Is Your Karma Good or Bad

[Guest guest]

Dear Devotees,

 

Nivrutta Ravi wants to understand the operation of the Law of Karma and God's role in it.

 

Across centuries, philosophers have discussed this question

thread-bare and reached no conclusion that is acceptable to all in

the manner of a scientific statement proved by repeatable

experiments. Those who have the bhagyam of implicit trust in the

existence of a compassionate and just God lead their lives accepting

all happenings, bitter or sweet, with equanimity. Bhagavad Gita calls

them stitha-prgnyas. Those who need explanations/justifications get

confused reviewing hundreds of theories in favour or against the

fundamental belief about the existence of a God who is compassionate,

omnipotent and omnipresent.

 

As I grow old, I have slowly realised the futility of this search due

to the incapability and undependability of my limited intellect to

resolve the issue. Ultimately, I tend to agree with the statement of

British author CEM Joad who analysed the dilemma in more than 100

pages and stated, after reaching a dead-end:

".... the conclusions of the intellect deny that the orthodox God of

the religious hypothesis - omnipotent and benevolent, could have been

the creator of the world; and deny it precisely because of the fact

of evil. But if the intellect denies what the heart demands, what

then? ...perhaps the deadlock is a sign of, perhaps it is even a

punishment for, intellectual arrogance..."

 

Call it blind-faith, call it the wisdom of Ages, I would now like to

choose to place trust in the dictates of the heart rather than my

over-valued intelligence and trust in God without question like the

infant child in its mother. But then, one has to go through life's

rough journey and experience its failures to reach this simple

conclusion without further questioning. I truly envy the child that

has learned instinctively to trust, the moment it is born.

 

We have to empty this cup of our mind stuffed with the miscellaneous

knowledge that has been collected, so that we can receive certain

simple truths about our relationship with the One who gave us life

and placed us in this world. Lao Tsu called this the 'Law of the

reversed effort' and said: "To know the Truth, one must get rid of

knowledge"

Ramana Maharishi: (Upadesa Saram -27)

gnyaana varjitaa agnyaana-heena chit gnyaanamasti kim gnyaatum-antaram

Alan Watts, a great scholar and believer in Eastern philosophy has said:

"What religion calls the vision of God is found in giving up any

pre-conceived belief in the idea of God.

By the same law of reversed effort, we discover the "infinite" and the

"absolute," not by straining to escape from the finite and relative

world, but by the most complete acceptance of its limitations.

Paradoxical as it may seem, we likewise find life meaningful only when

we have seen that it is without purpose, and know the "mystery of the

universe" only when we are convinced that we know nothing about it at

all. "

krishnaswamy m k

 

Wed, 4 May 2005 05:04:15 -0700 (PDT) Nivrutta Ravi

<nivrutta_r >Is Your Karma Good or BadRespected

elders,I came acros this article forwarded by a friend. Ihope you

enjoy this article. I have included my queryat the end of this

article. Hope you clarify my naivequestion .Is Your karma Good or Bad