PRACTICE OF YOGA BY SWAMI SIVANANDA (MESSAGE 11)
(Chapter Seven, The Law of Karma – Nature, now resumes…)
The collective Karma of a race or a nation is as much a fact in nature as an individual one. The same principle underlying the Karmic laws applies without much wide difference, to national and collected Karma. The nations rise and fall, empires flourish and are dismembered on the same ground. The wise heads of nations should not neglect the dominating sway of this law.
In the midst of a national calamity it is well to remember that nothing can come to us which we have not deserved. We may not be able to see the immediate cause of a catastrophe, but it does not follow that it took place without sufficient cause.
During the last thousand years and more many heart-rending and humiliating events occurred on the soil of Mother India, devastating the whole land, robbing her sons of their precious property and even more precious lives.
The incidents of our own times are too fresh in our memories to need any repetition. Have these soul-scorching incidents and cataclysms taken place without any rhyme or reason? No. There is nothing that can happen to us beyond the scope of the good and utterly just law. Everything has its own time and place. In our ignorance we may not be able to trace out the immediate cause with certainty, definiteness and accuracy, but this much is certain beyond the least shadow of doubt that nothing unmerited can happen to us or to our country.
Our own apathy, indifference, lack of patriotism, communal and caste dissensions, mutual hatred, suspicion and strife have been the main cause of our present and past degradation.
As our collective Karma brought on us the wrath of divine justice and fit retribution closely followed in the wake of our evil deeds and we deservedly suffered and paid for them heavily, so we can again exert our collective will in the right direction and learn to be wise and circumspect in the light of our past bitter experience and deep humiliation. In the course of time we shall begin to see the eclipse of downfall, servitude and thraldom gradually disappearing from the soil of our motherland and we shall once more be free and great as our forefathers were.
The Law of Karma
All the phenomena of Nature are governed by one important law, the universal law of causation, which is also known by the name, the Law of Karma. The law of causation is a universal law that keeps up the inner harmony and the logical order of the universe. Man's deeds are subject to this law. Karma is a Sanskrit term that comes from the root, "Kri—to act" and signifies action or deed. Any physical or mental action is Karma. Thought is Karma. Reaction that follows an action is also Karma. Karma is a broad term. Attraction, repulsion, gravitation, breathing, talking, walking, seeing, hearing, eating, feeling, willing, desiring, thinking and all the actions of the body, mind and the senses constitute Karma. Karma includes both cause and effect.
All other laws of Nature are subordinate to this fundamental law. The sun shines, the fire burns, the rivers flow, the wind blows, the trees blossom and bear fruits, the mind thinks, feels and wills, the brain, the heart, the lungs, spleen and kidneys work in harmony in strict obedience to this grand law of cause and effect. This grand law operates everywhere in the physical and mental planes. No phenomenon can escape from the operation of this mighty law.
The seed has its cause in the tree and the seed itself becomes in turn the cause for the tree. The cause is found in the effect and the effect is found in the cause. The effect is similar to the cause. This is the universal chain of cause and effect which has no end. This world runs on this fundamental, vital law. This law is inexorable and immutable.
Scientists are carefully observing the phenomena of Nature and are trying to find out the exact causes for all that takes place in Nature. The astronomer sits with his long, powerful telescope in his observatory and watches the map of the heavens, studies the stars and planets very carefully and the phenomena that take place in the astronomical world. He tries to find out the exact causes that bring out the phenomena. The reflective philosopher sits in a contemplative mood and tries to find out the cause for this world, the cause for the pains and miseries of this Samsara and the cause for the phenomena of birth and death.
No event can occur without having a positive, definite cause at the back of it. The breaking of a war, the rise of a comet, the occurrence of an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, an epidemic, thunder, lightning, floods, diseases, fortune, misfortune, etc., have got definite causes behind them.
If you develop a carbuncle or get a fracture of the bone of the leg, this is obviously due to some bad Karma in your previous birth. The bad Karma was the cause; the carbuncle or the fracture is the effect. If you get some fortune in this birth, the cause is that you did some good action in your previous birth.
There is no such thing as blind chance or accident. The cause is hidden or unknown if you are not able to trace it out for the particular accident. This law of cause and effect is quite mysterious. That is the reason why Lord Krishna says: "Gahana karmano gatih—Mysterious is the path of action" (Gita, IV-17). If your finite mind is not able to find out the cause in an accident or chance, it does not mean that this accident has occurred without a cause.
All the physical and mental forces in Nature obey this grand law of cause and effect. Law and the Law-giver are one. Law and God are one. Nature and Nature's laws are one. The laws of gravitation, cohesion, adhesion, attraction and repulsion, the law of like and dislike, the laws of relativity, contiguity, and association on the mental plane operate in strict accordance with this law of cause and effect. From the vibration of an electron to the revolution of a mighty planet, from the falling of a mango to the ground to the powerful willing of a Jnani or a Yogi, from the motion of a runner in the postal department to the movement of the radio-waves in the subtle ether, from the transmitting of a telegraphic message to the telepathic communication of a Yogi in the thought-world, all these are the effects of some invisible force that works in happy concord and harmony with the law of cause and effect.
