Commentaries by Vee Jay Attri during the Book Study – Secrets of Karma
Let us continue with our study from the Secrets of Karma.
‘‘All is very well with the world and with its struggling souls.’’
– Annie Besant
In every lifetime, you have a ‘chosen path’ to tread in order to balance your karma and evolve through the lessons the path would provide. You can also exercise ‘free will’ before incarnating to choose a life you want to experience but within the means of the karma you carry.
For example, you can use your karmic income to have a life full of comfort and luxury in an embodiment. However, if you have much negative karma to work out, you may have to choose a path that is most likely to balance it.
What we are reading is extraordinary esoteric teachings. First, there is something called free will; second, there is something called destiny. Even before you come into an embodiment, a destiny is chosen for us.
Now, generally we don’t like the word destiny much, we prefer to call it a chosen path because just like you can decide the course of your path to reach a particular destination, in the same way in your journey in a particular embodiment, you can also exercise your free will to decide what you want to do.
So, though loosely we use the word “destiny” but the destiny is not final, whatever destiny the soul carries to experience in a lifetime can be transformed with the commitment to become a better soul, this is possible. That is the reason why, we have the subject of karma in our understanding. So, using the power of good karma, gradually we can transform a destiny with which we are initially born.
Second thing is the free will. Even before you come into an embodiment, the Higher Soul, as per the esoteric traditions, in consultation with some Great Beings, chooses a path that is very very suitable to learn a set of lessons, so a lesson that is not learned in the past has to be learned.
So, the Higher Soul, in consultation with some Great Beings, can choose a path to go through certain experiences. The bottom line is the experience, that means the soul can decide to come in an ailing body, the soul can choose to be born in an impoverished family. These are all choices the soul can make to go through certain experiences.
So, it is not about what you are experiencing, it is about the lesson that is connected with the experience, this we have stated it several times.
Now, there are two things; one is your individual karma. There is something called a group karma. Both actually play hand in hand. Group karma includes the country where you would be born, the family where you are born, many other things.
For example, sometimes you will come across souls in an embodiment with a very sick body. Not only is the soul suffering, together with the soul, the entire family is affected both financially and emotionally, this you can all the time observe.
So, it is not only the individual karma of the soul, there is also a group karma of the family. So, all actually had been so precisely planned even before your coming into an embodiment. It is an extraordinary subject for you to ponder upon, truly extraordinary.
It is foolish to ignore the role of karma in our existence, this is an utter foolishness. It is like somebody jumping out of a tall building saying that I don’t believe in gravity. Regardless of your belief, you will harm yourself. Same thing is with karma and therefore the sooner you understand the play of karma in whatever that you are experiencing or doing, the better it will be for you.
So, karma is in force all the time. So, individually it is applicable, as a group it is applicable, as a society it is applicable, as a country it is applicable, as a planet it is applicable. The entire humanity has a karma to go through certain experiences.
So, this was very clear during the pandemic, that is basically a karma to be worked out on a planetary level. So, at any point in time, the force of karma is in play and this is very important to understand. So, when we talk about free will, the free will can be exercised only up to a certain level.
You cannot say that, I will not go through any suffering or pain, I want to all the time have only a beautiful life. It might be possible at a certain stage in evolution when you have neutralized all your karma there is no more suffering for you, no more pain to experience because you have already neutralized.
Then you are basically in a paradise-like state, but till such time that you carry negative karma to work out, you have to come into an embodiment with a lesson to be learned by going through certain experiences. That is exactly what we have described in the first paragraph. All right, let us proceed.
You also have a certain freedom to make your own choices during the course of your life but you are accountable for the karmic effects of those choices.
It is like you are driving on the highway, you can decide to stick to your lane or you can decide to keep changing lanes even without checking what is happening to the other lanes, choice is yours. Many at times, that is exactly what happens on the highways.
So, that is actually an example of a very crude example of freewill. If you are not careful, not only you suffer, you also make others to suffer and the karma of making somebody else suffer also is attached to you. It’s a very deep subject.
