Doctrine of karma & Theory of rebirth

Karma literally means 'action 'and refers to the process by which out moral actions have consequences for us in the future. Put simply, our good deeds lead to happy states our bad deeds lead to unhappy ones. The word deed here refers not to just physical actions but words and thoughts too. Indeed, the mind is the source of all our deeds, whether good or evil. Mind forerun conditions, mind is chief Thus, if one speaks or an act with a wicked mind, because of that, pain pursues him similarly if one speaks or acts with pure mind because of that happiness follows him.

The law of Karma is the foundation of all the Indian thought. The consequential result of every act has to be experienced by every such doer Our doings or working in a usual manner is apparent from our basic day-to-day working for our routine matters of working For removing appetite we eat food, for warming ourselves from chill we use fire hearths for passing an examination we make preparation for it. When we break any law, it invites punishment. Once a lady conceives it leads to a birth and when a hurt is caused to anyone it means reverse action from him.

The common eventuality in all such happenings is the inevitability of one or the other result. Some such actions give immediate results, while other such actions take a longer period to have the desired results or to fructify Eating food for removing appetite or sitting near a fireplace will entail quite immediate results, but simultaneously, the preparation for an examination or a birth after a conception takes a longer time for the fructification of results. Similarly for breaking law may take a long time to receive punishment for such wrongs There can be other such examples like murdering a person by somebody may effectively take a much longer time to attract the appropriate punishment, or it is equally possible that such a crime may not be detected at all. The punishment may come during the life time of such doer or it may not come during his lifetime.

This is where the "Theory of Rebirth" comes into play. Science acknowledges the fact of cause and effect. Then what is The cause of birth? As per a broader perception it is due to a physical union. But what is the cause of the various types of circumstances, difficulties, joys accomplishments, disappointments and various types of distresses, through which that individual born of such a physical union goes through from one's birth to one's death. Such a cause must, decisively, predate one's birth. It has to have a medium or agency to generate the effect of a lifetime of events and happenings. Such an agency can only be of one's action of body, speech and mind In that case birth should have been preceded by a state of another body, mind and organs to produce the cause. This logic explains and sustains the most interesting phenomenon of the cycles of life and birth, with its endless causes generating infinite effect. So, one's fate (effect) gets its origin by one's actions of the past lives.

The law of karma is immutable, as are other laws of nature and as such it follows that the results of our actions, which have not been experienced by such a person during one's lifetime, do not fade away with his/or her death. It gets deferred to subsequent births. The results of good and bad actions, deferred to subsequent births are in a way, deposits for future times and are known as "Sanchit-Karma" This "Sanchit-Karma" constitutes one's fate.

All human actions are destined to take place through the medium of three types of actions, viz. through the medium of the physical one's life and these are performed either by the physical body, through one's speech and through one's mind. It is a common belief, as also presumed in common parlance, that only two mediums are basically responsible for performing one's actions, in body or through the medium of one's speech only. It is a big misnomer and a misconception about the same. 

This being presumed so, it has its origin in its presumption to the fact that such actions, through these perceptible by an open eye .

It is an illusion only as a serious study and analysis makes it clear that the actions created or generated by the mind are of prime importance Mind is the storehouse for the creation of such actions. In fact it is the engine for the generation of such actions. The thought process or the thought waves gets first generated in one's mind only.

Implementation of these waves of actions, good or bad, is a subsequent event, which the mind asks either the physical body to perform or commands the medium of speech of a person to execute. Thus these thought waves get converted into actions by the physical body or the actions to be performed by the medium of one's speech. As such it is the mind only in the first instance which is fundamentally responsible and a cause for the generation or performing of various actions, good or bad, by a person in one's lifetime.

Presuming that the actions generated by the mind and not implemented by the human body or by one's medium of speech, one can escape from the results and fruits of these actions or the results of these actions will be to live in a fool's paradise. Every thought that emanates from the mind, leaves an impression for its subsequent results. These impressions give rise to a tendency, which shapes further actions, good or bad, as per the quality of the impressions of the mind.

Srimad Bhagwad Gita mentions that:- Thinking about an object constantly gives rise to an attachment for the object. Such an attachment makes way for a desire or a passion for such an object. If such a desire or passion gets thwarted it results in anger Anger makes a person lose the sense of discrimination between the right and the wrong and becomes a cause of confusion in a person. Such a situation leads to the loss of mental intellectual and emotional balance which ultimately leads to the ruination of a person" So the "Mind" is the "Sage" or the "Culprit, for generating a good karma or a bad karma for a person, depending upon how one makes himself herself handle one's mind and its other faculties to work"

The mind needs a proper tutoring to regulate a person for doing good actions and thus attain good karmas for future births. Always ask the mind to respond with "Never Mind". Once there is a policy of never mind to evil provocations, there will be no bad two sources have a physical appearance and are easily response too. This bad response constitutes all types of responses, like bad desires, jealousy, contempt, revenge, lust, etc, which the mind gets executed through the medium of our Indnyas" which have a physical form. This mind within can be controlled, if one wishes through the medium of "Bhudh (wisdom) and one can avert or refuse to fall a prey to evil actions or effect of the "Time" (Kaa), to attain a better tomorrow which includes better further births as well.

