killed him. Before he left the body, the hunter went there and
saw that it was not an antilope, but it was Lord Krishna. So he wept and said:
“Oh Lord Krishna. I made a big mistake in my life. I killed the avatar, this was
not my intention. Forgive me’.” Lord Krishna said: “No, there is nothing to
forgive. You did the right thing, because when I was Lord Rama, I killed you.”
So reaction is there. These avatars cannot get rid of the reaction, but man is
next to God. It is only the man in the manbody, who can get rid of the reaction,
because he has the awakening, he is next to God. The purpose of human life, of
all of us, is to go back. Our destiny is to become like Him; that is written in
all the holy scriptures.
All these gods, goddesses, avatars, angels and supernatural powers, they are
the servants of this holy body. But what are we doing? How are we creating the
reactions? Now the question arises.
Everyone wants to be happy in the world. And just to be happy in the world,
we have to create a wish. When we create a wish, then we commit lots of negative
facts of life. We tell lies, we slander others, we hurt the feelings of others.
People even murder only to fulfill their wishes. So what happens, when we get
fulfilled this wish? It becomes our attachment: “Oh, I am great, I could wish, I
could fulfill my wish.” It becomes an attachment. And when it has become an
attachment, I will not leave it. I say: “I have done it. I am very strong.” Then
the ego comes up. So with one wish we are affected with two problems, attachment
and ego. And after some time the same wish, which we got fulfilled, that becomes
fake and void, and then, just to be happy again in the world, we have to create
another wish. So throughout our life we are going on again and again creating
wishes upon wishes. We are bound with it. And you know what happens with it?
With attachment the diseases of the mind appear and with the ego diseases of the
physical body appear. When the diseases of the mind and the diseases of the body
get together, man goes into the negative circle. Man dies with the couriers of
death. It is very, very dreadful. In the holy scriptures it is said, there are
two circles. One is the negative circle, one is the positive circle. If you are
in the negative circle, you are not in the positive circle. If you are in the
positive circle, then you are not in the negative circle. So in the negative
circle there is a reaction, there is a karma. There are heaps lying over here in
our storehouse. But with the positive life, when you live positively, there is
no reaction. Every positive action will never have any reaction. So here we have
to discriminate, how we can get rid of these problems. Because no man can live
without wishes in the world. But Masters tell us: “We can live.” It is not
difficult to live unattached in the world of attachment. Our boat can remain in
the water, but water must not enter into the boat.
So without the higher values of life you cannot get rid of the karmas, you
cannot get rid of the reaction. There are so many things to tell about, because
this reaction, this karma does not finish with the physical body. Then it
continues in the astral body and then, if we leave the astral body, it still
continues in the causal body. It brings us back into the world again and again,
because neither in the physical, nor in the astral, nor in the causal regions,
there is any truth. Whether it is the physical world, or astral world or causal
world, they are all made of matter and there is no truth in it. We have to rise
above. Masters tell us: “This manbody is not fivefold. It is eightfold.
Everywhere it is said, the manbody is fivefold: it is made of earth, water, fire
etc. But it is eightfold. And which are these three? These are the mind, the
intellect and the ego. These are the root cause of all the karmas. Intellect,
mind, and ego. Because these are inherited in our mind. Mind is the king of the
three worlds. And this intellect, mind, and ego will bring us back into the
body. How do you get rid of the ego and the mind?
What is mind? Mind is made of matter. Mind, maya, negative power – it is all
called “the mind.” Mind has no power of itself. It takes the power from us, from
the soul and uses the same power against us, just like a parasitic plant. It has
no root of itself but it gets all the nourishment from the tree and so our soul
is mind-ridden. It is driven by the mind. It has no essence in it. As for
example, people do not differentiate between the mind and the soul, no. We are
the spirit, we are the soul; we are not the mind, we are not the intellect, we
are not even the body. We are the driving forces in it. So as for example, my
mind might tell me, “Well, Mister, see what is going on behind!” So I can say:
“Well, I don’t want to see. If you have the power, you can see.” So the mind
will not see. Mind is matter, but it is getting the power from us. It has the
control. Like a fire it is a good servant but a bad master. So, not only this:
mind is the master of the three worlds, I tell you. It can become anything, it
can create any form and can appear to you. So when Masters come into the world,
they give us the right understanding, they give us the awakening, they give us
the higher consciousness to discriminate each and everything in our life. When
we rise into this life with higher values of life, then there is no problem.