A close study of this law gives encouragement for the hopeless man, for the desperate and the ailing. Destiny is created by man's thoughts, habits and character. There is every chance for his correction and improvement by changing his thoughts and habits. The scoundrel can become a saint, the prostitute can become a chaste woman, and a beggar can become a king. This mighty law provides this. The law of Karma only can explain beautifully the inequalities of this world such as one man is very rich, another is extremely poor, one is wicked, another is a saint, one is very dull, another is a genius or a versatile prodigy, one is a born decrepit, another is a handsome man, one is always sick, another is strong and healthy. How can you explain these inequalities? It is all Karma. God can never be unjust or partial.
This world is a relative plane. It contains good, evil and mixture of good and evil. That is the reason why Lord Krishna says: "Anishtamishtam misram cha trividham karmanah phalam—Good, evil and mixed—three-fold is the fruit of action hereafter for the non-relinquisher" (Gita, XVIII-12). There can be neither absolute good nor absolute evil in this world. That which gives you comfort and pleasure, that which is beneficial to you, to the world and to your neighbour is good. That which gives you discomfort, uneasiness, pain and misery to the world and to your neighbour is evil. That which gives misery and pain to some, pleasure to others is a mixture of good and evil.
Every action that you do produces a twofold effect. It produces an impression in your mind and you carry the Samskara when you die in the Karmasaya (receptacle of works) in your subconscious mind. It produces an impression on the world of Akasic records. Any action is bound to react upon you with equal force and effect. If you hurt another man, you really hurt yourself. This wrong action is bound to react upon you and injure you. It will bring misery and pain. If you do some good to another man, you are really helping yourself. You are really doing good to yourself. Because there is nothing but the Self. "Atma eva idam sarvam." This is the emphatic declaration of the Srutis. This virtuous action will react upon you with equal force and effect. It will bring you joy and happiness. That is the reason why sages and Rishis, prophets and moralists harp on the note: "Love thy neighbour as thyself. Never hurt the feelings of others. Ahimsa paramo dharmah. Do good to others." He who has rightly understood this law can never do any harm to anybody. He will be ever doing virtuous actions only. He will become an embodiment of virtues.
If you do a wrong action to an individual, it disturbs the whole atmosphere. If you entertain an evil thought, it pollutes the whole thought-world. Therefore you should cultivate good thoughts and eradicate all evil thoughts. Every thought has got a cause behind it. Every action, every thought, however trivial and insignificant it may be, affects the whole world directly or indirectly. That noble soul who always does good to the world and entertains sublime divine thoughts is a blessing to the world at large. He purifies the whole world.
Suppose for a moment that you write some sensational article in the paper. It arouses the emotions and sentiments of the readers. They begin to do something against the Government. A serious fight ensues. Police forces are brought in. Many people are shot. Many new rules are framed to check and repress the people. The parents of those who were killed suffer. This fight produces an effect in the minds of the people of other parts of the world also. In fact the whole world is affected by a single event. A single sensational article has wrought such disastrous results. One event may be both a cause and effect at the same time. The endless chain of cause and effect is kept up all throughout. You cannot separate one link from the chain. You cannot say that this link is useless or unnecessary.
You have now a comprehensive understanding of this grand law of cause and effect. You can change your thoughts and habits and mould a new character. You can become a righteous man and a saint by doing virtuous actions and entertaining noble divine thoughts. When you attain knowledge of the Self, when you annihilate this little mind, when you transcend the three Gunas and the three Avasthas, you can rest in your own Svarupa. You can become identical with the Law-giver. Then the law of cause and effect will not operate on you. You have conquered nature. May that invisible Law-giver, Brahman, guide you in your attainment of final beatitude of life!
Man Is the Master of His Destiny
Some ignorant people say: "Karma does everything. It is all destiny. If I am destined by my Karma to be like this or like that, why then should I exert? It is my destiny only." This is fatalism. This will bring inertia, stagnation and misery. This is perfect misunderstanding of the law of Karma. This is a fallacious argument. An intelligent man will certainly not put such a question. You have made your own destiny from within by your thoughts and actions. You have a free-will to choose now. A rogue is not a rogue for all times. Put him in the company of a saint. He will change in no time. He will think and act now in a different way and will change his destiny. He will become saintly in character. Dacoit Ratnakar was changed into sage Valmiki by the current of Rishi Narada. You will have to think and act. You can make your Karma in any way you like. You can become a Yogi or Jnani by right desire, by right thinking and by right action. You can attain the position of Indra or Brahma by good Karma. Man is not a helpless being. He has a free-will of his own.
Man sows an action and reaps a destiny. Man has made his own destiny by thinking and acting. He can change his destiny. He is the master of his own destiny. There is no doubt about this. By right thinking and Vichara and strong Purushartha, he can become a master of his destiny. Markandeya changed his destiny through Tapas and worship of Lord Siva. Visvamitra became a Brahmarshi through vigorous Tapas and changed his destiny. You can also do so, if you have a strong will and iron determination. Vasishtha preaches Purushartha to Sri Rama in the Yoga-Vasishtha. Just as you can change your way of writing in a slanting manner into a vertical manner, so also you can change your destiny by changing your mode of thinking. Now you are thinking: "I am Mr. So and so," by identifying with the body and other Upadhis. Now start the anti-current. Think: "I am Brahman. I am the immortal Self in all. I am the all-pervading Light, Intelligence or pure Consciousness." Your destiny will be changed. This is the Sadhana. This is the Ahamgraha Upasana. Practise it steadily. Feel and realise.
