Karmic Concepts are what to self?

[Tirisilex]

Mara is the universal illusional reailty.. the whole of samsara. According to Yogic philosophy our current experience is shaped by Vasanas.. Vasanas are the blooming of past Karmic Actions. Vasanas are created by subconsious impressions called Samskaras. Samskaras are at the base of subconscious mind. Demon oppression is formed by samskaras. The concept of a demon pestering someone is a Vasana created by a karmic samskara. It can be traced back into infinity how Vasanas created a Samskara which creates a Vasana and so forth.

How can you describe How a concept arises in mind from the "Demonic" samskara in subcosnscious mind and how it relates to the observer other than thru Karmic Tendency. Instead of saying you are suffering by this concept of a demon because you are paying karmic retribution but instead saying this concept of a demon arising is a makeup of illusional reality within your mind.

 

I dont know how to word my question.. How do the Karmic impressions within a mind relate to the current experience and how do they connect as one?

 

[Tirisilex]

Can noone answer my question?

[Guest guest]

wich question?

[Tirisilex]

How do the Karmic impressions within a mind relate to the current experience and how do they connect as one?

 

 

[theist]

These impressions resulting from experiencing the actions and reactions of this world impress themselves onto the mind in different levels of intensity. Some shallow some much deeper. The stronger ones will exhibit more influence on the actions the living entity takes part in in the future.

 

As to continuity we can take the point of death as a starting point. When the soul leaves the body it leaves with it's total stockpile of karma. That is called sanchit-karma. A portion of that sanchit-karma manifests as one destiny in his next birth. What type of body, health, wealth, education, parents etc. That is call prarabdha-karma. As that prarabdha-karma manifests in this life there is ample room left to perform more actions and produce new karma. That is called kriyamani-karma. Then death comes again and one leaves the body with it's sanchit-karma altered in a new fashion depending on the life led.

 

Repeat endlessly until when has his karma burned up by the fire of Krsna consciousness at which point at bodily death one is tansfered to the spiritual world never to return.

 

That is all I know. I hope it helps.

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

"The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas." [bhagavad Gita, 15.8]

 

It’s all about desire – subtle and gross - it is said that man purposes and God disposes – so as soon as man no more ‘purposes’ to God – then He disposes of their karma….

[Guest guest]

According to your message a person prospers or suffers due to his actions in his past life i.e his KARMA. But Sri Krishna said in Geeta that "O Arjuna! Do not think that you are commiting sin by killing your enemies in war they are destined to die so by me all births and deaths are governed by me"

If it is so then how can we hold ourselves responsible for our deeds? Are all these not destined by the Lord to happen so?

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

Hari Bol Prabhu!

 

Could I please comment?

 

Quote:

 

...how can we hold ourselves responsible for our deeds? Are all these not destined by the Lord to happen so...

 

Reply:

 

Not exactly - I would interject that we are not being instructed by Krishna in the same way Arjuna was - we are not being charged by Krishna to fight - through the pages of the Gita - we've received the information within the Gita - in a different capacity.

 

So - to say that - in the ultimate sense we are not responsible for our actions - as they are ordained by destiny - well that type of awareness may become an easy pretext for falling into a seriously self-defeating maya.

 

If we are fully surrendered to Krishna and - our own self-interest really is nil - then and - only then - can our actions be said to be beyond the modes of material nature.

 

Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independant, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings. [bG 4.20]

 

Indeed - soul - in our conditioned state wrongly finds identity with a material body [and its sphere of temporary activities] and thus acts and reacts accordingly - in this way - the soul is becoming entangled in endless cycles of action and reaction.

 

Some conditioned souls think that since God knows everything and - since also He knows all of what we are yet to think feel and do - long before our births - then - He must be responsible for our karma - again that cannot be logical.

 

We may forget this cycle - from body to body - but God doesn't forget anything.

 

The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy! [bG 4.5]

 

We souls who are apparently within these material bodies are being accompanied by God's 'Supersoul' feature - as Srila Prabhupada notes:

 

...we must remember that Paramatma is our constant companion, and therefore He knows everything, past, present and future. And because the Paramatma feature of Lord Krishna destines all actions and reactions, He is the supreme controller also. Without His sanction not a blade of grass can move. The living beings are given as much freedom as they deserve, and misuse of that freedom is the cause of suffering... [sB 1.8.28, purport]

 

Then there are those people engaging in a form of religious activities thinking that their 'works' or karmas are mitigated or taken away by God - again that understanding isn't sound.

 

We are responsible - as Krishna says:

 

Nor does the Supreme Spirit assume anyone’s sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge. [bG 5.15]

 

Even Jesus says:

 

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. [Galatians 6.7]

 

Thus it is very clear?

