Cycle of deeds
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 3:29 am
Let us look at the effects of each of the four factors one by one. (1) The fruits of a soul’s actions in the previous births have already been enjoyed by the soul in heaven and hell, before the present human birth. However, when the soul is reborn on earth, the basic psychology of the soul, which is made of the soul’s individual qualities (vāsanās or saṃskāras), is not destroyed. It continues in the new birth too.
That basic psychology of the individual gets destroyed only by the spiritual knowledge given by the divine preacher or the Sadguru. Śaṅkara says that these vāsanās get almost exhausted and reduced to a seed-form, after enjoying their respective fruits in the upper worlds, but they do not get destroyed.
In every new birth, they germinate and grow as the soul reborn on earth as a human being grows into an adult. However, spiritual knowledge is like the fire that permanently burns these seeds, so that they cannot germinate again. These vāsanās following the soul in seed-form are called the ‘remainder of action (karma śeṣa)’.
Actually, the vāsanas are the ‘effect’ or the fruit of the person’s action. But the effect (vāsanā) can be called by the name of the cause (karma), just as a golden ornament can be called gold. Interestingly, the vāsanā (quality in seed-form) is also the cause for future karma (deed) and this results in an infinite cycle of deeds called the karma cakra.
This remainder of action (karma śeṣa) from the previous births is responsible for our actions in the present birth. It provokes the soul to act in certain ways, as the soul grows. It remains silent as long as the soul is in childhood. That is why we misunderstand children to be reflections of God.
Actually, the seeds of their qualities are yet to germinate and hence they are not noticeable. Children are actually silent bombs waiting to explode as they grow out of childhood and reach adulthood! The seeds of their qualities germinate and become big trees as the children grow into adults. The external atmosphere around the child promotes the growth of the corresponding qualities.
When a thief is released from the police station after third degree torture, he behaves like a gentleman for sometime. His tendency to steal has been reduced to seed-form. But upon associating with thieves, the seed of the tendency to steal grows into a huge tree again!
(2) The soul’s actions done in the present birth are the direct causes of the good or bad fruits that the soul enjoys in the present life. This is because, it is actual action alone that directly produces the fruit, even though the seed of that action might be from previous births. (3) The planetary arrangement at the time of birth is not responsible for the actions of the soul. Actually, the reverse is true.
The actions done by a soul cause the planets to move into certain positions in order to deliver the fruits of the actions to the soul. People think that since Saturn has entered the 8th house of the person’s astrological chart, the person faced such and such a bad result. The fact is that since the person had done a bad deed and the fruit of the bad deed was to be given to the soul at that time, Saturn moved into the 8th place in the chart.
(4) The bad fruits to be received by the parents and the child are sometimes made to coincide, at a particular time. Here three separate punishments are to be given to three different souls. God makes such three sinful souls to be born as parents and the child. When the child is punished, the parents also are pained.
After all, pain is the essence of punishment. Here, by giving pain to one, the other two are also pained. This is hitting three birds in one shot! This is the talented administration of God! People misunderstand the situation, thinking that the child was punished for the sin of the parents or that the sin of the parents affects their issues. This is due to the lack of deep spiritual knowledge.
That basic psychology of the individual gets destroyed only by the spiritual knowledge given by the divine preacher or the Sadguru. Śaṅkara says that these vāsanās get almost exhausted and reduced to a seed-form, after enjoying their respective fruits in the upper worlds, but they do not get destroyed.
In every new birth, they germinate and grow as the soul reborn on earth as a human being grows into an adult. However, spiritual knowledge is like the fire that permanently burns these seeds, so that they cannot germinate again. These vāsanās following the soul in seed-form are called the ‘remainder of action (karma śeṣa)’.
Actually, the vāsanas are the ‘effect’ or the fruit of the person’s action. But the effect (vāsanā) can be called by the name of the cause (karma), just as a golden ornament can be called gold. Interestingly, the vāsanā (quality in seed-form) is also the cause for future karma (deed) and this results in an infinite cycle of deeds called the karma cakra.
This remainder of action (karma śeṣa) from the previous births is responsible for our actions in the present birth. It provokes the soul to act in certain ways, as the soul grows. It remains silent as long as the soul is in childhood. That is why we misunderstand children to be reflections of God.
Actually, the seeds of their qualities are yet to germinate and hence they are not noticeable. Children are actually silent bombs waiting to explode as they grow out of childhood and reach adulthood! The seeds of their qualities germinate and become big trees as the children grow into adults. The external atmosphere around the child promotes the growth of the corresponding qualities.
When a thief is released from the police station after third degree torture, he behaves like a gentleman for sometime. His tendency to steal has been reduced to seed-form. But upon associating with thieves, the seed of the tendency to steal grows into a huge tree again!
(2) The soul’s actions done in the present birth are the direct causes of the good or bad fruits that the soul enjoys in the present life. This is because, it is actual action alone that directly produces the fruit, even though the seed of that action might be from previous births. (3) The planetary arrangement at the time of birth is not responsible for the actions of the soul. Actually, the reverse is true.
The actions done by a soul cause the planets to move into certain positions in order to deliver the fruits of the actions to the soul. People think that since Saturn has entered the 8th house of the person’s astrological chart, the person faced such and such a bad result. The fact is that since the person had done a bad deed and the fruit of the bad deed was to be given to the soul at that time, Saturn moved into the 8th place in the chart.
(4) The bad fruits to be received by the parents and the child are sometimes made to coincide, at a particular time. Here three separate punishments are to be given to three different souls. God makes such three sinful souls to be born as parents and the child. When the child is punished, the parents also are pained.
After all, pain is the essence of punishment. Here, by giving pain to one, the other two are also pained. This is hitting three birds in one shot! This is the talented administration of God! People misunderstand the situation, thinking that the child was punished for the sin of the parents or that the sin of the parents affects their issues. This is due to the lack of deep spiritual knowledge.