From jamesjs@unixg.ubc.ca Sun Jan 24 21:41:28 1999
Newsgroups: alt.meditation.shabda
Subject: The Wheel of Life (1/3)
From: jamesjs@unixg.ubc.ca (James Shannon)
Date: 25 Jan 1999 05:41:28 GMT







                           THE WHEEL OF LIFE

                     The Law of Action and Reaction

                                   by
                         
                              Kirpal Singh

                              (1894 - 1974)


                              [Part 1 of 3]


                              RUHANI SATSANG
                        Sawan Ashram, Shakti Nagar
                              Delhi 7, India

			     --no copyright--
                    
                            First Edition, 1965
                   Second Edition, 1967: 2000 copies
                    Third Edition, 1971: 2200 copies


                     
                                Dedicated
                           to the Almighty God
                working through all Masters Who have come
                      and Baba Sawan Singh A Maharaj
                           at whose Lotus Feet
                    the author imbibed sweet Elixir of
                           Holy Naam - the Word




                                 Foreword

          The publication of this latest work from the pen of
        Satguru Kirpal Singh marks a signal occasion in the
        history of esoteric and mystical literature, for it is the
        first time that such a lucid presentation of the several
        facets of the Law of Causality - the Law of Karma - has
        been published in English. Much has been written in
        theosophical and allied literature upon the Law of
        Karma, but the fringe of this profound subject only has
        been touched in most of these works. The present book
        follows its distinguished predecessors in the various and
        many-sided works upon the Science of the Soul, previously
        published by Ruhani Satsang.

          It is with no little diffidence that I set forth this
        little introductory Foreword to this work by such a mahatma
        or great soul as Kirpal Singh. The reason I do this is to
        add the testimony of another individual - born in the
        West, in a Western body - to the universality of the teachings
        and techniques of Spiritual Science given freely to all
        sincere aspirants by this present-day Master of the Supreme
        Science of the Soul. I sincerely hope that the message
        given in these pages will lead the reader to the lotus
        feet of such an Exemplar of the Science of the Soul as
        Kirpal Singh Ji. As with all spiritual subjects, proof of
        the veracity of the statements in this book lies in personal
        experience. A true Master can unlock the gates of personal
        experience for the aspirant who is prepared to
        follow the ethical and moral code set forth and practise
        the necessary spiritual exercises. The present writer of
        this Foreword can only echo the words of Plotinus and
        "point the way from words to the Vision." The Inner
        Vision is a gift of God - and is conveyed through a Living
        "Power Point" of God: a practical Master of Spiritual
        Science. Read this book and discover how this Law of
        Causality works in your life and how this Law can be
        transcended by a Greater Law: examine the premises of
        this book by contacting the Living Master or one of His
        representatives. You will receive the greatest blessing
        possible to an incarnated human being.

          After long study and arduous explorations into the
        teachings of most of the leading esoteric and philosophical
        schools, the writer of this Foreword is convinced that
        the present work is from the pen of One Who has attained
        the summit of spiritual experience. Kirpal Singh is a
        Master of the Science of Surat Shabda Yoga - the Yoga
        of the Audible Life Stream - a definite methodology of
        contacting the internal Sound Current, which leads the
        aspirant to his or her true Home: the Kingdom of Heaven
        within.

          This Science releases the aspirant from the thraldom
        of the three lower worlds of Maya - of ephemeral illusion
        - governed by the iron-bound Law of Karma: the
        ever-changing planes of mind, emotions and materiality.
        The Yoga of the Audible Life Stream is a scientific
        method of entering and realising the Kingdom of Heaven
        while still living here in the human body. A Living
        Master extends this wonderful gift to all sincere seekers,
        irrespective of colour, class or creed. This is the key of
        the Kingdom of God which is within you.

          In former days the Supreme Science was the prerogative
        of a carefully selected few. Today it can be given to
        all who thirst for Spirituality and who are prepared to
        live an ethical and moral life. The present impulse of
        presenting the Supreme Science to a greater number of
        spiritually-hungry people was begun by His Holiness
        Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji. An only son of devout,
        spiritually-focused parents, Sawan Singh was born on
        the 27th day of July, 1858, in Punjab, India.

          In 1894 Sawan Singh met Baba Jaimal Singh, a Master
        of the Supreme Science. Under the guidance of this
        Master-Saint, Sawan Singh became adept in both the
        theory and practice of the Science of the Masters. When
        in 1903, Baba Jaimal Singh was about to depart from His
        physical frame for the last time, He entrusted the work
        of Spirituality and conveying the Secret of the Word
        (Naam-Initiation) to Hazur Sawan Singh.

          Master Sawan Singh then proceeded to revive the
        teachings of this most ancient of Sciences and placed
        them before a far wider public than had hitherto been
        permitted. He put many people on to the sacred Path and
        initiated countless aspirants into the Science of the Soul.
        In 1947, this great Master called His leading disciple -
        Kirpal Singh - to Him. He informed Kirpal that the task
        of Naam-Initiation and spiritual work would be entrusted
        to him. In November of that year, in accordance with
        the wishes of His Master, Kirpal Singh set a proposal for
        Ruhani Satsang, a School of instruction into the Science
        of the Soul, before Master Sawan Singh. The main objects
        of this School were the ethical and spiritual betterment
        of mankind in general, irrespective of caste, colour or
        creed.