An advocate of Lahore once asked me: "Swamiji, you say that the law of Karma operates without unerring precision in all men. A man desires, thinks and acts. If the actions that I perform now are the outcome of my past thoughts, and if my past thoughts are the resultant of my past desires, am I not helplessly bound? I am like a piece of straw tossed about hither and thither. I must act in accordance with my thought. I must think in accordance with my desire. There is no hope for my freedom of action and thinking. This does not appeal to my reason at all. Kindly throw light on this important subject."
I replied: "Look here, Mr. Sivasankar! Man is gaining new experiences and new knowledge every day. Mind is evolving every second. There is every possibility for him to change his desires, thoughts and actions. Suppose there is a thief. He does pilfering. He knocks away the things of other people without their knowledge. He is put in jail. People hate him. He gains many experiences. He always feels that he is very miserable. He now decides to give up pilfering. He changes his desires. He now wants to lead an honest life. His old Samskaras, his old thoughts will try to resist him and will recur again and again. But through resolute efforts he can change his thoughts, desires and actions, can become a very good charitable man and can attain perfection, freedom and immortality."
Man Can Outgrow Environments
It is often said that man is the resultant product of his environments. This is not true. We cannot believe this, because the facts always prove the contrary. Many of the world's greatest men have been born in poverty and in adverse circumstances. Many who have been born in the slums and in filthy surroundings have risen to the highest status in the world. They have won laurels of fame and distinguished themselves in politics, literature and poetry. They have become brilliant geniuses and beacon-lights of the world. How do you account for this?
Sir T. Muthuswamy Aiyar, the first Indian High Court Judge in Madras, was born in absolute poverty. He had to study at night under municipal lanterns. He had no sufficient food. He was clad in rags. He struggled hard and achieved greatness. He rose above the environments by his strong will and iron determination.
In the West, sons of cobblers and fishermen have risen to very high position. Boys who did polishing of boots in the streets, who were selling beer in bars and who were cooking in hotels have become famous poets and able journalists. Johnson was placed in quite adverse environments. Sir Walter Scott was very poor. He had no place to live in. The life of James Ramsay MacDonald is worth mentioning. He was a man of great Purushartha. He rose from poverty to power, from a field-labourer to the status of Prime Minister of Britain. His first job was addressing envelopes for 10 shillings a week. He was too poor to buy tea; so he drank water instead. His main meal every day for months was a three-penny beef-steak-pudding. He took great interest in politics and science. He was a journalist. He gradually through Purushartha (right exertion) rose to the position of a Prime Minister.
Sri Sankaracharya, the exponent of Advaita philosophy, a spiritual giant, a brilliant genius, was born in poor, unfavourable environments and circumstances. There are many other instances like these. It is quite obvious, therefore, that unfavourable environments cannot annihilate the potential greatness and excellence of the future geniuses and that one can outgrow environments by diligent application, patience, perseverance, truthfulness, honesty, integrity, sincerity of purpose, iron will and strong determination.
Every man is born with his Samskaras. The mind is not a blank sheet of paper. It contains the impressions of thoughts and actions of the previous births. Samskaras are the latent potentialities. These good Samskaras are valuable assets for a man. Even though he is placed in unfavourable environments, these Samskaras give him protection from extraneous, undesirable hostile influences. They help his growth and evolution. In the Gita Lord Krishna says: "There he recovereth the characteristics belonging to his former body and-with these he again laboureth for perfection."
Miss not any opportunity. Avail yourself of all opportunities. Every opportunity is meant for your uplift and development. If you see a sick man lying down on the roadside in a helpless condition, take him to the nearest hospital. Nurse him. Shampoo his legs with Divine Bhava. Feel the all-pervading, all-permeating, interpenetrating, indwelling God in him. See Divinity in the glow of his eyes, in his cry, in his breath, in his pulsation and motion of his lungs. God has given this opportunity for you to develop mercy and love, to purify your heart and to remove Ghrina, hatred and jealousy. Sometimes if you are very timid, God will place you in such circumstances wherein you will be forced to exhibit courage and presence of mind by risking your life. Those world-figures who have risen to eminence have all utilised all opportunities to the best advantage.
Remember that in your weakness lies the strength, because you will be always on your alert to safeguard yourself. Poverty has got its own virtues. Poverty infuses humility, strength, power of endurance and the spirit of struggling and persevering. Whereas, luxury begets laziness, pride, weakness, inertia and all sorts of evil habits.
Therefore, do not grumble of bad environments. Create your own mental world and environments. That man who tries to evolve or grow in adverse environments will be a very strong man indeed. Nothing can shake him. He will be of a sterner stuff. He will have strong nerves. Man is certainly not a creature of environments or circumstances. He can control and modify them by his capacities, character, thoughts and actions. Right exertion can change the destiny. Dear brothers, exert. Conquer the nature. Rejoice in the eternal Sat-Chit-Ananda Atman.
