Karma is limited to the physical?

[Guest guest]

> Jai Guru Datta

>

> Further to my query, I'd like to have it simplified, for some of my family

members here are advicing me on different aspects of the Self and I don't

understand a single word of it. :-}

>

> Is the Karma, both physical and mental?

 

Yes, both, but we retain an element of free will for the mental aspect does not

touch our Atman which is beyond karma and with which we can choose to gradually

align our consciousness.

 

> If its not both, and if it is physical, then what good does it make if we

ignore it as just JUST? ('We have to pay for our past actions' sort of attitude

shall make one ignore the pains)

>

> If we ignore the pains, is that 'well' endured? And well burnt?

 

" Ignoring " or tolerating our problems with the thought that we deserve them

(which we do) is a step in reducing our obsession with them, but it still

generates more karma until we face our problems with full awareness and complete

acceptance. Only then is it well endured and the karma burnt.

>

> If it is mental, then the mind is just an illusion, it doesn't exist, and how

do we get to burn the karma?

 

Our conscious mind is largely an illusion bound by karma, but not the underlying

consciousness Itself, with which we can in slowly align our conscious mind by

opening ourselves to our Sadguru's Divine Grace.

>

> If it is both, is it like watching a good movie in OTS 3 D ? (Organic Time and

Space Three Dimension, I invented the term!) Then, is it alrite to weep and wipe

the tears or laugh and still wipe the tears? Eat the popcorn and drink the

chilled soyamilk?

 

It is a fabulous OTS 3 D movie; all the more so when we can see it objectively,

without being lost in it. It is ok in a way to get lost in the entertainment,

weep and laugh, and even further distract ourselves with popcorn and the like.

But it is a waste of time and, on the whole, unpleasant. At some point we tire

of the recurring suffering, or we just get bored with the same old dramas, and

realize that enduring freedom and happiness cannot be had through images

flickering on the screen. This realization, however, is only the beginning, for

the images on the screen (not to mention the junk food) are seductive and we

have been programmed for so many lifetimes to be enthralled by them.

 

Since we share this drama with others, and it is sometimes helpful to express

our emotions, at times it is appropriate to laugh, and at others even to cry.

But we have all had the experience in a movie of suddenly realizing, especially

at moments when the movie is too violent or boring for us, that it is after all

just a move. Like that we can realize in the midst of our life dramas that we

are sitting in a magnificent theater of consciousness itself and witness the

drama for what it is: the Lord's endless lila.

 

May this awareness grow in us through Datta's Divine Grace.

 

Sir Guru Datta!

Vasudeva