          Master Sawan Singh directed His beloved disciple to
        give practical shape to this project. Thus the blessings
        poured forth by this Great Soul have created Ruhani
        Satsang. This School Of Spirituality, as directed is
        working successfully in its Centre in Delhi and from many
        branches throughout the world. On April 2nd, 1948, in His
        90th year, Hazur Sawan Singh laid aside His physical
        body and returned to the supreme spiritual heights.

          The present Living Master of the Supreme Science is
        the author of this book. The discourses of His Holiness
        Kirpal Singh, in the many books written by Him, will
        give the reader an inclusive grasp of the theory of the
        Supreme Science. The next step is practical experience -
        and this the True Master is competent to give. It is my
        sincere wish that the reader will be inspired unto the
        practical application of the theory set forth so clearly
        in the following pages.

          The Living Master awaits you. Spirituality is free, it
        is not sold in the marketplace. The great Masters have
        ever - through the Grace of God - given freely of the
        Benediction of the Holy Word, the Living Naam, to all
        who truly approached them with sincerity, humility and
        love.

                                        George Arnsby Jones,
                                           Litt. D., Ph. D.
					        [1971]


                          

                           TABLE OF CONTENTS


        Foreword

        The Wheel of Life : The Law of Action and Reaction

        Appendix I : True Living

                Ahar or Diet

                Vihar or Social Conduct


        Appendix II : Life of Self-Surrender

        Glossary of Foreign Terms and Names



                  Everything in the Universe is the fruit
                of a Just Law, the Law of Causality, the Law
                of Cause and Effect, the Law of Karma.

                                       Gautama Buddha



                                 I


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

                                        Galatians VI: 7


          CONFRONTED with the complexities of earth-bound life,
        man struggles for a Way-out. Wherever he turns, he
        finds his upward flight thwarted by unseen barriers. Why
        all the seeming inequalities in the world? Why is man's
        way blocked to his primal Home - the Home of his Heavenly
        Father? Why cannot man redeem his unknown past?
        Where should he turn for the saving Light of the "Pure
        Science of Being?" These queries lead the inquiring mind
        to an investigation of the universal law of action and
        reaction.

          The term "Karma" frequently appears in various Indian
        philosophical and religious writings. Indeed, it has been
        so often bandied about by priests and preachers that
        many have come to consider it as an imaginary stumbling
        block in the path of spiritual salvation. Being a term
        foreign to the West, usually it is passed on without
        sufficient clarification. All the Masters of the lower
        reaches or grades of ascent, speak of liberation through
        performing action without attachment to and desire for the
        fruit or result thereof. This, however, is but a partial
        truth and half-way knowledge.

          The mind is accustomed to taste the fruit of its actions.
        How will it give up this habit? Sadhans (i.e. mental and
        physical exercises) may be employed as instruments to
        discipline the mind to a certain extent. But in the long
        run, the mind's habit of enjoying its experiences will
        assert itself. The mind can give up worldly pleasures only
        when it gets some kind of higher pleasure.

          The Saints have experienced a far more exquisite pleasure
        - ecstatic bliss - by contact with Naam (the Word of
        God or the Divine Sound Principle). Once absorbed in
        this Sound Current or Naam, the mind is drawn away from
        the world. The mind has the habit of running after
        worldly objects and of jumping from one thing to another.
        What we have to do, then, is not to stop its flux which
        is but its natural characteristic, but only to turn its
        direction from downwards into the world outside to upwards
        into the world within. This means harnessing the wandering
        wits and channelling the mental energy into a proper course
        as would ensure results that are of a lasting and permanent
        nature. This comes through regular practice or absorption
        in Naam. This is the only method by which the mind may
        gradually be trained and ultimately rendered innocuous with
        sublimation of the mental currents; the soul comes to its
        own and can proceed unencumbered and unhampered on its way
        to its original source: the Oversoul or the All-soul. Thus
        the Saints Who have Themselves trodden this Path - the Path
        of Surat Shabd Yoga (absorption in the Holy Word or the
        Sacred Sound) - can also not only enable us to free
        ourselves from the Karmic cycle of action and reaction but
        also provide us an access into the Kingdom of God which lies
        within.

          Now the question arises: How can the Karmas be
        wound up or rendered ineffective? In the labyrinth of the
        laws of Nature, in which we are inextricably involved,
        there is an outlet provided for those who are really in
        search of Self-knowledge and God-knowledge. The access
        to this outlet or the Way-out of the dense jungle of Karmas
        spreading far back to immemorial past is made manifest
        by the saving grace of the True Master. Once He has
        taken us in His fold and contacted us with the eternal
        Holy Word or the Sound-Current, we are put out of the
        reach of Yama or the angel of death representing the
        negative aspect of the Supreme Power and the dispenser of
        justice in the universe, to each according to his actions.

          Every act of a living being done knowingly or unknowingly,
        irrespective of whether it is yet in the stage of latency
        or thought form, a mental vibration, or is uttered
        by words of mouth or is actually done by a physical act,
        constitutes Karma.