In the Yoga-Vasishtha the following description is given: "There is nothing like destiny other than the effect of our previous efforts. Our previous efforts are called our destiny. Our achievements are determined by our efforts. Our effort is therefore our destiny. Our previous and present efforts, in case they are in contrary directions, are like two rams fighting against each other. The more powerful of the two always overthrows the other. Whether they are the past or the present efforts, it is the stronger ones that determine our destiny. In either case, it is man's own effort that determines his destiny by virtue of its strength. Man determines his own destiny by his own thought. He can make those things also happen, which were not destined to happen. The soul of man is powerful enough. Only those things happen in this world which it creates by its own free effort and not others. One should, therefore, overcome one's unfavourable destiny (the effect of one's past efforts), by greater effort in the present. There is nothing in the world which cannot be achieved by men by right sort of effort."
Prof. Radhakrishnan writes as follows: "We have a good deal of the present constraint and previous necessity in human life. But necessity is not to be mistaken for destiny which we can neither defy nor delude. Though the self is not free from the bonds of determination, it can subjugate the past to a certain extent and turn it into a new course. Choice is the assertion of freedom over necessity by which it converts necessity to its own use and thus frees itself from it. The human agent is free. He is not the plaything of fate or driftwood on the tide of uncontrolled events. He can actively mould the future instead of passively suffering the past. The past may become an opportunity or an obstacle. Everything depends on what we make it and not what it makes of us."
Dr. Hafiz Syed, M.A., Ph.D., writes in the Hindu Mind as follows: "There is nothing which has wrought so much havoc in the practical life of the Hindus, as the misconception of the law of Karma—the eternal law of cause and effect—that works- with unerring precision in all the departments of human life. It is said that it is a gloomy doctrine and that it tends to paralyse human effort, and closes the spring of all right action. In popular language this doctrine means predestination, pure and simple. It is believed that a man is a creature of his past actions and all his present life with its varied activities, joys, sorrows, pain and pleasure, success and failure, gain and loss, are predetermined by his past doings over which he has no control, and therefore he should be utterly resigned and waste no time in improving his or his neighbour's lot.
"There is only an element of truth in this attitude: in other words, it is only half a truth that is understood and followed; unless the whole truth is .grasped with regard to this doctrine, it will always prove a source of confusion and cause a great deal of harm. If Indian people are to rise from their present state of degradation and shake off the fetters of their thraldom, it is time, that they should clearly try to understand the true meaning and philosophy of actions and the reign of the law of Karma under which the whole of the human race has to evolve.
"It is true that a man's present abilities or disabilities are the direct outcome of his own thoughts and actions in the past: his congenital endowments, his physical heredity, his moral and mental instincts and capacities are the results of his own thoughts and feelings of his previous births. A farmer reaps rich harvest only when he labours in his field for a long time. Unless he cares to till the ground, sow the seeds, water and manure it, he would not be in a position to enjoy the fruit of his toil. What he sowed yesterday, he is reaping today and what he sows today he will reap tomorrow. This is an immutable law and holds good in every thing without an exception. To say that one's capacity for fresh effort, and new lines of action, is paralysed or doomed by one's past doings is as futile and groundless as to say that because one sowed yesterday one cannot sow fresh seeds in new grounds today. The fact of the matter is that free-will is never choked and stifled by any past action. The only thing is that a man cannot achieve what he wants all at once, without any delay. The good law pays every person according to his need and in due time. The law runs its own course. The results of past actions, thoughts and feelings appear to us as effects of causes we set up from our own free choice and similarly we are equally free and unfettered to choose a line of action which is sure to bring its fruit in due time. A man is bound by the past debts he incurred or contracts he made. As soon as he pays up his liabilities he is once more free to choose whether he should incur fresh debt or not. Over the inevitable he has no control and if the law is to be justified, he should have no reason to complain against it. It is always open to him to mould the Karma which is in the course of making in any way he likes. Under the security of the changeless law of cause and effect a man can serenely proceed to achieve anything he desires to accomplish. Sooner or later he is sure to succeed in his well-directed efforts. In nature nothing is lost."
Karma is Jada. There must be a dispenser to allot the fruits for the thoughts and actions of Jivas. An overseer knows how much wages are to be given to various workers in the contract-work according to the ability and nature of work turned out by the coolies. Even so, the Lord of the universe knows the actions and motives of the Jivas and accordingly allots fruits for their actions.
CHAPTER EIGHT
OBSTACLES IN YOGA
Moha—Attachment
Moha is one of the greatest obstacles for the spiritual aspirants. Moha is infatuated love for one's own body, wife, children, father, mother, brothers, sisters and property. Mind always gets attached to one form or other. When it is taken from one form, it clings to another form. No one is free from some kind of attachment. Aaskti (attachment), Kamana (longing), Raga (attraction) and preference to certain things are the various methods by which this great power Moha binds the Jiva to the Samsara-Chakra. A man is attached to rice. He has a longing for eating rice when he has given up rice on account of his diabetes. This is Kamana. If rice and bread are served, a Bengali or a Madrasi will certainly have preference for rice. This also you should give up if you want to destroy Moha. Moha is the greatest weapon of Maya. Mysterious is Maya. Mysterious is Moha. Moha is a kind of powerful liquor that brings intoxication in the twinkling of an eye.
You would have never come into this world, had it not been for the influence of Moha. The first attachment starts with this physical body. Then all other attachments crop up. Then comes the relationship of father, mother, brother, sister, wife, son, etc. One may have attachment to a place, person or object. Wherever there is attachment, there is the idea of Mamata (mineness). Attachment is a sort of very strong glue that binds the mind with the sensual objects. Why does the mind get attached to objects or persons? Because it finds pleasure in them. Wherever there is pleasure, the mind gets attached there.
