How?
In newspapers and on news channels, day in and day out, we get to hear about hundreds of unimaginable and unexpected events that take place in the world, such as plane crashes, bombings, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc. causing innumerable unnatural deaths. People who had no plans to be there somehow get caught in the mishap and end up becoming a victim of it; while few who were very much there, for some reason got out of that place at the last moment and it saved their life. How does all this happen?
Why?
So many people die in accidents, and many others in the same accident don’t even get a scratch on their body. There are some who suffer from strange diseases for years together, and all of a sudden they begin to recover and become perfectly fine. Some starve of hunger, and some even die of hunger, while their own close relatives are daily throwing away loads of left-overs in their plate. Why such disparity?
What?
In the maternity ward, while there are some babies who are born disabled, and some who are placed in the incubator with little chance of survival, but they end up living a long and healthy life. There are babies who die immediately after birth and many more who die in the womb itself. We also get to hear cases of people who commit suicide, and no one is able to know why. What’s the reason behind all of this?
Who?
Some people ruthlessly commit scandals worth crores and crores of money, that too in countries where more than half of its population is suffering from poverty; not having a shelter on their head nor a full-meal in their stomach. And on the other hand, at the same time, in the same country, the elevated souls of saints, devotees, and Gnanis (the Enlightened Ones), with great compassion and love in their heart, are found inspiring thousands and thousands of people into imbibing right understanding in their life and helping each one come out of all his sufferings by putting them on the path of liberation. So who decides who shall become ruthless and who shall be the compassionate One!
The above are all real-life examples, which we all may have got to see or experience in our life, at some point or the other, in some way or another. And while seeing or experiencing those examples, questions like how, why, what, who, where, etc. continue to harass us, until we’ve understood the true nature and the laws of karma.
What is karma? How does one bind or accumulate karmas? Where does it all begin? What was the very first karma? How can one be liberated from karma? Can one avoid experiencing karma? Is God the doer of karma or is he the instigator behind them? What comes after death? Who binds all these karmas? Who experiences these karmas, the Atma (Soul) or the physical body? – all these and many, many more questions regarding ‘karma’ have been answered by Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan; a small collection of which has been included in an abridged book named ‘Science of Karma’.
Thus, karma does exist! Let’s very briefly understand how...
The seeds of karma are sown in the past life and those seeds give their fruits in this life.
Who gives the fruits of these karmas? God? No. It is given by Nature, or what Param Pujya Dadashri calls ‘Scientific Circumstantial Evidences’.
For instance, when someone insults us or hurts us, it’s because we had sown the seeds of insult in past. How can the action (of insult or hurt) originate without any cause?
We (victim) ourselves had sowed the seed or the cause karmas of receiving insults (from our past life), which results as an effect now. But the seeds cannot come into fruition on their own. For the maturation of the fruit, all the required evidences have to be met; the insult manifests into physical form only when all the circumstances come together.
Human beings bind karmas because of ignorance
Due to ignorance, while experiencing the effects of karma, raag-dwesh (likes-dislikes) is created, which in turn creates new seeds of karma, that will mature in the next life and will have to be suffered then. For instance, it is out of ignorance that we perceive the person who insults or hurts us to be the ‘doer’ and thus blame him for the insult.
Gnanis prevent us from creating new seeds of karmas
When Gnani, the Enlightened One, gives us Gnan (the real knowledge), and teaches us how to stay in Gnan, we understand that, “This insult is the result of my own karmas.” We realize how the other person is a mere instrument in delivering the result of our own karma, and he’s therefore faultless. Having this right understanding, we do not create new karmas and become free of the old karma.
If at all we happened to perceive the other person to be the culprit, Gnani recommends that we immediately do pratikraman at that very moment. It is called “shoot on sight” so that the new seeds of karma get destroyed there and then, and thus will not come into fruition in the future. To do pratikraman means to pray to God with sheer repentance in our heart, “Dear God, I committed this mistake. Please forgive me for the same and grant me strength so that I never repeat the mistake.”
The greatest advantage of coming to Gnani is that we attain Self-Realization. Self-Realization means to realize that really ‘who am I?’ On receiving this knowledge of the Self, and following Gnani’s precious words thereafter, no new karma are created. And finally, when all old karmas get completely exhausted, we attain ultimate liberation. Ultimate liberation means there is no more suffering now; all that remains is just eternal bliss!
To know more:https://www.dadabhagwan.org/path-to-happiness/spiritual-science/the-science-of-karma/
Ambalal M. Patel was a civil contractor by profession. In June 1958, spontaneous Self-Realization occurred within Ambalal M. Patel. From this point on, Ambalal became a Gnani Purush, and the Lord that manifest within him became known as Dada Bhagwan. A Gnani Purush is One who has realized the Self and is able help others do the same. Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan used to go from town to town and country-to-country to give satsang (spiritual discourse) and impart the knowledge of the Self, as well as knowledge of harmonious worldly interactions to everyone who came to meet him. This spiritual science, known as Akram Vignan, is the step-less path to Self-realization.