          Lest the reader get confused by the term "Karma," it
        is better to understand this word in its proper context.
        Originally, the word Karma stood for and represented
        sacrificial rites and rituals, and yajnas performed by
        individuals as prescribed by the sacred texts. Later on,
        however, it came to include all kinds of virtues, social
        and self-purifying, like truthfulness, purity, abstinence,
        continence, ahimsa, universal love, selfless service and all
        deeds of a charitable and philanthropic nature. In short,
        great stress was laid on the cultivation of Atam-gunas
        which tended to discipline the mind and divert the mental
        powers in the right direction, so as to serve the higher
        purpose of liberating atman or the spirit in bondage.

          Karmas are generally classified as prohibited, permitted
        and prescribed. All Karmas that are degrading and
        derogatory in nature (Nashedh) are classed as prohibited
        because indulgence in vices is sinful and the wages of sin
        are death. These are termed Kukarmas or Vikarmas. Next
        come Karmas that are upgrading and help a person in
        attaining higher planes like Swarag, Baikunth, Bahisht or
        paradise. These are Sukama Karmas or Sukarmas, that is
        Karmas performed for fulfilment of one's benevolent
        desires and aspirations and as such are permissible and
        therefore permitted. Finally, we have Karmas the
        performance of which is considered obligatory as enjoined
        by the scriptures for persons belonging to different varn's
        or social orders (Brahmans or the priestly class engaged
        in the study and teaching of scriptures, Kshatriyas or the
        warrior race consisting of fighting forces for purposes of
        defense, Vaishyas or the people engaged in commercial
        or agricultural pursuits, and Sudras or the people serving
        the foregoing three classes); and at different stages in
        one's life called Ashrams (Brahmcharya, Grehastha,
        Vanprastha and Sanyas corresponding roughly to the
        formative period of one's education, the stage of married
        family life as a house-holder, the ascetic stage of a recluse
        or a hermit engaged in deep meditation in the solitude of
        a forest and lastly the stage of a spiritual pilgrim giving
        to the people the fruit of his life-long experience, each
        portion being of 25 years computing the life-span to be of
        100 years duration). These are called Netya Karmas or
        Karmas the performance of which is a "must" for each
        from day to day in his vocation and period of life.

          As a code of moral conduct, the law of Karma, makes
        valuable contributions to man's material and moral well-
        being on earth and paves the way to a better life in the
        future. In all the four spheres of human life - secular,
        material or economic, religious, and spiritual, as denoted
        by the terms Kama (fulfilment of one's desires); Artha
        (economic and material well-being); Dharma (moral and
        religious basis upholding and supporting the Universe);
        and Moksha (salvation) - deeds or Karmas play a vital
        part. It is, of course, the moral purity that figures as a
        motivating force for attaining success in one's endeavours.
        In order that the Karmas bear the desired fruit, it is
        necessary that they be performed with single-minded and
        purposeful attention and loving devotion.

          Besides these, there is yet another form of Karma - to
        wit, Nish-Kama Karma, that is, Karma performed without
        any attachment to, or desire for, the fruit thereof. This is
        superior to all the other forms of Karmas which more or
        less are the source of bondage, yet this type helps a little
        to liberate one from Karmic bondage but not from Karmic
        effect. It may, however, be noted that Karma per se has
        no binding effect whatsoever. It is only Karma born of
        desire or Kama that leads to bondage. This is why Moses
        taught "Desire not" and Buddha and the tenth Guru of
        the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, time and again, laid emphasis
        on the need for desirelessness. Karma thus is at
        once the means and the end of all human endeavours. It
        is through Karmas that one conquers Karmas and transcends
        Karmas. Any attempt to overstep the Law of Karma is as
        futile as to step over one's shadow. The highest of all
        is to be Neh-Karma or Karma-rehat, that is to say, doing
        Karma in accordance with the Divine plan, as a conscious
        co-worker with the power of God. This is being actionless
        in action like a still point in the ever-revolving wheel
        of life.

          Again, the term "Karma" may be distinguished from the
        word Karam. "Karma" is a Sanskrit term meaning action
        or deed, including mental vibrations and words of mouth,
        while Karam is a Persian word meaning kindness, mercy,
        compassion or grace.

          Now as to the nature of Karma: according to Jain
        philosophy, Karma is of the nature of matter, both physical
        and psychical, one related to the other as Cause and
        Effect. Matter in a subtle and psychical form pervades
        the entire cosmos. It penetrates the soul because of its
        interplay with the matter without. In this way, a jiva
        builds for itself a nest as does a bird, and gets fettered
        by what is called Karman-Srira or the subtle body and
        remains bound therein till the empirical self is
        depersonalized and becomes a pure soul irradiant with its
        native luminosity.

          The Karman-Srira or the Karmic shell, enclosing the
        soul, consists of eight prakritis corresponding to the eight
        types of Karmic atoms producing different types of effects.
        These are of two types: (1) Karmas that obscure the correct
        vision, as for instance (i) Darsan-avama, hindering right
        perception or apprehension in general; (ii) janan-avarna,
        those which obscure right understanding or comprehension;
        (iii) Vedaniya, those which obscure the inherent blissful
        nature of the soul and thus bring about pleasurable or
        painful feelings, and (iv) Mohaniya, Karmas which obscure
        right belief, right faith and right conduct. All these
        Karmas work as smoke-coloured glasses through which we see
        the world and all that is of the world. Life has poetically
        been described as "a dome of many-colored glass" that "stains
        the white radiance of Eternity."