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(Chapter Seven, The Law of Karma – Nature, now resumes…)
The collective Karma of a race or a nation is as much a fact in nature as an individual one. The same principle underlying the Karmic laws applies without much wide difference, to national and collected Karma. The nations rise and fall, empires flourish and are dismembered on the same ground. The wise heads of nations should not neglect the dominating sway of this law.
In the midst of a national calamity it is well to remember that nothing can come to us which we have not deserved. We may not be able to see the immediate cause of a catastrophe, but it does not follow that it took place without sufficient cause.
During the last thousand years and more many heart-rending and humiliating events occurred on the soil of Mother India, devastating the whole land, robbing her sons of their precious property and even more precious lives.
The incidents of our own times are too fresh in our memories to need any repetition. Have these soul-scorching incidents and cataclysms taken place without any rhyme or reason? No. There is nothing that can happen to us beyond the scope of the good and utterly just law. Everything has its own time and place. In our ignorance we may not be able to trace out the immediate cause with certainty, definiteness and accuracy, but this much is certain beyond the least shadow of doubt that nothing unmerited can happen to us or to our country.
Our own apathy, indifference, lack of patriotism, communal and caste dissensions, mutual hatred, suspicion and strife have been the main cause of our present and past degradation.
As our collective Karma brought on us the wrath of divine justice and fit retribution closely followed in the wake of our evil deeds and we deservedly suffered and paid for them heavily, so we can again exert our collective will in the right direction and learn to be wise and circumspect in the light of our past bitter experience and deep humiliation. In the course of time we shall begin to see the eclipse of downfall, servitude and thraldom gradually disappearing from the soil of our motherland and we shall once more be free and great as our forefathers were.
The Law of Karma
All the phenomena of Nature are governed by one important law, the universal law of causation, which is also known by the name, the Law of Karma. The law of causation is a universal law that keeps up the inner harmony and the logical order of the universe. Man's deeds are subject to this law. Karma is a Sanskrit term that comes from the root, "Kri—to act" and signifies action or deed. Any physical or mental action is Karma. Thought is Karma. Reaction that follows an action is also Karma. Karma is a broad term. Attraction, repulsion, gravitation, breathing, talking, walking, seeing, hearing, eating, feeling, willing, desiring, thinking and all the actions of the body, mind and the senses constitute Karma. Karma includes both cause and effect.
All other laws of Nature are subordinate to this fundamental law. The sun shines, the fire burns, the rivers flow, the wind blows, the trees blossom and bear fruits, the mind thinks, feels and wills, the brain, the heart, the lungs, spleen and kidneys work in harmony in strict obedience to this grand law of cause and effect. This grand law operates everywhere in the physical and mental planes. No phenomenon can escape from the operation of this mighty law.
The seed has its cause in the tree and the seed itself becomes in turn the cause for the tree. The cause is found in the effect and the effect is found in the cause. The effect is similar to the cause. This is the universal chain of cause and effect which has no end. This world runs on this fundamental, vital law. This law is inexorable and immutable.
Scientists are carefully observing the phenomena of Nature and are trying to find out the exact causes for all that takes place in Nature. The astronomer sits with his long, powerful telescope in his observatory and watches the map of the heavens, studies the stars and planets very carefully and the phenomena that take place in the astronomical world. He tries to find out the exact causes that bring out the phenomena. The reflective philosopher sits in a contemplative mood and tries to find out the cause for this world, the cause for the pains and miseries of this Samsara and the cause for the phenomena of birth and death.
No event can occur without having a positive, definite cause at the back of it. The breaking of a war, the rise of a comet, the occurrence of an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, an epidemic, thunder, lightning, floods, diseases, fortune, misfortune, etc., have got definite causes behind them.
If you develop a carbuncle or get a fracture of the bone of the leg, this is obviously due to some bad Karma in your previous birth. The bad Karma was the cause; the carbuncle or the fracture is the effect. If you get some fortune in this birth, the cause is that you did some good action in your previous birth.
There is no such thing as blind chance or accident. The cause is hidden or unknown if you are not able to trace it out for the particular accident. This law of cause and effect is quite mysterious. That is the reason why Lord Krishna says: "Gahana karmano gatih—Mysterious is the path of action" (Gita, IV-17). If your finite mind is not able to find out the cause in an accident or chance, it does not mean that this accident has occurred without a cause.
All the physical and mental forces in Nature obey this grand law of cause and effect. Law and the Law-giver are one. Law and God are one. Nature and Nature's laws are one. The laws of gravitation, cohesion, adhesion, attraction and repulsion, the law of like and dislike, the laws of relativity, contiguity, and association on the mental plane operate in strict accordance with this law of cause and effect. From the vibration of an electron to the revolution of a mighty planet, from the falling of a mango to the ground to the powerful willing of a Jnani or a Yogi, from the motion of a runner in the postal department to the movement of the radio-waves in the subtle ether, from the transmitting of a telegraphic message to the telepathic communication of a Yogi in the thought-world, all these are the effects of some invisible force that works in happy concord and harmony with the law of cause and effect.
