what is karma

Does Karma Actually Exist?

While there is no proof that the Law of Karma exists, there is no doubt whatsoever that such a law is in place in the universe. The simple fact that all actions are organised in a reciprocated manner infers that such a law is in place. The law of the boomerang, cause and effect, action and reaction consistently recurs on earth. If there was no law, it would be apparent in everything that happened around us. There would be apples growing on coconut trees. This Universal Law ensures order and organizes every effect based on its cause. It would be ridiculous to think that everything that is happening in our life is just happening by chance as a random phenomenon. Everything that happens is a reaction to a chain of actions. The world would be a chaotic jungle without the Law of Karma. No doubt the law is complicated and difficult to understand, but the fact that it exists needs no argument. Every reaction is based on an action and every effect on a cause. The unique feature of the Law of Karma is that several of our actions are so distant that we don't even remember them. Sometimes, they are actions of our previous life and our memory fails to recollect past-life events. But the Law of Karma makes no mistake. It is a Universal cosmic law. Just like the Law of Gravity does not make a mistake and several cosmic laws continue in perfection, the Law of Karma too does not forget to execute and respond to every action. Imagine we plant some seeds, say apples, and then we start hoping and wishing that we get strawberries, cherries or even peaches in return. How much ever we hope for another fruit, it shall not appear. If it did, it would infer that there is no law like Karma. But we can see all around us that the Law of Action and Reaction prevails. We cannot deny its existence. Sceptics will still question the existence of this law and ask for proof. The world knows that some things can be proved and some can be inferred. We can easily infer that the Law of Karma prevails in our own life as well as the world around us. A young boy once questioned his mother on the existence of Karma. How could he believe something that he could not see! She tried her best to explain the concept of Karma but finally realized that her son was not willing to use his logic and intellect to accept its existence. He kept asking her, "Where is the proof of Karma? How come none of the scientific books have recorded the existence of the law? I don't believe such a law exists," he repeated several times. She was busy cooking at that time, and the spoon in her hand was steaming hot. She took the spoon from the pan and put it inside his mouth. He winced in pain. "Oh mother, this really hurts." "Does it?" she asked. "Can you prove to me that it was painful?" "What do you mean?" he said. "I experienced the pain. I know it!" "Pretty soon you will also know that the Law of Karma exists." The next time he questioned her on the Law of Karma, all she had to do was to take a hot spoon in her hand. We cannot deny the existence of certain things. I don't need to prove that I have a nose on my face, I know it is there. Such is the Law of Karma. We know it exists, but we don't know how exactly it works. Some people ignore the power of this law. Karma doesn't just work during our life time, it also works beyond death. How is this possible? Karma is action. Action is motivated by thought. Therefore, it is not just the body that is responsible for Karma, but also the mind. Our body suffers and enjoys as much as the Karmic Law decides it should. Our body may suffer some of the Karma earned by the mind in its previous life journey just as the body may escape some of the Karma of its present actions. These Karmas are not lost but are carried forward for the mind to experience and negate in its next life in a new body. Ram was an honest and a sincere carpenter. He did everything in his power to avoid hurting anyone or committing sins. While he was cutting some wood in a machine one day, his hands got caught in it and got cut. Devastated by the loss of his hands and livelihood, Ram went to his Guru and asked him, "I cannot understand what happened, my hands got cut. I have not done a single bad deed in my life." His Guru told him, "This is not the result of your sins in this life. In your previous life, you were Shyam, who was a butcher by profession. You killed hundreds of animals every day. As Shyam, you died without fulfilling your Karma, which means you didn't have to suffer for your actions. The mind of Shyam is reborn as you, Ram. Therefore, now you are suffering the Karma of Shyam." Ram could not understand. The Guru further explained, "Today, you are Ram and you are doing good deeds, but not getting their benefits. Don't worry Ram. You will be born as a king in your next life. Your current body may not get the benefit, but your ego and your mind will be reborn again, and then you can enjoy the fruits of your benevolence." Sometimes our body does not experience Karma that is due to the actions of this life. The body may experience Karma that the mind had performed through a body that it occupied earlier. Therefore, it is not the Karma of this body, but of this mind. This mind performed some it occupied another body in its previous life. When the mind ended its physical life on earth, it did not fulfill the Karma it had earned in that body. Now the mind has a new body, which is going to experience the Karmas that the mind performed in its past life. Similarly, when a body creates Karma and dies before actions redeeming it, the mind that is occupying the body will experience its Karma in the next body in its next life. What happens at death? We know that when dies, only the body dies; therefore, we say has departed, expired, passed away, or moved on. What does this mean? We see that person's body in person the person front of our eyes, but we know that this body is not the person who was alive. This is only the dead body of Where did the person go? If we are sitting in a large room and somebody goes out through the door, we know that the person has gone, but we don't know where. Soon we see someone new entering from the other door. We don't know where this person is that person. coming from, but obviously there is some connection between those who are going and the ones who are coming. Death is not the end. It is only a bend to transcend. We come and we go as the Law of Karma makes us live birth after birth. Recently, a lot of study has gone into rebirth and its logical possibility. A small child of four is able to play the piano beautifully. It is just not possible for the child to have learnt the art in the few months he or she has lived. A young girl barely a few years old was able to recite a scripture. How is it possible for the mind of a young child to retain so much information? A little pup thrown into the river starts swimming without any prior training. When we question all of these instances, we are told that their "instincts" are behind those miracles. But what is instinct? It seems to be nothing more than a mind reborn with the memory of a past life. Many cases around the globe today prove that some people clearly have some connection with their previous lives. There are cases where young children