          (2) Then there are Karmas which go to make a person
        what he is, for they determine (i) bodily physique, (ii)
        age and longevity, (iii) social status, and (iv) spiritual
        make-up. Each of these types is known as Naman, Ayus,
        Gotra and Antraya respectively.

          In addition there are divisions and sub-divisions under
        these, running into hundreds of ramifications.

          The Karmic particles spreading in space, are willy nilly
        attracted by each soul according to the pressure of the
        activity indulged in. This constant influx of Karma can be
        checked by freeing the self of all types of activity of the
        body, mind and senses and stabilizing it at its own center;
        while the accumulated Karmas may be curtailed by
        fasting, tapas, saudhyaya, vairagya, prashchit, dhyan and
        the like: that is to say, austerities, reading of scriptural
        texts, detachment, repentance and meditation etc.

          Buddha too laid a great stress on constant endeavor
        and struggle with a view to ultimate victory over the law
        of Karma. The present may be determined by the past;
        the future is our own, depending on the directive will of
        each individual. Time is one endless continuity - past
        irresistibly leading to the present and the present to the
        future as one may like it to be. Karma ceases to affect
        only with the attainment of the highest condition of mind
        which is beyond both good and evil. With the realization
        of this ideal all struggle comes to an end, for then
        whatever the liberated one does, he does without attachment.
        The ever-rotating Wheel of Life gets its momentum from
        the Karmic energy and when that energy itself is exhausted,
        the giant Wheel of Life comes to a stand-still,
        for then one reaches to the intersection of time and the
        timeless, a point which is always in action and yet still at
        the core. Karma provides a key to the life processes; and
        one's consciousness travels from stage to stage until one
        becomes a really awakened being or Buddha (the enlightened
        one or the seer of the Holy Light). To Buddha, the universe,
        far from a mere mechanism, was a Dharma-Kaya or body
        pulsating with Dharma or life-principle, serving at once as
        its main support.

          In brief, the Law of Karma is Nature's stubborn and
        inexorable law from which there is no escape and to
        which there is no exception. As you sow, so shall you
        reap, is an ancient axiomatic truth. It is the general rule
        for earth-life. It also extends to some of the upper physio-
        spiritual regions, according to the order of density and
        peculiarity of each. Karma is a supreme principle superior
        both to gods and men for the former too, sooner or later,
        come also under its sway. The various gods and goddesses
        in different realms of Nature take a much longer
        time to serve in their respective heavenly spheres than
        human beings, but all the same they have ultimately to
        reincarnate in flesh before they can aspire to, and win,
        final emancipation from the Karmic round of births.

          All works, acts or deeds form a vital device in the
        Divine plan to keep the entire universe in perfect running
        order. No one can remain without some kind of work
        (mental or physical activity) even for a single moment.
        One is always thinking or doing one thing or another.
        One cannot by nature be mentally vacant or idle, nor can
        one stop the senses from their automatic functioning:
        eyes cannot but see and the ears but hear; and the worst
        is that one cannot, like Penelope, undo what is once done.
        Repentance though good in itself, cannot cure the past.
        Whatever one thinks, speaks or acts, good or bad, leaves
        a deep impression upon the mind and these accumulated
        impressions go to make or mar an individual. As a man
        thinks, so be becomes. It is from the abundance of the
        mind that the tongue speaketh. Every action has a reaction,
        for that is Nature's law of Cause and Effect. One
        has, therefore, to bear the fruit of his actions: sweet or
        bitter, as the case may be, whether one may like it or not.

          Is there no remedy then? Is man a mere plaything of
        fate or destiny who works his way in a purely pre-determined
        order? There are two sides of the matter. One has,
        to a certain extent, a free will, wherewith one, if he so
        chooses, can direct his course and make or mar his future
        and to a great extent even mould the living present
        to his own advantage. Armed with the living soul in him
        of the same essence as his Creator, he is mightier than
        Karma. The infinite in him can help him to transcend the
        limitations of the finite. The freedom to act and the Karmic
        bondage are but two aspects of the real in him. It is
        only the mechanical and the material part in him that is
        subject to Karmic restraint, while the real and vital spirit
        in him transcends all and is hardly affected by the Karmic
        load, if established in his native God-head. How to get
        established in one's own real saroop, the Atman? This is
        what we have perforce to learn if we aspire for a way
        out of the endless Karmic web.