 

If we didn't need to be concerned with our karmas then in the Gita - we wouldn't see such prolific discussions of actions within the various modes of material nature:

 

Even the intelligent are bewildered in determining what is action and what is inaction. Now I shall explain to you what action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from all sins.

 

The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is. [bG 4.16-17]

 

Thus when see verses like this - :

 

The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature. [bG 5.14]

 

: - we are not to take it as a confirmation that we can act in any fashion we want and it'll be moot - as it's only destiny and the modes of material nature acting anyway.

 

This subject is fully discussed in chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita - a taste of this insight is given here:

 

In accordance with the three modes of material nature, there are three kinds of knowledge, action, and performers of action. Listen as I describe them. [bG 18.19]

 

At last consider this point:

 

Every man is certainly controlled by destiny, which determines the results of one’s fruitive activities... [sB 10.5.30]

 

YS,

 

BDM

[Tirisilex]

**Then there are those people engaging in a form of

**religious activities thinking that their 'works' or

**karmas are mitigated or taken away by God - again that

**understanding isn't sound.

 

I have read that there is a practice called Samskara Shuddhi which is said to be able to destroy karmic Samskaras. According to this statement you say that its not possible..

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

Here is an insight:

 

It is fruitless to see and talk of the material modes of nature and their resultant so-called happiness and distress as if they were factual. When the mind wanders during the day and a man begins to think himself extremely important, or when he dreams at night and sees a beautiful woman enjoying with him, these are merely false dreams. Similarly, the happiness and distress caused by the material senses should be understood to be meaningless. [sB 7.2.48]

 

When a person is in deep sleep, he dreams and sees in himself many other objects, such as great mountains and rivers or perhaps even the entire universe, although they are far away. Sometimes when one awakens from a dream he sees that he is in a human form, lying in his bed in one place. Then he sees himself, in terms of various conditions, as belonging to a particular nationality, family and so on. All the conditions of deep sleep, dreaming and wakefulness are but energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should always remember the original creator of these conditions, the Supreme Lord, who is unaffected by them. [sB 6.16.53-54]

 

In your posting you are asking what is the source of our mental perceptions etc., - what is the source of our psychic-psychological awareness - what is the real nature of our inner psychic-psychological reality.

 

The quotes above give a hint to the answers.

 

We are acting within a kind of dream - in our dreaming state we do not know what is the source of our impetus to act in that way.

 

We are acting under the force of previous actions - this includes our thoughts and feelings as well.

 

We have to understand the concept of thinking and feeling and willing - how these interact in forming our sphere of activity and experience.

 

An example is sense enjoyment - how is it that the mind dwells on it? How does it 'inform' and capture our awareness?

 

Krishna says:

 

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. [bG 2.62]

 

The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust, which veils the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him. [bG 3.40]

 

So say one has a desire - or a lust - and the particular desire or lust is centered on our sense of taste - so we taste something sweet - we find an object of the sense of taste - which is sweet - and the mind thus enjoys that 'contact' of the sense of taste with the particular sense object - then the mind - under the influence of desire - engages the intelligence - to find ways to keep the sense of taste engaged with sweet sense objects.

 

Then imagine - hundreds and thousands of desires and sense objects - centered about our five senses and mind!

 

Thus perplexed by various anxieties and bound by a network of illusions, one becomes too strongly attached to sense enjoyment and falls down into hell. [bG 16.16]

 

So when we look to see what is going on in our minds we must consider these points.

 

There a number of logistics shaping our conditioned states - and one of the most important points is our confused identity of our self with our mind.

 

We must be cautious of the information and stimulus we permit our senses and minds to with - or we'll degrade in full:

 

Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me. [bG 7.15]

 

Instead:

 

A man must elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. [bG 6.5]

 

Our minds want to run here and there - looking to engage with so much trash and thus picking up so many unwanted things - we must be careful as to what we are contemplating - at all times.

 

That is the importance of this:

 

Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend. [bG 18.65]

 

So we must dovetail all our thoughts to God at all times.

 

We need to see our minds like these computers - there are various programs and it's up to us what we are going to run in our active memory.

 

Run questionable programs and there shall be bugs and crashes - run the right programs - trusted programs and things shall operate smoothly - it's up to us.

 

We do not need to be concerned about the past history of our minds and thoughts as it were - nor do we need to think about the influence of demons and ghosts etc., when we are focused on the Lord and the scriptures - as our primary thinking material.

 

Chaksus Shastra - see everything through the eyes of scripture...

 

If we are to delve into the past of anything - then we do so with Krishna and Scripture as a base or - a tether.

 

It is so important to not allow the mind to contemplate endless points with no point to it - i.e.: mental speculation. We can think about things but we mustn’t live in the mind's fickle nature in the process.

 

The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas. [bG 15.8]

 

So in that way it is a subtle moment to moment reality - the sum of our subtle desires are carried in our minds and intelligence - and from moment to moment we are changing our conceptions based on the nature of our desires and merits.

