Commentaries by Vee Jay Attri during the Book Study – Secrets of Karma
We shall continue from the book of Secrets of Karma. We shall be reading parts of the introduction because other parts are basically the background of the author. So, the introduction begins with a very beautiful invocation. This is in fact, a prayer that you do as you begin the day and as you end the day.
‘‘Lead me from untruth to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality’’
-The Upanishad
As I was writing this introduction at the sanctum of Saint Ramana, I could relate the contents of this book to many events that I had witnessed and experienced in this lifetime and to the past life issues.
This is a very profound statement. If you really go deep within yourself and do a self-analysis, as we were talking during the discussion on Katha Upanishad, you will realize that many of the conditions of your life, have a connection with the past.
If you miss the connection, there is always a question mark: Why like this? Why like that? But the moment you’ve got the connection with a cause of whatever that is happening, you cannot only link to the present life situations, you will also slowly have the ability to look beyond the present life, which is just a very small portion of your total journey.
So, you don’t have to go into a past life regression. The conditions of your life will tell you what kind of inputs you carry from the past. So a deeper level of self-analysis will make you realize that this is exactly what has happened in the past, for me to experience what I’m experiencing now.
For example, in a very simple, layman’s language, we can see if you are experiencing repeatedly selfish or unkind people in your life, it is an indication that this is exactly how we have been in the past. Somehow, we have been quite unkind in our thoughts, speech and actions that we did not give happiness, we created a lot of stress to people a lot of tension, a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear.
As a consequence of that, you are experiencing these conditions repeated in your own life. So, while past life regressions have their own value, but you just by the act of doing a deeper level of self-analysis, can easily know what kind of activities have happened in the past, for you to experience whatever that you are experiencing in this lifetime.
Of course, what you are experiencing in this lifetime is just a portion of what you are expected to experience. We shall be talking about this at a later stage of the book, but just to make you understand, whatever that you experience is what we call ‘Prarabdha Karma.’
Prarabdha means Fructified karma, karma that is ripe to mature. So, out of the sum total of whatever that you have been doing for eons of times in any lifetime, you just bring a portion of that karma to be experienced in a particular lifetime. This portion itself is so overwhelming and that is the reason why, it is so important for you not to add to your karmic burden, by acts of carelessness, including at the thought level.
This is an extremely important understanding, you need to have right now! No more addition of the burden that is already so phenomenal, by virtue of journey in several several several lifetimes because we must remember that obviously you wouldn’t have been as matured or evolved as you are today.
If you look into this lifetime itself, you will notice that where you started your journey and what you are today, there is a sea of difference. So, if you understand and go by this analogy, you can easily understand that in the past, you are not what you are today and if you analyze very deeply, even today, you carry traces of whatever imperfections that you have been always having in the past.
Therefore, the nature puts you into situations, conditions, including health, for you to recognize it. So, that is the most important aspect of karma, it is not there to punish you. It is there to teach you the lesson that you are expected to learn firmly and till such time, the conditions or situations, keep on repeating in one form or the other.
When I say one form or the other, for example, you are having too much of difficulty with somebody and you want to quit a relationship and you quit by force, which perhaps might be okay, considering your situation.
In certain cases, it is possible that this is demand of the situation that you decide to move away but if you did not pick up the lesson the condition had offered you and you are quitting out of resentment, out of rage, of anger, out of frustration, then you haven’t learned the lesson. So, the lesson that you need to learn is carried forward in another aspect of your life.
Again, it is absolutely possible that you will end up in some situation that actually gives you the same experience, the same lesson again to you, for you to master. So, the crux of the practice of karma, lies in understanding this most important aspect of our life; that experiences, situations, conditions all basically have one common factor.
That factor is karmic lessons. Get the lesson internally and externally; the conditions have to change. That is the law. So, when you have got nothing to learn from a particular situation anymore, that you have mastered your emotions, obviously, this situation will have to transform as I keep telling people many times they’ve got difficulty in a particular situation.
For example, as a school teacher, sometimes we come across people or as employees of organization, people have difficulty with their bosses, with their superiors over and over again, there is so much of pain, so much of torment happening but I tell them that, “Listen, he was there in this particular condition because you attracted it and this is exactly what you are expected to learn.”
The moment you get the lesson, either you will have a transfer or the person who is responsible will transfer. This has to happen, transformations have to happen. So, either the condition gets transformed by way of having an amicable relationship with the people around or the person responsible for giving you pain will be transferred. And this, I had witnessed it many times.
It’s all about you, what you want in your life. So, the moment you get the lesson very deeply and take a resolute determination that I am not going to react to no matter what happens, that resolution and spreading the vibrations of peace even to the person who’s giving you so much of challenge over a period of time either transforms the situation or makes the person to move away from you.
This happens naturally. When this happens naturally there is no worry now. There is no carry forward, then you are very safe. Now, despite you learning the lessons, there was someone asking what happens if you do not have any grudges, but people have grudges? If people have grudges, that is their problem.
You ensure that people do not make you to have any anger, any forms of grudges or hatred towards them. The moment you learn to be in a neutral position, not reacting at all to whatever that is happening around you, you stop generating karma with that person or with that condition or situation.
So, from your side, you have already balanced or neutralized. It’s up to that person for him to learn or not to learn, but it is you who shall be protected; that always happens. If people are continuing to have grudges with you, you don’t have to worry much about it.
Continue blessing; it could be possible that the soul is not actually healed at the deeper level. This is exactly where the techniques of blessing come in force, that you have to unconditionally bless the soul with lots of love, with lots of peace repeatedly over a period of time; it doesn’t happen just like that.
Transformation is a process and any process takes time. You need to have patience, it is not just about the lesson, it is also about the virtues that you are expected to develop. It is a very amazing complex subject. So, on one side, you have the lessons which you have to learn any way to neutralize whatever that you have generated in the past. On the other side, using conditions you have to develop virtues.
Despite you being a very peaceful and happy person and all the time very caring and lawful, if the people around you are repeatedly testing you, you are now not into the subject of karma, but into the subject of what we call character building. You have to develop the virtue that is still weak.
You have to remember this very clearly: situations will always be giving you an opportunity to develop a muscle that is weak. So, if for example, tolerance and patience is weak, then the situations will be such that repeatedly you will be tested over and over again till the time you become perfect in your patience and tolerance; that you do not become impatient at any given time, you are not intolerant to anybody.
So, remember the subject of karma has got two-fold. In fact, I can say three fold: one is neutralizing, second one is learning the lessons that you are expected to learn, and the third one is developing the virtues that you are expected to master.
It is actually a three fold activity that is happening simultaneously. This is exactly what will lead you for your spiritual evolution for your spiritual development. I hope you understand what we are talking.
Further reading: Secrets of Karma, Introduction, pg xxv