          The trouble with most of us is that we do not give
        thought to our actions. We, at every step, heedlessly go
        on collecting the load of Karmic particles without realizing
        that there is a power within that keeps a count of all
        we think, say or do. Thomas Carlyle, a famous thinker,
        says: "Fool, thinkest thou that because no Boswell is there
        to note thy jargon, it therefore dies and is buried? Nothing
        dies, nothing can die. The idlest word thou speakest
        is a seed cast into time, which brings fruit to all eternity."
        Similarly, Aeschylus, the father of Greek drama in the
        pre-Christian era, tells us:


                        Deep in the nether sky,
                        Death rules the ways of man,
                        With stern and strong control;
                        And there is none who can,
                        By any force or act,
                        Elude Death's watchful eye
                        Or his recording heart.
                                          From The Eumenides




                                  II



          KARMAS have been classified by Saints into three
        distinct categories:

          (i) Sanchit or the gathered and stored Karmas, going
        far back into incarnations running into the unknown past.

          (ii) Pralabdha: Luck, fate or destiny, or that portion
        out of the Sanchit (store-house) which constitutes
        a person's living present, which none can escape
        howsoever one may wish and try.

          (iii) Kriyaman: The Karmas which one is free to perform
        as a free agent in his present earthly span or existence,
        and thereby make or mar his future.


        (i) Sanchit (the stored deeds): Good or bad deeds that
        stand to man's credit as earned in all the previous
        existences in the order of creation, counting from the day
        of the first appearance of life on earth. Man knows nothing
        about them, or of their extent and their great potential
        power. King Dharitrashtra, the blind progenitor of the
        Kshatriya princes, the Kurvas of the Epic Age, when
        endowed by Lord Krishna with his yogic power, was able
        to trace the cause of his blindness to an act done in the
        unknown past, extending back to over 100 incarnations
        or embodiments. In Chapter 20:5 of the Book of Exodus,
        Moses, while giving the Ten Commandments of God,
        speaks of God as having commanded: "I the Lord thy
        God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
        fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
        generation ..." Even the medical science today affirms the
        significant part that heredity plays and traces the origin
        of certain diseases coming down from progenitors and
        appearing in succeeding generations. So does modem
        psychology connect problematic behaviors in certain
        individuals with mental peculiarities in their parents and
        ancestors.

        (ii) Pralabdha: These are just that part of the Sanchit
        Karmas which constitute a person's fate, destiny or luck;
        which determines one's present existence on earth. A person
        has no control over them. The effect of these, good or
        ill, has be tolerated, as best one may - with smiles or
        with tears. The present life is just an unfoldment or
        revelation of the predestined Karmas with which one comes
        fully loaded into the world. It is, however, possible that
        one may so mould and develop his inner self, through the
        guidance of some Master-Soul, that he may not feel their
        bitter and poignant sting, just as the kernel in a ripe
        almond or walnut does not feel the prick of a needle by
        getting detached from the shell without, which as a
        consequence gets shrivelled and hardened, and serves
        henceforth as a protecting armor.

          In this way, each one of us, willingly or unwillingly,
        wittingly or unwittingly, is forging chains for himself,
        no matter whether the same be of gold or of iron. Still
        chains are chains and they are equally efficacious in their
        application; to wit, to keep a person in perpetual bondage.
        Like a poor silk-worm imprisoned in its own cocoon
        or like a spider caught in its own web, or a bird in its
        nest, one remains bound in hoops of steel of his own
        making, with no way of escape therefrom. Thus the cycle
        of birth, death, and rebirth is ceaselessly set in motion. It
        is only when one transcends the body-consciousness and
        becomes Neh-Karma, i.e. actionless in action like the still
        point at the centre of the ever-revolving wheel of life,
        that a stop is put to the motion of the Giant Wheel of
        Karmas; for then one becomes a conscious co-worker of
        the Divine Plan. This is why Buddha, the prince among
        ascetics, emphatically said: "Be ye desireless" for desires
        are the root-cause of human sufferings as they motivate
        actions, right from subtle vibrations in the sub-conscious,
        to mental thinking in the conscious, leading to the vast
        and limitless harvest of variegated deeds of different hues
        and forms, springing from the imbalance of the mind.
        The spirit, sitting in the chariot of the body is thus driven
        blindly and head-long into the fields of sensual pleasures
        by the five powerful steeds of the senses, uncontrolled by
        the power-intoxicated charioteer of the mind (helplessly
        imbalanced as it is) with the reins of intellect dangling
        loosely about him. Self-discipline then is of prime importance
        and chastity in thought, word and deed, is the essential
        requisite that helps a person on the path of self-knowledge
        and God-knowledge, for ethical life is a stepping-stone to
        spirituality.

