Commentaries by Vee Jay Attri during the Book Study – Secrets of Karma
Let us continue with our study from the Secrets of Karma. We have completed karmic obligations. We are now moving to Chapter 5 – Neutralizing Karma. Very important chapter. We shall begin with Service and Sharing.
Chapter 5
Service and Sharing
There is a destiny that makes us brothers; none goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others come back into our own.
Edwin Markham.
Very profound quotation. So, by the act of Great Invocation, when you are blessing the humanity with Light, Love and Power, you will start experiencing greater clarity by way of guidance in your own life. You will experience deeper levels of love, inner peace.
And the more we join hands together in reciting the Great Invocation to bless the world, the will to do good and the willpower will progressively become enhanced. What you give others is what you will receive. That is what this quotation from Edwin Markham says:
Just as when you have a loan, you can boost your earnings and make your repayment faster and easier, you can also generate karmic income through service and sharing and pay a part of your karmic debts without the need to undergo many sufferings to balance them.
A very important insight. There are two ways by which you can neutralize; going through sufferings which partly help you to neutralize your negative karma and generating adequate karmic income.
So, this income that you generate can be used to partially neutralize whatever that you have accumulated in the past, the negative karma. We are using the word partially because fully it is never possible. You have to make a note of this very important aspect of our life, partly because you have to learn the lessons. It is not just about generating good karma to offset your negative karma. Equally important is to learn the lessons you are expected to, through the conditions that are set for you.
So, on one side, very important to generate good karma which will certainly help you to partly offset the impact of the negative karma that you have accumulated but together with that, you should be willing to learn the lessons that are given to you.
That means generating good karma and learning the lessons. Both are very important in neutralizing whatever causes that you have set in the past.
Just as when you have a loan, you can boost your earnings and make your repayment faster and easier, you can also generate karmic income through service and sharing and pay a part of your karmic debts without the need to undergo many sufferings to balance them.
There are many ways to serve but the essence of service is to alleviate the sufferings of people and also help them grow spiritually.
You may help humanitarian and spiritual institutions and also support other social activities that would benefit the mass.
You may visit sick and elderly people to offer hope and comfort. Look for opportunities to serve and then serve with loving-kindness.
Meaning, serve with devotion.
What goes around comes around manifold and in many ways; materially and spiritually.
So, we keep looking for opportunities to serve in every way possible. Of course, one of the most profound ways of serving is through our mind. We have been repeating this many at times. These are the times for mental service which you can do 24 hours a day. That means at night, when you do not get sufficient sleep, no need to struggle to sleep.
Do something useful for the mankind. Practice the Twin Hearts Meditation or simply have the intention of blessing your surroundings, your country and the world with peace and love. Try to spend moments of what we call Ekaant, solitude whenever it is possible.
And sometimes, I find that the times that are available during night are very precious where there is practically no disturbance and you can definitely experience greater level of stillness and peace and use that opportunity to generate good karma as well. So, mental service or service through the mind is a very important aspect of service.
You may also help people by sharing what you know with those who are eager to learn and grow.
This is very important. You have to share whatever that you have with the people who are interested in listening to you in the first place. Of course, there are times when out of your intention you would like to share something with somebody, that is perfectly alright.
Even though the person may not listen to you immediately, but some time they will wake up. They will remember that you had said something that is so relevant to them.
It is like sometimes people go for window shopping. They don’t buy anything but simply take a look at what is available.
And then suddenly some day, when there is a requirement, they immediately can reconnect that: ‘yeah, in this place, what I am looking for is available.’ Same thing happens spiritually.
Though you might be thinking that what you are telling is not having any impact on the people, when you do it with pure motive of uplifting the soul, of helping the soul to evolve, some day the soul will receive that reminder and suddenly you will find that the soul is already awakened.
So, most importantly, whenever possible, share something good with the people but also remember the teachings, “Do not throw pearls in front of swines.” If people are not willing to listen to you, if people are not ready, better to not spend too much time.
For example, if somebody is not willing to believe in reincarnation or karma, what is the point in you struggling to explain to them. You can just state once that there is something called karma and reincarnation.
The person understands, does not understand, allow them to evolve in their own pace. Do not push somebody to evolve too fast. This is not going to help.
Thou shall truly tithe all the increase of thy seed that the field brings forth year by year.
Holy Bible.
This is actually a very important profound teaching from the Holy Bible, called Tithing.
Sharing your wealth is a wise way to deal with karmic debts.
From ancient times, the practice has been to monthly or annually share 10 % of one’s income with those less fortunate.
In the Holy Bible, this is referred to as ‘tithe.’
I have seen many at times, people coming to take help and they have been coming for years together and they have been only receiving and they have not been sharing sufficiently. In a very lighter way, I tell people sometimes, it is like constipation. Things are going inside but nothing is coming out!
If you keep receiving and receiving and not sharing adequately, it becomes like a spiritual constipation. Over a period of time, the growth stops, you get suffocated. And you find the saturation to your progress not only spiritually but in many levels of your life.
That is the reason why, sharing plays an extremely important role. Sharing is not just by giving wealth. Sharing is also through sharing your resources. If you have got resources that is of help to others, use that resources.
You might be having a good voice for example or you might be a networking specialist or you might be having many other skills that can help an institution. Support as much as possible. Remember, together with your material life, you also have to take care of your spiritual life.
Because in the first place, you are a spiritual being, you are not a physical being. If your entire focus is only on material sustenance and physical sustenance, that is a very wrong approach. Sooner or later, you will find that all your strategies fail, there need to be a balanced approach.
So, while you take care of your material physical well-being, you also take care of your spiritual well-being. The most important requirement for spiritual wellness is service and sharing. This is very important topic.
Further reading, Secrets of Karma, Page 88