A close study of this law gives encouragement for the hopeless man, for the desperate and the ailing. Destiny is created by man's thoughts, habits and character. There is every chance for his correction and improvement by changing his thoughts and habits. The scoundrel can become a saint, the prostitute can become a chaste woman, and a beggar can become a king. This mighty law provides this. The law of Karma only can explain beautifully the inequalities of this world such as one man is very rich, another is extremely poor, one is wicked, another is a saint, one is very dull, another is a genius or a versatile prodigy, one is a born decrepit, another is a handsome man, one is always sick, another is strong and healthy. How can you explain these inequalities? It is all Karma. God can never be unjust or partial.
This world is a relative plane. It contains good, evil and mixture of good and evil. That is the reason why Lord Krishna says: "Anishtamishtam misram cha trividham karmanah phalam—Good, evil and mixed—three-fold is the fruit of action hereafter for the non-relinquisher" (Gita, XVIII-12). There can be neither absolute good nor absolute evil in this world. That which gives you comfort and pleasure, that which is beneficial to you, to the world and to your neighbour is good. That which gives you discomfort, uneasiness, pain and misery to the world and to your neighbour is evil. That which gives misery and pain to some, pleasure to others is a mixture of good and evil.
Every action that you do produces a twofold effect. It produces an impression in your mind and you carry the Samskara when you die in the Karmasaya (receptacle of works) in your subconscious mind. It produces an impression on the world of Akasic records. Any action is bound to react upon you with equal force and effect. If you hurt another man, you really hurt yourself. This wrong action is bound to react upon you and injure you. It will bring misery and pain. If you do some good to another man, you are really helping yourself. You are really doing good to yourself. Because there is nothing but the Self. "Atma eva idam sarvam." This is the emphatic declaration of the Srutis. This virtuous action will react upon you with equal force and effect. It will bring you joy and happiness. That is the reason why sages and Rishis, prophets and moralists harp on the note: "Love thy neighbour as thyself. Never hurt the feelings of others. Ahimsa paramo dharmah. Do good to others." He who has rightly understood this law can never do any harm to anybody. He will be ever doing virtuous actions only. He will become an embodiment of virtues.
If you do a wrong action to an individual, it disturbs the whole atmosphere. If you entertain an evil thought, it pollutes the whole thought-world. Therefore you should cultivate good thoughts and eradicate all evil thoughts. Every thought has got a cause behind it. Every action, every thought, however trivial and insignificant it may be, affects the whole world directly or indirectly. That noble soul who always does good to the world and entertains sublime divine thoughts is a blessing to the world at large. He purifies the whole world.
Suppose for a moment that you write some sensational article in the paper. It arouses the emotions and sentiments of the readers. They begin to do something against the Government. A serious fight ensues. Police forces are brought in. Many people are shot. Many new rules are framed to check and repress the people. The parents of those who were killed suffer. This fight produces an effect in the minds of the people of other parts of the world also. In fact the whole world is affected by a single event. A single sensational article has wrought such disastrous results. One event may be both a cause and effect at the same time. The endless chain of cause and effect is kept up all throughout. You cannot separate one link from the chain. You cannot say that this link is useless or unnecessary.
You have now a comprehensive understanding of this grand law of cause and effect. You can change your thoughts and habits and mould a new character. You can become a righteous man and a saint by doing virtuous actions and entertaining noble divine thoughts. When you attain knowledge of the Self, when you annihilate this little mind, when you transcend the three Gunas and the three Avasthas, you can rest in your own Svarupa. You can become identical with the Law-giver. Then the law of cause and effect will not operate on you. You have conquered nature. May that invisible Law-giver, Brahman, guide you in your attainment of final beatitude of life!
Man Is the Master of His Destiny
Some ignorant people say: "Karma does everything. It is all destiny. If I am destined by my Karma to be like this or like that, why then should I exert? It is my destiny only." This is fatalism. This will bring inertia, stagnation and misery. This is perfect misunderstanding of the law of Karma. This is a fallacious argument. An intelligent man will certainly not put such a question. You have made your own destiny from within by your thoughts and actions. You have a free-will to choose now. A rogue is not a rogue for all times. Put him in the company of a saint. He will change in no time. He will think and act now in a different way and will change his destiny. He will become saintly in character. Dacoit Ratnakar was changed into sage Valmiki by the current of Rishi Narada. You will have to think and act. You can make your Karma in any way you like. You can become a Yogi or Jnani by right desire, by right thinking and by right action. You can attain the position of Indra or Brahma by good Karma. Man is not a helpless being. He has a free-will of his own.
Man sows an action and reaps a destiny. Man has made his own destiny by thinking and acting. He can change his destiny. He is the master of his own destiny. There is no doubt about this. By right thinking and Vichara and strong Purushartha, he can become a master of his destiny. Markandeya changed his destiny through Tapas and worship of Lord Siva. Visvamitra became a Brahmarshi through vigorous Tapas and changed his destiny. You can also do so, if you have a strong will and iron determination. Vasishtha preaches Purushartha to Sri Rama in the Yoga-Vasishtha. Just as you can change your way of writing in a slanting manner into a vertical manner, so also you can change your destiny by changing your mode of thinking. Now you are thinking: "I am Mr. So and so," by identifying with the body and other Upadhis. Now start the anti-current. Think: "I am Brahman. I am the immortal Self in all. I am the all-pervading Light, Intelligence or pure Consciousness." Your destiny will be changed. This is the Sadhana. This is the Ahamgraha Upasana. Practise it steadily. Feel and realise.