Everything will be very visible to you. As we say: “Let the sun rise, I will see
to it.” Because when the sun rises, you can see everything in its original
condition. So awakening within is like a sun. Now I tell you, what are the
delusions, what are the illusions in this world? So far we do not discriminate
and so far we do not know our purpose, the Law of Grace will not work.
The Law of Grace will immediately start, when you rise above these things,
when you know it. How to know it? When you determine and when you decide
something. And determination and decision will only come when you will be gifted
with the positive facts of life. You cannot decide as long as you are in
the negative circle. So when Masters come into the world, they help you to come
near to the truth. Truth is within, but it is a big curtain there. They remove
the curtain of ignorance and bring home to us the very truth within us. So this
subject, which I will tell you, is not only with this physical body, but it
transcends above. It goes up to our last breath. We have to live the eternal
life with our Father. So what is our purpose? This purpose along with the karma
and the Law of Grace will be discussed now.
All these karmas, all these reactions are due to our lack of right
understanding. Because we are misled, we are misguided by the so many so-called
masters of the world and we are now dealt with reactions upon reactions, and we
are bound with them. And we have to meet a very dreadful life. That will be the
end. So I tell you, this hell, which is mostly told about, that was not created
by the God Power. Master asked the negative power: “How did you create the
hell?” You know, in the astral plane there is the hell and there is the heaven.
And in the astral plane there is excessive light but this light is from the
astral world. It is full of illusion, it is full of miracles. It is full of
other supernatural powers. So he (the negative power) said: “Your children
created wishes and I fulfilled those wishes, and due to that they strengthened
my hand. So I created a hell for them.” And there is a heaven in the
astral plane and that was not taught by the Christ. That is not the real Heaven
– that heaven is created by the negative power and only those pious
egoists live there, and they are bound there. So hell and heaven in the astral
plane, they are both binding us with the reactions. How? Because pious people,
they have bound themselves. Master tells them: “Yes, you have bound yourselves,
now you unbind yourselves.” They cannot unbind themselves. So is the condition
in the astral and the causal plane. Those powers who remain there, they go there
out of their wishes. Their wishes were fulfilled, now they are bound in the
astral and the causal plane. And they lose their discrimination power and the
consciousness. So in the three worlds, in the astral and in the causal and
supercausal world, there is no person who can discriminate. All those powers,
they are bound. Gods, goddesses, avatars, they are still bound with the lust,
ego, greed. All these passions are there, they are fighting with each other. It
is said, there is a Brahmpuri, there is a Vishnupuri, all these. They have
strengthened their hand. There is no reality. So we have to transcend! What is
in the astral plane?
I tell you, in this body you can very well discriminate. What happens in this
manbody, when one rises above the body-consciousness at the time of death.
People say, here is the seat of the soul, everybody says, here is the seat of
the soul, but were is the seat of the soul? First there is the intellect, then
there is a mind, above that there is the soul. So far you are not free from the
intellect and the mind, how can you sit at the seat of the soul? Only if you are
led to the seat of the soul, only then some competent Master can drag you above
the causal region. If you rise above the causal region, from there you see the
cause and effect of the world. There the present, future, and the past will
become one and they will disappear at once, and from there you see the whole
cause and effect of the world. And then from that place you are reborn. You
enter into that Heaven which was taught by the Christ.
So neither in the astral nor in the causal there is the Heaven. Heaven is
above that. Now what is in the astral plane? There is excessive light. It is
said that lots of Rishis and Munis, they meditated thousands of years – it
is said in the history. They became the skeleton of the bones but could not
solve the mystery of life, because there is no sound. The light without sound is
stationary. There is excessive light, but once the soul goes there, it is
entrapped by the negative power. So it is called to be a death-trap, and those
who go there, they lose their consciousness for all the times. Unless by God’s
Grace, somebody is released from that place, there is no way out. And this
astral plane is open for everybody. It is said in the history, in holy
scriptures, that a master and his disciple both were sitting in meditation and
the disciple was more receptive, he could enter the astral plane more easily and
more effectively than his master. Because all those negative people, those who
claim themselves as Masters, they are all so-called masters. In all the holy
scriptures, it is said, he who is commissioned from the God Power he would never
say he is a Master, he would say: “I am a borrowed servant of the Master.
Because the Doer is the One. The only Doer that is the Christ Power, Master
Power. Our subject is there. We have to solve this subject. We must know, how to
solve it. So in the astral plane, what is there? There are only miraculous
things there. It is said, just like beautiful flowers they are scattered,
riddhis and siddhis, miraculous powers are there. When you look at them, you
will be attracted and you will come out with these miraculous powers. So all
these masters, hundred thousand masters – the world is full of such masters –
who are only playing with us and giving little light, they say: “Yes, we are
meditating.” It is not the right subject.