Of course, the person who is getting affected has got some karma but you become the catalyst for that. So, every choices that you make is not only affecting you, it is affecting to a large extent the people in your life and to a certain extent, even the whole planet.
And that is the reason why, you need to be so careful about the choices you make. So free will, yes but learn to understand that nothing comes free, there is always a price that you pay. You also have a certain freedom to make your own choices during the course of your life but you are accountable for the karmic effects of those choices.
Whether a king or a beggar, saint or a sinner, everyone is bound by the immutable laws of nature.
So, if you look into the world today, constantly you see people are making wrong choices over and over again. These wrong choices are actually happening more with the intellectuals, the so-called intellectuals. They keep on making wrong choices and what they do not realize is that every wrong choice that they are actually making, they are actually going to pay the price for that, sometimes very very heavy price.
We already reminded you that when you talk about the subject of karma, the effects of karma depend upon the level of your evolution. So, there is a difference between an absolutely ignorant person doing a particular karma, a negative karma and an awakened or an intellectual doing the same karma.
In the case of an ignorant, the karmic consequences are not as severe as it is going to be with an intellectual or an awakened person. That means, for a spiritual practitioner whenever we choose to do a wrong thing despite knowing it is wrong, the consequences are not the same.
So, that is exactly what we need to remember before making any choices. So, given that you are actually one in a million to receive this level of wisdom, it is a good idea that you take advantage of it and commit yourself to make right choices every moment. That is good for you!
At this very moment, think what you are thinking, ensure that whatever your thinking is benevolent, is having a good wish for somebody or the other, if nothing at least neutral, that “Neither I am thinking something good nor I am thinking something bad.” At least, learn to be a neutral person, that is better rather than thinking something negative about yourself or about others.
In some lifetimes, you may need to clear your karmic debts rapidly in order to propel your spiritual evolution.
You may think that your life went away in struggle, but it was actually your investment. When the right time comes, all the difficulties and challenges you went through will yield a fortune.
So, many at times, people who keep struggling and struggling a lot in life, they give up at some point in time. Unfortunately, they give up to a level of choosing a negative path to overcome this adverse situation.
I have seen people either becoming an alcoholic or a drug addict just to overcome the sufferings and the pains of life. Unfortunately, what they don’t realize is that the karma is still there, it has not gone anywhere, you have to go through certain experiences, you have to learn the lessons but unfortunately you miss the golden opportunity and that too at a time when things could have become much better.
That is why a soldier is the one who fights till the end. Do not give up at all, never give up! Once you choose a path, keep moving forward, do not look back. So, in the ancient times, the commander of an army, when they have to go to another kingdom crossing a river, they will simply cross the river.
And then, soon after reaching the particular domain where they have to have a war, the moment they reach, the commander would simply break the boat into pieces so that no soldier would never have an inclination to get back to their place. That means, once you decide to move forward, that’s about it, there is no looking back, that is what is called the life of a warrior.
So, you are a warrior and there is no choice for you to look back. If you look back and keep on swinging from one end to another end over and over again, then you are actually wasting a very precious incarnation. Once you decide to do things, no matter what happens, you will keep moving forward.
It is not about what people are doing around you, people might be making your job very difficult. Look at any Prime Minister, any President of the world, neither the people, nor the opposition party allow them to perform what they have to do.
There is bound to be opposition. It is always there, it is part and parcel of the game; it is like you are actually in a football match and you are a player and you say that “I don’t want any opposition, I want to make all the goals!” There is no charm here.
Even if you make a hundred goals without opponent, how does it matter? There is no credit for your goals. Same thing happens with your life; the stronger is the opposition, the greater is your spiritual development.
So, if you are an advanced spiritual practitioner, do not look for mosquitoes, look for elephants. The mightier you are, the mightier will be the opposing forces. You have to sail through all of this and that is exactly how you will reach the destination.
Further reading: Secrets of Karma, Page 114-115