        (iii) Kriyaman: It is the current account of one's willful
        actions and deeds in the present existence. This type of
        Karma is quite distinct from the other two. In spite of the
        limitations imposed by Pralabdh or unchangeable destiny,
        each one is gifted with a free will and is free to sow what
        seeds he may. Endowed with the gift of discriminative
        faculty peculiar to his constitution alone, he can judge
        for himself what is right and what is wrong and as such
        it would be vainly presumptuous on his part if he were to
        expect a bed of roses when he sows thorns and thistles. It
        is up to him to make or mar his future, as be may. A
        Master-soul can give him a correct lead by putting before
        him the true values of life - life which is more than the
        bodily raiment and all that is connected therewith: the
        sense-dominated existence. Under His guidance, one develops
        an easy detachment from the world and worldly affairs and
        once the magic spell is broken, the blinkers fall
        off and the stark reality stares him squarely in the face,
        providing him with an opportunity to escape unscathed.
        Ordinarily, however, some of the Kriyaman Karmas bear
        fruit in this very life; while others - the unfructified
        ones - are transferred to the General Account of the Sanchit
        Karmas, which go on accumulating from age to age. Thus,
        it is given to each one to think ahead of time, and weigh
        well the consequences of the acts and deeds intended
        before taking an irretrievable step - a leap in the dark and
        a head-long plunge in a fit of impetuosity which is
        regretted forever and cannot be undone by blaming the
        stars for their supposed malignant influence. A railway
        engineer, for instance, is to plan beforehand the railway
        track, for once the lines are laid the train is to run on
        blindly. A little error in laying the lines, a loose fish-
        plate or a wrong angle may lead to calamitous results. Even
        when everything is done properly, one has to keep a
        constant and strict watch, day and night, lest anything
        get out of joint or the track is otherwise tampered with
        by hostile elements.

          According to Nature's law of life, a man (the embodied
        or incarnate soul) is like a precious jewel clothed in three
        caskets or bodies - the physical, the astral or mental, and
        the causal or the seed-body - all of which, more or less,
        partake of the terrestrial character, with varying degrees
        of density.

          There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial:
          but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory
          of the terrestrial is another.
                                              I Cor 15: 40


          These are like outer robes of coat, vest under it, and
        then shirt. When a man casts off the physical body,
        his spirit still is wearing the astral or the mental body.
        He has also the causal or the ethereal seed body or thin
        veil under the astral raiment. Until one is able to cast off
        the physical body, he cannot reach the first heaven, the
        astral kingdom within:


          Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot
          inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption
          inherit incorruption...

          For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and
          this mortal must put on immortality.

          So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
          and this mortal shall have put on immortality,
          then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
          written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

          0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy
          victory?
                                              I Cor 15: 50, 53-55


          This casting off or change may occur either through the
        final dissolution, the disintegrating process commonly
        known as death, or be brought about by the method of
        voluntary withdrawal of the sensory currents from the
        body technically known as "rising above body consciousness"
        by a process of inversion and self-analysis. The Gospels
        refer to this withdrawal as "to be born anew' or
        "resurrection." The Hindu scriptures speak of it as "twice-
        born" or do-janma. It is a birth of the spirit as distinct
        from that of the water - the latter being from "seed
        corruptible" as distinguished from the former, "seed
        incorruptible," unchangeable and abiding (of the spirit).
        The Muslim darveshs (mystics) call this death-in-life as
        death before death. One can learn how to withdraw not only
        from one's physical body but from the other two bodies
        (the astral and the causal) as well, through the kindly
        assistance of a Master-Saint, Who has Himself transcended
        into the beyond and can help others to do likewise. One
        has, therefore, to "forsake the flesh for the spirit" if
        one is anxious to escape from the perpetual wheel of life
        on this sublunary planet (earth).

          In the ordinary natural course of things, the jiva (the
        embodied soul or the incarnate spirit) has, after physical
        death, no option but in time to return to the physical
        plane in some physical form, the nature of which is
        determined by his life-long propensities and inclinations,
        the intensity of his longings and long-cherished unfulfilled
        desires enshrined in his mental make-up and predominantly
        uppermost at the time of death, the over-bearing influence
        of which irresistibly shapes a course for him.


                So kind and generous is the Father Divine,
                He grants unto His children what they desire.


          But, if one, under the guidance of a perfect Master
        Sant-Satguru) learns the practical process of self-analysis,
        i.e. self-withdrawal from the physical body at will, and
        develops it by a regular practice, he, while living, gets
        an experience of the Beyond (Death-in-life), with the
        result that gradually the age-old scales of his make-
        believe begin to fall away from his eyes and the world
        and worldly things lose their hypnotic charm, and he,
        while seeing things in their true colors, and understanding
        the intrinsic worth of each, grows desireless and free
        - a master of himself, a liberated soul (jivan mukat) and
        thereafter continues to live on just to complete his allotted
        span of life without attachment. This is called a new
        birth (or the second advent of the soul) - life eternal.
        But how can one attain it? Christ tells us:


          He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me,
            is not worthy of me.
          He that findeth his life shall lose it:
          And be that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

                                        Matthew 10: 38-39


          In the Gospel of Luke, we have:

          And he (Jesus) said to them all: If any man will
            come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
            his cross daily, and follow me.

                                        Luke 9: 23

          And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come
            after me, cannot be my disciple.

                                        Luke 14: 27


          Thus we see that death-in-Christ is the way to live
        with Christ eternally. Learn to die so that you may begin
        to live, is the exordium of all the saints. Among the
        Muslims, this is known as fana-fi-sheikh or self-effacement
        in the Murshid or the Master. It is, therefore, of paramount
        importance that one should first seek a living Master
        competent enough to wind up once for all the otherwise
        endless cycle of Karmas and then seek refuge at His
        Holy Feet and thereby free oneself from the baneful
        influence of one's deeds which continue to haunt a person
        in the form of eumenides and furies.


          Of the power of the Jagat-guru, it is said:

          A Jagat-guru can annihilate Karmas by his look and
            Word,

          In his presence, the Karmas fly like autumn leaves
            before a wind.