travel to new cities they have never been to before and identify strangers as relatives from their past lives. They address them by their names and even recognize the home where they used to live in their previous life. No one has a clue as to how they are able to do so. The only explanation is that the mind and memory have been reborn. James Leininger, an 8-year-old boy from Louisiana started talking about aviation when he was just 2 years old. His parents knew nothing about planes and were surprised at his in-depth knowledge. James started having nightmares about being shot down by a plane with a red Sun on it - a Japanese plane. He had dreams and memories of being Lieutenant James McCready Huston Jr., a World War II fighter pilot, who had been killed more than 50 years ago. James would scream at the top of his voice, "Airplane on fire. Little man can't get out!" as he kicked and pointed to the ceiling. James told his parents that he had flown a plane called the Corsair from a boat called the Natoma. His father researched and discovered that there had been a small escort carrier called the Natoma Bay and that there was a pilot called James Huston in real life, whose plane was hit by Japanese fire. One of the most well-known cases of rebirth is that of Shanti Devi. Ever since she could talk, she could recollect events and experiences she had with her past-life husband. She kept insisting that she was Ludgi Devi from Mathura and also kept requesting her disbelieving parents to take her to Mathura, the city of her past life. When her past-life husband Kedar Nath came with his 10-year-old son and second wife, Shanti Devi instantly recognized him. He confirmed that her narration of the details was in fact, true. She not only knew the colour of her house in Mathura, but she also knew the names of the streets leading to the house. When she entered the courtyard of the house, she was dismayed to find the absence of a well – her past-life husband then picked up the stone covering a wall-less well. She was able to identify her brother from her previous life, her parents and even the elder brother of her former husband. Don't such cases make us realize that these may be new bodies, but reborn minds? How could they otherwise be able to recollect their past life events with such precision and clarity? Rebirth and Karma seem to have a very strong connection. We are reborn based on our Karma, just as it is because of our Karma that we are reborn. Rebirth and Karma are both intertwined. It seems that the Creator of the universe designed the Law of Karma and rebirth for us to evolve an energy having a human experience. The whole concept of rebirth is linked to Karma. As you sow, so shall you reap. How can you reap something unless you are reborn? It is not practically possible to consume all your Karma in the same life. Therefore, death is not the end; it is just a bend where we leave one body to enter another. It is not the end of the show called life - only the scene changes. Furthermore, if we are born without the existence of the Law of Karma, how would the world function? There would be utter chaos. Just like how the Law of Gravity keeps everything down and grounded to earth, the Law of Karma ensures order on the planet from birth to death. Of course, we all will die one day but we cannot escape the Law of Karma. Whenever and wherever we are reborn, we carry our past Karma. Our life is not decided by luck or fate, but rather by our own Karma. Can an intelligent Creator who has created this entire cosmos in such a systematic and organized manner let birth and the occurrences in life happen by chance? It is ridiculous to even think so. The universe has several laws that make it run in an orderly fashion. The Creator of the universe is not a dictator of the earth giving instructions through his angels and directing the destiny of 8 billion people. We know that all of this is happening by an automatic process, a universal law, and there can be no system other than the Law of Action and Reaction. Those who doubt that Karma continues to follow us even after death in our next life may want to consider why some new-born babies come with deep suffering on earth. Is it because of the cruelty of the Creator or the actions of the infant from its previous life? Someone is born in the house of a prince, while someone else in the house of a beggar. We often question this disparity. Is there any need to question it? Should we not realize that people are born based on their own past actions - their Karma? While our body experiences the good and the bad that happens to us, it is our mind that carries our Karma. We seem to be a body-mind-soul complex. The body is the physical part of us with sense organs and organs of action. The body is like a vehicle driven by the mind. The mind is abstract and cannot be touched or felt, but we know that we have a mind. Along with the memory and intellect, the mind not only thinks but also records, recalls and decides. It is the subtle faculty of our body and is responsible for all our actions. Although it may seem that the body is acting, it is the mind that is directing the body to act. Therefore, the Karmas belong to the mind. The soul or life energy is just a power des energy to live. It keeps us breathing source. It and without it, there is death. At death, the body perishes, but the mind does not. It continues its journey along with other subtle faculties of memory, intellect and ego till it finds a new body as per its Karma. The cycle continues, and we do not escape from our Karma. We redeem our Karma, life after life, in our new bodies. Every action, good or bad is recorded, and Karma is rewarded accordingly. People often wonder whether we can negate our own bad Karma. While there is no proof and there are different beliefs on the negation of Karma, a simple logic should give us solace. The more good we do, the happier will be the life that will unfold before us. Therefore, we should know that the Law of Karma operates, recording our every action not just till we die, but even beyond, and we should live with that awareness. While we are now aware of the existence of the Law of Karma, we must realize that we are not helpless spectators. We have been given an intellect that can discriminate and decide as it passes every thought to become action. If we use our intellect diligently to choose wisely, we can create positive Karma; but if we let our mind take charge and let it do as it pleases, then we are sure to suffer the consequences of our own actions in the future. 

Good or bad, whatever we do... Is recorded by Karma, that is true. For we see, what Goes Around Comes Around. Our Karma decides what happens on the ground.  

Summary 

Does Karma actually exist? 

Of course, the Law of Karma exists! Everything around us is in order and events are occurring as an automatic process because of the Law of Karma. Why is somebody born in a rich family and somebody in a poor family? Why do bad things happen to good people? It is all due to the Law of Karma. Is the mind reborn? Can we prove rebirth? Though we cannot prove the existence of rebirth, through inference we can conclude that due Karma there is rebirth, just as due to rebirth there is Karma. Karma and rebirth have a strong connection.