 

If we are appearing now as very lusty in every way then we have to know that in the next moment we'll be appearing in a very lusty condition - which shall be characterized by the subtle differences in expression - i.e.: a pig enjoying stool or a man enjoying sweets.

 

So no matter the various higher and lower differences in standards – in the grades of enjoyment – no matter these - we think we are perfect and enjoying:

 

…There is a story in Bhagavata that Indra was cursed to become a pig. So after some time there was mismanagement in the heavenly kingdom. Brahma personally came, “Indra, anyway, you became pig. Now you come with me.” “Huh? How can I go? I have got so much responsibility.” Then he was killed and took to heaven. So any life, any abominable condition, everyone is thinking, “I am perfect.” This is called Maya. Any abominable condition, he is thinking, everyone is thinking, that “I am perfect. I have nothing to advance.” This is called Maya… [Morning Walk Conversation with Prabhupada, 1976]

 

The key is to understand the process we are enduring because we cannot understand the history of it - thus understanding the process of thinking and feeling and willing - we can refine and change our conceptions of self from material to spiritual - and that is the process of Bhakti Yoga - and in this process we first see that we are not this body mind nor intelligence:

 

Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to material senses, mind and intelligence, one should control the lower self by the higher self and thus—by spiritual strength—conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust. [bG 3.43]

 

I hope that that answers your concerns...

 

YS,

 

BDM

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

Hi there!

 

There may be a process like that but consider this:

 

Sukadeva Goswami, the son of Vedavyasa, answered: My dear King, since acts meant to neutralize impious actions are also fruitive, they will not release one from the tendency to act fruitively. Persons who subject themselves to the rules and regulations of atonement are not at all intelligent. Indeed, they are in the mode of darkness. Unless one is freed from the mode of ignorance, trying to counteract one action through another is useless because this will not uproot one’s desires. Thus even though one may superficially seem pious, he will undoubtedly be prone to act impiously. Therefore real atonement is enlightenment in perfect knowledge, Vedanta, by which one understands the Supreme Absolute Truth. [sB 6.1.11]

 

So that must be considered - if we do not wish to rid ourselves of the propensity that led to the karma then we are wasting time - sort of like having to pail water from a leaky boat.

 

Can I ask why you wish to employ this "Samskara Shuddhi" [please explain your understanding of this yoga process?] as opposed to the Bhakti Yoga - the Devotional Service of the Lord?

 

O learned one, in this iron age of Kali men have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed. [sB 1.1.10]

 

Accordingly - we have to know that conventional yoga’s are not possible for us in this age - some yoga practices may help to lead one to the devotional yoga - but without doubt - the only boat without a leak in this age of kali - is bhakti yoga.

 

Could you explain this yoga practice and what your goal or purpose of performing it is - what result do you seek - and why?

 

YS,

 

BDM

[Tirisilex]

I'm very interested in this because of my mental illness.

I havent found very much information on the practice. I know that it involves past life regression.

 

I'm diagnosed as Paranoid Schizophrenic.. I know that the things I experience are illusions created from my mind.. I have studied the views of Yogic subconcious.. The samskara is the karmic impression within the mind where Vasana is the out ward manifestation of that impression. The voices I hear and the things that I see are Vasanas.. Which are created by the Samskara within my mind..

 

Samskara Shuddhi (From what little I know) claims to have the ability to destroy samskaras. SHuddhi I believe means cleansing.. I wish to cleanse my mind from my disease.

 

I have been creating my own "practices" based on the limited knowledge of this practice and I have found it helpful.

 

 

[krsna]

he effect of

these modes of material nature is described by Srila Prabhupada (Bg 3.33

Purport):

 

Unless one is situated on the transcendental platform of Krishna

consciousness, he cannot get free from the influence of the modes of

material nature, as it is confirmed by the Lord in the Seventh Chapter

(7.14). Therefore, even for the most highly educated person on the mundane

plane, it is impossible to get out of the entanglement of maya simply by

theoretical knowledge, or by separating the soul from the body. There are

many so-called spiritualists who outwardly pose to be advanced in the

science, but inwardly or privately are completely under the particular modes

of nature which they are unable to surpass. Academically, one may be very

learned, but because of his long association with material nature, he is in

bondage. Krishna consciousness helps one to get out of the material

entanglement....

 

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy! [bG 4.5]

 

Past life regression is a new age scam.

 

Please reach for your bead bag and chant when these attacks arise. That is the best solution over any other yoga - think about it - these episodes are like Arjuna's situation on the battlefield - when these symptoms Attack you - you cannot focus in the way that is needed to perform the noted yoga - you cannot meditate at that time. You can however chant japa - that doesn't require much perfect attention in a pinch.

 

Fact is it's the best solution and it's the most available solution.

 

YS,

 

BDM