          Again, we have in the scripture:

          Great is the power of the retributive angel, and none
            can escape its fury,

          But it doth fly in fear of death, before the sounding
            blast of the Word.


          Now as to the working of the Karmic Law, the following
        example may help us to understand the position more
        explicitly.

          Take two kinds of grape-seeds - yellow and brown.
        Suppose yellow seeds represent good deeds and brown
        seeds represent bad deeds. A room is full to the roof in
        which heaps of both kinds of seeds are lying. This forms
        man's storehouse of Sanchit Karmas.

          Now there is a person "A" (physical body plus mind
        plus soul) who has long cherished a desire during his
        lifetime to become a king. He falls ill and his unfulfilled
        desire to be a king all the time remains uppermost in his
        mind. He, in due course, is compelled by nature to
        surrender his physical body, but according to the Law of
        life after death he is still clothed in the astral (mental)
        and causal (ethereal) bodies. He now functions as a
        disembodied or disincarnate spirit in his other raiment,
        the mind-stuff both astral and causal. Since mind is the
        storehouse of all impressions, "X' still remembers his
        desire to be a king. "A," now a disembodied spirit (jiva),
        disrobed of the physical body, is faced with a difficulty.
        He cannot function as a king until, once again, he puts on
        a physical vesture as may enable him to be a king, at one
        stage or another in his earthly career. Propelled by the
        unerring motor-power behind all activity, his mind-stuff,
        he is led on to pick up some of the unfructified Karmas,
        sufficient enough to bring about a new set of circumstances
        as may help him to have the long cherished and deeply engraved
        desire fulfilled.

          The great motor power referred to above has two aspects:
        positive as well as negative; the former leading to
        the journey homeward and the latter controlling and
        guiding life on the earth-plane. Nature, or the negative
        aspect of the Power that is One, is concerned solely with
        the administration of life as it exists on the physical
        planet; its chief function being to keep the world going,
        fully peopled, and people engaged in various pursuits of
        life, according to the earned merit in each case, called in
        common parlance as Pralabdha which fashions the earthly
        life for each individual with an absolute precision and
        an unfailing art.

          To the extent described above, one is in a sort of
        "closed trap" and cannot but unfold what comes with
        him in a folded state. It is a revelation of the unrevealed
        past in the seed or the essence lying dormant at the
        back of the essential mind-stuff and is projected on the
        canvas of life with its multifarious patterns and diverse
        colors, taking on different lines, as life emerges out of the
        pristine unalloyed and eternal radiance of which we
        generally lose sight as we get absorbed in the "dome of
        many-coloured glass" that encloses us and presses us from
        all sides with the passage of time. Dame Nature now takes
        charge of her foster-child and lavishes in plenitude all
        her gifts, so much so that unknowingly one enjoys in
        fullness and to surfeit that for which be hankered in the
        past. Dazzled by the glamour of the gifts, one forgets the
        Great Benefactor, the Bestower of the Gifts, and is
        inextricably caught in the meshes of death.

          This is but one part of the life that "A" leads, as a
        predestined game. Along with this, there is yet another, a
        very vital counterpart depending on the freedom of action
        and volitional independence that is given to each. It is in
        correctly understanding the higher values of life and
        making the most of the opportunities given to him that
        his salvation lies, right here and now. Paradoxically then,
        man is not only a creature of his destiny (past), but a
        creator of his destiny (future) as well. What we bring,
        must come to pass; and what we do now shall shape the
        things to come. Wisdom, therefore, lies in making the
        choice. The mindpower is a single entity and if harnessed
        correctly, can, like an obedient servant, render a good
        account of itself; but if allowed to over-power the life-
        giving spirit, it proves a treacherous parasite that saps
        the vitality and shrivels up the host-plant on which it
        thrives and from which it derives its very life and
        sustenance. Thus, one must pay all his attention to proper
        sowing and cultivating, while playing his destined part
        in the human drama, on the stage of life, in the light of
        the eternal radiance that shines through thick and thin,
        whether we know it or not. The Supreme Will is already
        wrought in the pattern of our being, for without it there
        can be no existence; and in knowing that Will and by
        working in unison with that Will, one can escape from
        the Wheel of Life. Guru Nanak in Jap Ji speaks of it thus:


          How may one know the Truth and break through the
            cloud of falsehood?
          There is a Way, O Nanak, to make His Will our own,
          His Will which is already wrought in our existence.


          We thus see that Karmas and desires are responsible
        for the interminable cycle of births and re-births. How
        then can one end this ceaseless cycle? There are only two
        ways to exhaust or finish up the vast and limitless store-
        house of Karmas - the impenetrable granite wall between
        a person and the High One, with the blindingly thick
        veil of the ignorant mind ever covering the eyes. The
        two ways to solve this ever-eluding and baffling problem
        are:


          (a) To leave it to Nature to exhaust the storehouse in
              due course of time, should that be at all possible.

          (b) To obtain from a Master-soul a practical knowledge
              and experience of the Science of Life, on the
              earthly as well as the spiritual planes, and to work
              right now for transcension from one to the other,
              while there is still a chance and an opportunity.