My purpose is to take you near to the solution of your life. Beware of those
persons who emotionally tell you so many things. So many beautiful experiences –
that was never taught by the Christ. Beautiful sayings of the Christ are there.
“Learn to die, so that you may begin to live.” If your ten doors of the temple
are shut down, you will see the heavenly light within. And he stressed upon it:
“Die daily! Once you are reborn, why to come into the world? It is the same
experience which happens at the time of death. What do all other experiences
mean to you? They simply make you emotional and bind you with the more reaction
of the life, I tell you, that you never would get rid of it. Then you are bound
with it for all the times. You lose the life. Those who do it, they are caught
in the net of transmigration, Kabir says. Certainly they will go to the
transmigration because they can only live in the astral and from there they will
go to the transmigration. And there is no way out. The abode of your own
principle lies within you. You have to make the best use of it.
Christ has told, it is the same experience which happens at the time of
death. Did you get that experience from him? From a master? No. You did not get
it. I tell you why. Now in this manbody, in the physical body, our mind is
always the astral mind. This is why we get very emotional at once, it is the
astral mind. So when we stress over here, it is the mind, it is the light from
the mind. That will at once take you to the chakras and there is excessive
light. So this light is not the holy light, it will make you emotional. It is
nothing more than that. Now what is there? Only the astral experience, astral
dust. That, when it appears on the physical dust, we say: “Oh, he is a competent
Master. He has shown a miracle.” It is not reality. It was never the teaching of
any competent Master. So here is the reaction, it is the biggest reaction, when
you are caught in the net of the negative power, you are bound there.
It is the fire, holy fire, that will burn all what is there inside, what is
there as reactions of the past karmas, that will burn the karma. Because this is
the only holy fire that can burn the karma. There are the storehouses of karma.
So as for example, if one is sick and he has a terrible pain in the body and he
wants to get rid of this body – he cannot get rid of this body. He may have to
go to hospital for operation but he cannot leave the body because there is a
very big hard barrier, a very hard barrier, it is stone-like. These are the
reactions of the karmas of the past. There they are stored. Ages upon ages they
are stored. It is only the fire, the holy fire, that will burst it into flames
and your soul will go light on the very first experience. Your soul will go
light like you take the hair from the butter. It is so easy going because it is
with the attention of the Master and what He gives you.
The One who is commissioned by the God Power, he comes with the Word. Word is
a fire, a holy fire. That will burn all the past karmas, they are the
storehouses of karmas. And they are burned and the soul will leave the body like
you remove the hair from the butter. It is so easy. Because what is needed?
First it needs the right understanding. When you enter into the Heaven, from
there you will get two things. Discrimination power – discrimination power is in
the Holy Light. And with Water of Life and Bread of Life there is consciousness.
Consciousness and power of discrimination are with you. Now you are alone with
these two things. Consciousness and discrimination power – then what will you
determine in your life? Only to live and do for Him! When Masters come into the
world, they live hundred per cent for others. Because with each thought you have
to live with Him, because with each thought there is a reaction. With positive
life it is so easy to live with positive thought. When you live with positive
thought, there is no reaction. And when there is no reaction, why you come into
the world? So it is a very, very beautiful subject, because then our purpose
stands before us. We do what we have to do further. Because our life is now
destined according to the Pralabdh karma, the reaction of the past. Nobody has
any spare time. When these karmas will finish, we immediately have to leave the
body. So Masters tell us to live while you are in the body, to live a positive
way of life. And a positive way of life is only possible when you rise above the
plane of senses and the shackles of the mind. When you rise into the Heaven that
was taught by the Christ, and once you have established a place, below the seat
of the soul it is all dirt, I tell you. Below the seat of the soul it is full of
dirt. Where you meditate? The intellect is adulterated, mind is adulterated.
Where is the seat of the soul? So once you rise above the level of the senses
and the shackles of the mind, there you get the Bread of Life and theWater of
Life, you are reborn. And that will change your life.
So Masters come into the world. They teach and affect the humanity. You have
to go the straight way. It is in the Bible. Straight is the way and narrow is
the way, because you cannot take the intellect and the mind. Mind is like a big
snake, it is like a big elephant. How can it enter into the tenth door, whereas
the tenth door is one tenth of the mustard seed? Only the soul can enter! The
way is very straight but it is narrow. Only
you have to go, you cannot take anything with you. You cannot have any
wish there. So this teaching will help you to determine your life, I tell you.
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