An advocate of Lahore once asked me: "Swamiji, you say that the law of Karma operates without unerring precision in all men. A man desires, thinks and acts. If the actions that I perform now are the outcome of my past thoughts, and if my past thoughts are the resultant of my past desires, am I not helplessly bound? I am like a piece of straw tossed about hither and thither. I must act in accordance with my thought. I must think in accordance with my desire. There is no hope for my freedom of action and thinking. This does not appeal to my reason at all. Kindly throw light on this important subject."
I replied: "Look here, Mr. Sivasankar! Man is gaining new experiences and new knowledge every day. Mind is evolving every second. There is every possibility for him to change his desires, thoughts and actions. Suppose there is a thief. He does pilfering. He knocks away the things of other people without their knowledge. He is put in jail. People hate him. He gains many experiences. He always feels that he is very miserable. He now decides to give up pilfering. He changes his desires. He now wants to lead an honest life. His old Samskaras, his old thoughts will try to resist him and will recur again and again. But through resolute efforts he can change his thoughts, desires and actions, can become a very good charitable man and can attain perfection, freedom and immortality."
Man Can Outgrow Environments
It is often said that man is the resultant product of his environments. This is not true. We cannot believe this, because the facts always prove the contrary. Many of the world's greatest men have been born in poverty and in adverse circumstances. Many who have been born in the slums and in filthy surroundings have risen to the highest status in the world. They have won laurels of fame and distinguished themselves in politics, literature and poetry. They have become brilliant geniuses and beacon-lights of the world. How do you account for this?
Sir T. Muthuswamy Aiyar, the first Indian High Court Judge in Madras, was born in absolute poverty. He had to study at night under municipal lanterns. He had no sufficient food. He was clad in rags. He struggled hard and achieved greatness. He rose above the environments by his strong will and iron determination.
In the West, sons of cobblers and fishermen have risen to very high position. Boys who did polishing of boots in the streets, who were selling beer in bars and who were cooking in hotels have become famous poets and able journalists. Johnson was placed in quite adverse environments. Sir Walter Scott was very poor. He had no place to live in. The life of James Ramsay MacDonald is worth mentioning. He was a man of great Purushartha. He rose from poverty to power, from a field-labourer to the status of Prime Minister of Britain. His first job was addressing envelopes for 10 shillings a week. He was too poor to buy tea; so he drank water instead. His main meal every day for months was a three-penny beef-steak-pudding. He took great interest in politics and science. He was a journalist. He gradually through Purushartha (right exertion) rose to the position of a Prime Minister.
Sri Sankaracharya, the exponent of Advaita philosophy, a spiritual giant, a brilliant genius, was born in poor, unfavourable environments and circumstances. There are many other instances like these. It is quite obvious, therefore, that unfavourable environments cannot annihilate the potential greatness and excellence of the future geniuses and that one can outgrow environments by diligent application, patience, perseverance, truthfulness, honesty, integrity, sincerity of purpose, iron will and strong determination.
Every man is born with his Samskaras. The mind is not a blank sheet of paper. It contains the impressions of thoughts and actions of the previous births. Samskaras are the latent potentialities. These good Samskaras are valuable assets for a man. Even though he is placed in unfavourable environments, these Samskaras give him protection from extraneous, undesirable hostile influences. They help his growth and evolution. In the Gita Lord Krishna says: "There he recovereth the characteristics belonging to his former body and-with these he again laboureth for perfection."
Miss not any opportunity. Avail yourself of all opportunities. Every opportunity is meant for your uplift and development. If you see a sick man lying down on the roadside in a helpless condition, take him to the nearest hospital. Nurse him. Shampoo his legs with Divine Bhava. Feel the all-pervading, all-permeating, interpenetrating, indwelling God in him. See Divinity in the glow of his eyes, in his cry, in his breath, in his pulsation and motion of his lungs. God has given this opportunity for you to develop mercy and love, to purify your heart and to remove Ghrina, hatred and jealousy. Sometimes if you are very timid, God will place you in such circumstances wherein you will be forced to exhibit courage and presence of mind by risking your life. Those world-figures who have risen to eminence have all utilised all opportunities to the best advantage.
Remember that in your weakness lies the strength, because you will be always on your alert to safeguard yourself. Poverty has got its own virtues. Poverty infuses humility, strength, power of endurance and the spirit of struggling and persevering. Whereas, luxury begets laziness, pride, weakness, inertia and all sorts of evil habits.
Therefore, do not grumble of bad environments. Create your own mental world and environments. That man who tries to evolve or grow in adverse environments will be a very strong man indeed. Nothing can shake him. He will be of a sterner stuff. He will have strong nerves. Man is certainly not a creature of environments or circumstances. He can control and modify them by his capacities, character, thoughts and actions. Right exertion can change the destiny. Dear brothers, exert. Conquer the nature. Rejoice in the eternal Sat-Chit-Ananda Atman.
In the Yoga-Vasishtha the following description is given: "There is nothing like destiny other than the effect of our previous efforts. Our previous efforts are called our destiny. Our achievements are determined by our efforts. Our effort is therefore our destiny. Our previous and present efforts, in case they are in contrary directions, are like two rams fighting against each other. The more powerful of the two always overthrows the other. Whether they are the past or the present efforts, it is the stronger ones that determine our destiny. In either case, it is man's own effort that determines his destiny by virtue of its strength. Man determines his own destiny by his own thought. He can make those things also happen, which were not destined to happen. The soul of man is powerful enough. Only those things happen in this world which it creates by its own free effort and not others. One should, therefore, overcome one's unfavourable destiny (the effect of one's past efforts), by greater effort in the present. There is nothing in the world which cannot be achieved by men by right sort of effort."