          The first course is not only endlessly long but tortuous
        in the extreme, tricky at every step and full of dangers
        and pitfalls. It will take myriads of ages to reach the goal
        if one is fortunate enough to do so. Besides, Nature by
        herself hardly helps one to disentangle himself from the
        inexorable Karmic Order, for that spells self-extinction
        for her and her brood.

          Human birth is a rare privilege indeed and this privilege
        one gets after passing through a long evolutionary
        process in creation extending through innumerable forms
        or embodiments that the Life Principle takes on the physical
        plane. Once this golden opportunity is lost, the jiva
        or the embodied spirit has to continue on the Wheel of
        Life, according to the usually predominant world traits
        during his life-time and particularly those which
        forcefully project themselves at the time of his passing
        away from this world, the law being: "Where the mind is,
        there the spirit goes irresistibly." This being the case,
        it is well-nigh impossible for an average embodied spirit to
        get over the sensory plane and keep the mind stilled and
        self-absorbed by his own unguided and unaided efforts,
        howsoever herculean they may be. It is only some Godman
        or Master-power that may, in compassion, help a jiva in
        regaining the lost kingdom - the realm spiritual - from
        which each one has been driven out by his disobedience to
        the behests of God. This course then is fraught with
        untold dangers, lurking at every step, even in the very
        nature of each individual; and hence no sane person will
        ever think of attempting to tread the lonesome and weary
        path, which more often than not leads into a cul-de-sac
        or blind alley.

          By adopting the second course, one seeks a competent
        spiritual Master who wields influence over all the
        subordinate powers in this and higher planes of existence.
        He can wind up the Karmic accounts of the bankrupt
        spirit. The moment He accepts an individual as His Own,
        He takes in His own Hand the process of liquidating the
        endless process of Karma coming down from the unknown
        past. He calls a halt to the mad and reckless career
        in which one is engaged. "So far and no further" is His
        command, and then He puts an individual on the
        High-road Godward. He does not usually interfere with
        the Pralabdh or destiny, for it has of necessity to be worked
        off as well as possible, so as to complete the allotted span
        of life and to reap the fruit; while the Sanchit or the vast
        storehouse, He, by being a conscious co-worker with the
        Divine Plan, singes by contacting the spirit with the spark
        of Naam. Contact with Naam or the Holy Word at once
        reduces to ashes the storehouse of Sanchit Karmas as
        well as the unfructified Kriyaman Karmas done hitherto,
        just as a spark of fire reduces to ashes the entire forest
        or the heap of fuel that may be lying on the ground. Guru
        Nanak beautifully tells us in Pauri XX of Jap Ji, the
        morning prayer of the Sikhs:

          When the hands, feet and the body are besmeared
            (with dust), they are washed clean with water;

          When the clothes get dirty and polluted, they are
            cleansed by soap;

          When one's mind gets defiled by sin, it can be purified
            only by communion with the Word;

          Men do not become saints and sinners merely by words,

          But they carry deeds with them wherever they go.

          As one sows, so does one reap;

          0 Nanak, men come and go by the wheel of birth
            and death as ordained by His Will.


          It is now clear that mind is the main magnet that
        attracts Karmas with all their concomitants. Mind
        maintains a mighty sway over man. It utilizes our surat
        (attention, the outward expression of the soul within) as
        its means, which is the most precious of man's inherited
        faculties - the priceless jewel of immense virtue.

          The Master-Saints come into the world with a divine
        purpose and a mission. They are commissioned from
        above to liberate man from the Karmic bondage. When
        one is fortunate to find such a Holy Man and surrenders
        himself to His will, the latter takes charge of the spirit.
        His first and foremost task is to break the magic spell of
        the Karmic tentacles that hold one in their deadly grasp.
        He advises each one to lead a well-regulated and highly
        disciplined ethical life, so as to escape from contracting
        any more evil influences or Karmic impressions. He tells
        us that all the bounties of Nature, including sense-objects,
        are for a legitimate and fair use only and not for
        indulgence and enjoyment. All our troubles arise from the
        fact that we ravenously indulge sense pleasures to surfeit
        with the result that instead of our enjoying the worldly
        pleasures, the pleasures enjoy us to the full and leave us
        a total wreck, physically and mentally. We forget that true
        happiness is an attitude of the mind and springs from within,
        when we consciously awaken the Life-Current (the Holy
        Word) lying dormant and feed our "self" on the "Life
        principle" immanent in all things, visible and invisible,
        the sole motor-force creating and sustaining the entire
        universe. The past, the present and the future, the God-
        man holds in His mighty grasp; and like a compassionate
        father, guides His children in the Path of righteousness
        and rectitude, leading gradually to Self-knowledge and
        God-knowledge and attaining in the end the prize of
        God-head. Just as a child does not know what his father
        provides for him, from time to time, so does a neophyte
        not know what his Heavenly Father does for him. It is
        by following in His ways that one may gradually learn
        the esoteric mysteries as these unfold themselves to him
        at each step.


          Poor soul in this, the flesh, what dost thou know?
          Thou art too narrow, wretch, to comprehend even
            thy self.


                                                J. Donne


                           [End of Part 1 of 3]

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