Do we create our own reality? Are past lives just an illusion?

The concept of creating our own reality and the existence of past lives is a topic of much debate and speculation. From the perspective of Akram Vignan, which is a spiritual path based on the teachings of Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, the ultimate truth is that we are the creators of our own reality, which is predetermined by our past karmas (intents) and the unfolding of these is our destiny in our current life.

In Akram Vignan, the notion of past lives is not an illusion, but rather a reality. Living beings go through a continuous cycle of birth and death, and our past karmas determine the circumstances of our current life. The understanding of our past lives and karmas can help us gain insight into the cause-and-effect relationship between our intents and their impact on our current and future lives.
The definition of karma according to Akram Vignan?
People label all actions as ‘karma’, but in reality, the activity they see is really the fruit of karma, not the actual karma itself.

Supporting any action, with the claim, ‘I am doing it’ is karma. Claiming the ‘doership’ and ownership of that action binds karma.
The intention of giving happiness to others binds good karma and the intention of hurting others will bind bad karma. It is only through intent and not through action that karma is bound.

The reason for suffering?
Your life is the end result of your own good and bad karma. If a person suffers, it is because of his own mistakes. When you receive praise that is because of your merit karma, and when you receive insults, that is the result of your demerit karma.
Your present is due to past life Karma?
The causes of the last life are the effects of this life.
The results reflect our past cause. In life, we can determine from the effect of the outcome, what the causes were, or in other words, what our mistakes were. All the events that come together are results, and based on these results, we can deduce the cause behind them, be it good or bad.

When people have attachments or abhorrence, they are sowing causes that give rise to new karma. These causes that were created in your past life carry fruits to you, in this life.
Whatever you have to endure by the acts of others is because of a karma account from your past life. You do not know where this account came from, so you assume something new is being directed at you. But the reality is that everything happens because of past accounts – karma.

It is merely the old karma (previous life karma) coming back to you. The person who hurts you or the person who brings you joy are both instruments. The other person is only instrumental in settling your karmic account of your past life. They are not at fault or to be blamed.

From everything we have discussed so far, we can understand how we have created our own reality and that the past lives are not an illusion but very much real.
In essence, the teachings of Akram Vignan emphasise the importance of attaining your true Self, the pure Soul, which is what you really are! Thereafter, through the right understanding, we can understand the laws of karma, which can help us navigate through life with awareness and detachment, maintaining equanimity, and ultimately, lead to our liberation from the cycle of birth/death and suffering.

To know more: https://www.dadabhagwan.org/self-realization/