Mental actions, or thought processes of the mind, should be treated as of prime importance as such thought processes leave their impressions (Samskaras) on a person, which get replied and responded by equivalent reactions. The reactions, thereol, can be instantaneous or deferred. Instantaneous means in this birth only and deferred can mean next the next births. That is the Doctrine of Karma.

The fruits of one's actions under the Law of Karma called as reactions, are always equivalent to the quantum of one's actions. Such reactions may be immediate or delayed but shall always be equivalent in nature and quantum. Such reactions may come during the lifetime of such a person or the doer of such actions, or during the subsequent births. It means that the force of such reactions must manifest itself during some point of time and has to be experienced in some form or the other. Here the definition of time is vast and not a limited one. Not limited to present birth only. It prevails over other subsequent births as well.

The person or the doer of such actions, in its entirety and not just the gross physical body, acts as a magnet to attract the results of his actions. While such a doer or the person is alive, his physical body attracts the fruits of his actions and experiences these But when a doer or a person dies before he or she can experience such of the reactions, it rebounds and gets attached to his subtle body or "sooksham Shareerd, waiting for his getting or obtaining a suitable receptacle, that is another body, to work out and experience those results So, rebirth comes into play for repaying back by a person for the actions of past births. It shows that the Theory of Rebirth is integral to the Doctrine of Karma"

The teaching on kama can influence the moral choices we make in life, knowing that whatever short- term benefits we might gain from doing something morally wrong we will inevitably have to pay the consequences Like borrowing money from a bank, it has to be paid back at some stage in the future On the other hand, we know that any good deeds we do will have benefits for us in the future.

To fully appreciate Buddha's teaching on karma, it has to be linked to the teaching on rebirth. The consequences of our actions can be fairly immediate but often these are not. These can occur in this life or in future lives, maturing when the right conditions are in place.

It is here, however, that we need to be careful. The most beneficial actions have their source in a selfless heart. If we do good deeds merely because we hope to gain something in the future, the motivation is impure Linked to good moral action should be a spontaneous desire to help others without any thought of how we, as individuals, might get benefited "Acts of "Dharma" should necessarily be preceded by acts of "Daya" (compassion), first and then one's acts of Dharma will manifest true results for him/her.

According to all concepts of religious entities mostly spoken about, the best rebirth is that of a human being, as it offers the best opportunity for gaining enlightenment. In the heavenly world, the gods are too absorbed in pleasure to make the necessary effort for spiritual realisation.

The realm into which we are born depends on our satisfaction. actions Good actions lead to happy states, bad actions lead to unhappy ones For example, a generous heart is said to lead to wealth and prosperity and a loving heart is said to result in a beautiful form. A life that is lived well will result in a good human rebirth or a rebirth in one of the heavens. A life of cruelty and/or hatred will result in a rebirth in one of the lower realms.

Now it is said that one's fate is the result of one's past actions or karmas, so, can it be called unalterable? Left to itself, it simply will run its course or period. But if it is intercepted by proper efforts and actions, it may get modified if not changed. In the "Law of Karma, the quantum of such efforts (free will), to such circumstances (the fate), shall have to be equivalent to the intensity or the magnitude of such circumstances which need mitigation.

As per Vedic Astrology our age-old knowledge running in volumes of scriptures, the concept of "Purva- Puniya, our accumulated past actions and Prarabdha" our destined new form of life, are defined in a distinct form which sustains the concept of "Rebirth" on the analogy of the "Karma Theory.

One can avert to a great extent the results of one's evil actions of a past birth, during the present birth or the subsequent births by performing good actions, free from all evil parameters and thus get a reprieve from the punishments of his evil deeds of his past births.

This wandering' from birth to birth, within various realms of births and rebirths, is known as "Samsara". The ultimate goal is to escape from this cycle of birth and death to "Nirvana", a state of ultimate bliss, rather than a heavenly realm which offers no lasting

(The author is a retired civil engineer and an astrologer having quated "Jyotish Acharya" and higher research faculties of Vedic Astrology) 

DISCLAIMER: 

The views expressed in the Article above are   Er. P.L. Khushu   personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."

Courtesy:-   Er. P.L. Khushu   Koshur Samachar 2018, March