Many a times, we come across situations when a neighbour, colleague or a relative is in a much better state than us in certain aspects. We wonder what causes these differences. We also wish to be in that state or better. But, things may not work out and we end up compromising. In some cases, we struggle and somehow reach the expectations. And then, we may encounter a similar situation once again. The cycle repeats. Is this the way to perceive and deal with the differences that we see around us? What constitutes a good life style where one is at peace with where they are and yet feel encouraged and energetic to achieve high in all aspects, including the journey of the soul?
Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji during the Bhagavad Vishayam classes at JIVA asram talked about the extremely intricate mechanism of our body and what is hidden in it that our modern CT scans, PET scans and MRIS etc can’t capture. He spoke about how that hidden constituent shapes our current life and future! The same constituent also helps one understand why everyone is different and how one should deal with the differences.
What is this hidden constituent?
Coconut oil is hidden in a coconut, but cannot be seen. One must adapt a specific process to extract oil from the coconut. It is not something that the coconut itself can do. Similarly, karma is the hidden constituent that exists in a format that we can’t decode. Decoding and clearing/cleansing of karma happens only through a specific process that God laid out.
What happens when old karma is cleared,and current karma is cleansed?
You will attain your natural state, a higher state of happiness free from regulations, giving experience of illimitable knowledge, power, peace and joy along with God and other liberated souls. Rushis tuned their hearts to a higher frequency through meditating on the eternal secrets that rule this existence. Their genuine interest and love for Supreme enabled them in understanding these beautiful potions of knowledge!
We don’t understand how karma is stored and how to work with it. However, just like the coconut does not push itself away when one tries to extract oil from it, we should know to not push God away when He tries to support us in this effort.
How do I know if God is supporting me?
Our body is given by God. This is the first biggest support. Did we choose our parents? Did we choose the place of birth? Can we determine the time we leave this body? No. But we have this powerful tool now. He is driving us in this tool by supporting us from within. If we take liberty and misuse this tool or do not use it for the purpose that He planned for us, then we end up putting ourselves in more trouble. If he had not given us this body, we would be lying down as an entity that has no ability to do anything useful. God is a pure blissful being. He wants us to all to enjoy that bliss instead of lying down as a mere object. And therefore, He gives us chances after chances to reach His state by helping through scriptures, acharyas and His incarnations.
Karma exists in many layers in our body. Some are engraved at the outer layer of the skin, some are engraved deeper at the tissue level, some are at level of other senses beyond skin, some are at the level of manas, some are at the level of intellect. We are given this body to cleanse a small subset of karma from a bigger set. Unaware of the goal, we end up adding more karma based on how we conduct ourselves and how we think.
How do I cleanse this karma?
For example, if we fall in love with a flower, think all the way till the bare truth, i.e. how beautiful God’s heart must be to create that beautiful flower.
When we see someone sick, think all the way till the bare truth, i.e. ask God’s forgiveness on behalf of the sick person and plead for alleviating him from severe pain. Take a step forward and support them as a tool of God.
When you have a child studying for an exam that defines her career, think all the way till the bare truth, i.e. she is another soul who should also serve God’s will by leading a life of righteousness and see the world as God’s family. To support such objective and make her a better tool, you encourage her and help her.
Any thought that does not reach to the level of this bare truth will keep us bound to karma. When every thought reaches to the level of this bare truth, then karma begins to dissolve. This is called healthy thinking, healthy not just for body but also for you, the soul.
To be honest, even if we think this way or not, the bare truth will remain to be the truth! If we can think all the way to that level, it is then that we are in our natural state.
It is these karmas that bring variance in experiences with respect to health, richness, intelligence etc in people. The way to perceive this variance is to accept the current state and act according to these healthy thoughts so that you don’t acquire more and make it worse. These healthy thoughts have strength to cleanse things (existing karma) that we cannot see. This the way to stay BLESSED! The strength of these healthy thoughts lies in their connection to the true owner, the ultimate saviour, the final recipient and the extremely loving – our God!
– From the discourse of Sri ChinnaJeeyar Swami during Bhavagavad Vishayam!