Prof. Radhakrishnan writes as follows: "We have a good deal of the present constraint and previous necessity in human life. But necessity is not to be mistaken for destiny which we can neither defy nor delude. Though the self is not free from the bonds of determination, it can subjugate the past to a certain extent and turn it into a new course. Choice is the assertion of freedom over necessity by which it converts necessity to its own use and thus frees itself from it. The human agent is free. He is not the plaything of fate or driftwood on the tide of uncontrolled events. He can actively mould the future instead of passively suffering the past. The past may become an opportunity or an obstacle. Everything depends on what we make it and not what it makes of us."
Dr. Hafiz Syed, M.A., Ph.D., writes in the Hindu Mind as follows: "There is nothing which has wrought so much havoc in the practical life of the Hindus, as the misconception of the law of Karma—the eternal law of cause and effect—that works- with unerring precision in all the departments of human life. It is said that it is a gloomy doctrine and that it tends to paralyse human effort, and closes the spring of all right action. In popular language this doctrine means predestination, pure and simple. It is believed that a man is a creature of his past actions and all his present life with its varied activities, joys, sorrows, pain and pleasure, success and failure, gain and loss, are predetermined by his past doings over which he has no control, and therefore he should be utterly resigned and waste no time in improving his or his neighbour's lot.
"There is only an element of truth in this attitude: in other words, it is only half a truth that is understood and followed; unless the whole truth is .grasped with regard to this doctrine, it will always prove a source of confusion and cause a great deal of harm. If Indian people are to rise from their present state of degradation and shake off the fetters of their thraldom, it is time, that they should clearly try to understand the true meaning and philosophy of actions and the reign of the law of Karma under which the whole of the human race has to evolve.
"It is true that a man's present abilities or disabilities are the direct outcome of his own thoughts and actions in the past: his congenital endowments, his physical heredity, his moral and mental instincts and capacities are the results of his own thoughts and feelings of his previous births. A farmer reaps rich harvest only when he labours in his field for a long time. Unless he cares to till the ground, sow the seeds, water and manure it, he would not be in a position to enjoy the fruit of his toil. What he sowed yesterday, he is reaping today and what he sows today he will reap tomorrow. This is an immutable law and holds good in every thing without an exception. To say that one's capacity for fresh effort, and new lines of action, is paralysed or doomed by one's past doings is as futile and groundless as to say that because one sowed yesterday one cannot sow fresh seeds in new grounds today. The fact of the matter is that free-will is never choked and stifled by any past action. The only thing is that a man cannot achieve what he wants all at once, without any delay. The good law pays every person according to his need and in due time. The law runs its own course. The results of past actions, thoughts and feelings appear to us as effects of causes we set up from our own free choice and similarly we are equally free and unfettered to choose a line of action which is sure to bring its fruit in due time. A man is bound by the past debts he incurred or contracts he made. As soon as he pays up his liabilities he is once more free to choose whether he should incur fresh debt or not. Over the inevitable he has no control and if the law is to be justified, he should have no reason to complain against it. It is always open to him to mould the Karma which is in the course of making in any way he likes. Under the security of the changeless law of cause and effect a man can serenely proceed to achieve anything he desires to accomplish. Sooner or later he is sure to succeed in his well-directed efforts. In nature nothing is lost."
Karma is Jada. There must be a dispenser to allot the fruits for the thoughts and actions of Jivas. An overseer knows how much wages are to be given to various workers in the contract-work according to the ability and nature of work turned out by the coolies. Even so, the Lord of the universe knows the actions and motives of the Jivas and accordingly allots fruits for their actions.
CHAPTER EIGHT
OBSTACLES IN YOGA
Moha—Attachment
Moha is one of the greatest obstacles for the spiritual aspirants. Moha is infatuated love for one's own body, wife, children, father, mother, brothers, sisters and property. Mind always gets attached to one form or other. When it is taken from one form, it clings to another form. No one is free from some kind of attachment. Aaskti (attachment), Kamana (longing), Raga (attraction) and preference to certain things are the various methods by which this great power Moha binds the Jiva to the Samsara-Chakra. A man is attached to rice. He has a longing for eating rice when he has given up rice on account of his diabetes. This is Kamana. If rice and bread are served, a Bengali or a Madrasi will certainly have preference for rice. This also you should give up if you want to destroy Moha. Moha is the greatest weapon of Maya. Mysterious is Maya. Mysterious is Moha. Moha is a kind of powerful liquor that brings intoxication in the twinkling of an eye.
You would have never come into this world, had it not been for the influence of Moha. The first attachment starts with this physical body. Then all other attachments crop up. Then comes the relationship of father, mother, brother, sister, wife, son, etc. One may have attachment to a place, person or object. Wherever there is attachment, there is the idea of Mamata (mineness). Attachment is a sort of very strong glue that binds the mind with the sensual objects. Why does the mind get attached to objects or persons? Because it finds pleasure in them. Wherever there is pleasure, the mind gets attached there.
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