Commentaries by Vee Jay Attri during the Book Study – Secrets of Karma
Let us continue with our study from the book of Secrets of Karma. We were talking about gratitude yesterday, gratitude for all that we have received. This is the most important quality that you need to develop. We mentioned that an attitude of gratitude will bring greater abundance, greater joy in your life.
The moment there is any form of ingratitude, it substantially blocks the flow of abundance. All the time, have gratitude for everything. We will not take anything for granted, including the food. That is why, it is written here so wonderfully:
No matter what the conditions of your life are, you will still have many good things that millions of people do not have. Learn to value them and cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
So, there is a very beautiful quote from the Indian scriptures:
Aannadata Sukhibhava. May he who gives food be happy.
Indian blessing
That is exactly how we begin our food. There is a prayer before you start eating, so much of gratitude is so important. It is very obvious in today’s condition that millions and millions of people across the planet, even the ones who were actually working, by virtue of losing their job, are really homeless.
We don’t know whether people are actually being taken care of by the local government to support them in this crisis and not all the countries are blessed. So, in this kind of a situation, let us feel the gratitude every moment and avoid any form of complaint. This is very important.
Wasted Opportunities
A man who misses his opportunity and the monkey who misses its branch, cannot be saved.
-Indian proverb
Wasted opportunities warrant severe karmic repercussions, as you are accountable for wasting both the opportunities and the resources that could have helped others.
Many at times, resources have been given to you but you do not make use of those resources. You do not take advantage of what has been given. This is very important to understand. Many at times, people do this kind of a blunder.
So, if you look into the world today, with in fact millions of people having so much of pain, so much of suffering and struggling even for the basic necessities, we can understand that if these sufferings are there, it must have a cause and the cause is more often irresponsible actions.
When opportunities and resources are given to us, we have a tendency to take them for granted and we abuse them. As a consequence of that, in some other lifetime, all these negligence, all these irresponsible careless actions come back multiplied.
At least from now on, having known that, we have to be so careful. You should ensure that not a cent of your resources is being wasted in any way. If you have been given opportunities on the spiritual path, take full advantage of that.
Many at times, people are easy, so casual, they never realize what kind of a blessing it is to be on the spiritual path. They never realize what kind of wisdom has been bestowed on them. The world is suffering today mainly because of ignorance. They do not have the right knowledge but people like us, with all the knowledge that has been bestowed to us, how much we should take them into advantage, how much we should use them not only for our well being but use these resources for the well being of others.
So many opportunities are given to you for service so that whatever resources in terms of knowledge, wisdom, in terms of monetary, it is being deployed for a greater use but if you keep sitting without making no effort on your side to take advantage of what has been given to you, it becomes a huge karmic liability.
It is very important that you take care of your karmic obligations by serving your company, by serving your family but do not forget you have got a greater obligation, especially in this time when our brothers and sisters across the planet are in deep pain.
So much of crisis, so much of calamities are happening every moment. It becomes an extremely important factor of our life to be of greater service for the humanity in whichever way possible. Even for this 15 to 20 minutes of Great Invocation, sometimes you are available, sometimes you are not available.
In the morning, it is hardly 10 minutes, even that you find it so difficult and there is always an excuse for you not to be a part of the group activity. How can you progress in life? You have to be so careful about it.
Let us continue! Wasted opportunities warrant severe karmic repercussions, as you are accountable for wasting both the opportunities and the resources that could have helped others.
As a result of this, you might be deprived of doing all that you wish to do or capable of doing due to many constraints including financial, health, family burden or lack of opportunities.
So, many at times, we see people, highly talented people but they do not have any opportunity for growth Sometimes, super intelligent people are performing a very ordinary role, of course, it is basically a part of karmic lessons. That is understandable but if you observe very carefully, where the person could have probably ruled the world, they are actually delivering miniscule activities. That is basically because they did not take advantage of the resources that had been deployed to them at some point in time.
These are all extremely important lessons that we have to listen. When I am reading this, it is applicable to me as well.
The problem again is ingratitude, preventing people from valuing what they have. They miss golden opportunities that seldom come again.
Seldom means it may not come, may come but most of the time, does not come. So, golden opportunities whenever it comes in front of you, most importantly in the form of service, take advantage of that. It is not just about material opportunities. It is about spiritual opportunities that do not come very often. So, when you have been entrusted with some responsibilities, take full advantage of that because everyone of us are perfectly dispensable. Anybody can replace.
Even people with inferior intelligence, inferior capability can replace us because the Lords of karma, the great masters have to choose people who are available for whatever task that is in the hand. So, that is why you will find that very ordinary people doing amazing activities basically because they were available and they have replaced the so called intelligent capable people.
So, in the spiritual world, intelligence is very important, capabilities are very important but that is not the only criteria. Having all the intelligence, having all the resources and capabilities, if you do nothing, you will be replaced.
You have to be very careful about this. This is a very important lesson. The problem again is ingratitude, preventing people from valuing what they have. They miss golden opportunities that seldom come again.
Take full advantage of all good things in your life including good people.
In the same topic:
Cumulative effects of karma
There is a very beautiful proverb:
“Every drop makes an ocean.”
-Old proverb
Karmic effects are cumulative. Nothing happens all of a sudden. For example, a jackpot or a big fortune received could be the cumulative effects of little kind actions performed over time, even in a few lifetimes.
On the other hand, a disaster or misfortune could be the accumulated effect of small negligence or trivial negative actions repeated over and over in a life time or in several lifetimes.
Check yourself, how many forms of negligence and negative actions that you have a tendency to repeat over and over again? Check from the level of your thoughts, your feelings, your actions!
Some people, for fun, for carelessness, have got a tendency to get angry and over a period of time, it becomes their second nature to get angry and they are not even aware, that every time they are getting angry, they are disturbing the vibrations of the planet and the karmic consequences are there. It is getting accumulated. So, little negative actions and negligence over a period of time get accumulated as an ocean and they come back to you in a very mighty miserable way. These are all very important teachings you have to remember.
On the other hand, a disaster or misfortune could be the accumulated effect of small negligence or trivial negative actions repeated over and over in a life time or in several lifetimes.
Even when a healthy person or a sportsperson gets affected with a crippling ailment, it is often due to accumulated karmic debts. There cannot be an effect without a cause.
Do not be careless about anything in life. All that you do, no matter how trifling it might be, matters a lot in the long run.
Let me read this once again:
Do not be careless about anything in life. All that you do, no matter how trifling, meaning how small it might be, matters a lot in the long run.
Alright, very profound teachings!
Further reading, Secrets of Karma, Page 51
