LIFE TRANSFORMATIONS, KARMA AND IMMORTALITY
By Yves Panneton
Whoever talks about life and death, or life transformation, immediately thinks of karma and immortality.
Karma is the process by which the results of one’s action in a given life are reaped in future lives. It evolves from the “empirical” observations that, in a given society, no one is equal. Some are born with privileges while others live an existence of misery. Others exhibit natural abilities that otherwise may take years to acquire. This is deemed to be especially true in the spiritual realm where very few people are seen reaching enlightenment in this lifetime and, those who attain illumination appear to display a natural predisposition toward religion. Hence, the only “logical” explanation behind these “empirical” facts is that, somehow, people are reborn.
The mechanics of karma is explained by three laws — the law of action and reaction, the law of consequences and the law of retribution. The law of action and reaction holds that every action produces an immediate reaction in a linear fashion. Hence, action “A” produces reaction “B”, which in turn becomes action for reaction “C” and so forth. The law of consequences says that the full outcome of an action may take years, even many lives in the case of humans, to fully manifest. When a seed is sown (action) a plant grows (reaction) but it will take weeks before the plant produce fruits (consequence). The law of retribution proclaims that righteous deeds bring good consequences to the individual while immoral deeds bring bad consequences.
There are three kinds of karma namely sanchita karma, prarabdha karma and agami karma. Sanchita karma is the total sum of karma from past lives that has not yet produced its consequences. It is deemed to be stored in the causal body to mature. Prarabdha karma is the karma that has matured and is ready to produce its consequences. It is the karma experienced in this lifetime. Agami karma is the karma that is created in the course of this lifetime through the exercise of free will.
According to the karma doctrine, the soul transmigrates in its causal body between two lives. During the transmigration, the karma that is ready to produce its consequences separates from sanchita karma and forms prarabdha karma. At birth, prarabdha karma leaves the causal body and enters the physical body where it expresses itself as the individual’s potential during one’s lifetime. Through free will, one’s actions generate agami karma, which is temporarily stored in the mind as impressions (samskara).
At death, the physical body is dropped and the mind is enfolded by the subtle body, which in turn is enfolded by the causal body. Once the subtle body is enfolded in the causal body, the agami karma that was stored in the mind joins the sanchita karma already maturing in the causal body. The soul and the sanchita karma transmigrate again in the causal body until more prarabdha karma is formed for another life.
Liberation (moksa or moksha) is freedom from karma. In a liberated person (jivamukti), sanchita karma is burnt up, the last prarabdha karma is being experienced in this lifetime and no more agami karma is produced. At death, there is no more karma left to be burned, so the person is no longer reborn.
Despite what the karma doctrine may hold, good actions do not always lead to positive results and bad actions do not necessarily have negative outcomes. Countless volunteers have lost their lives while helping others, and crime has paid off for many. Moreover, it implicitly supports the view of an eternal separate individual self which is maya. Therefore, the doctrine of karma in its popular interpretation is misleading.
According to the yogic worldview, the nature of Brahman is reproduced like a fractal in the universe through the process of sacrifice, which is a non-linear deterministic process akin to chaos theory. Considering that the individual soul is nothing other than a transient state of Brahman’s manifestation, karma and reincarnation, in their popular interpretation, are views that are in contradiction with the nature and the workings of the universe. However, karma carries an important esoteric meaning when considered within the boundaries of one’s life.
In this revised view, the law of action and reaction holds that one’s actions bear consequences to the environment, others and oneself. The law of consequences says that these consequences are partly immediate and partly long term. The law of retribution proclaims that the results of an action are nonlinear. This means that although one may anticipate a certain result from a given action, the effective result can be totally different than what was expected.
In the revised karma doctrine, one’s initial potential is established at birth by bio-psycho-social determinants as expounded in Ayurveda. This initial potential represents prarabda karma.
One’s existence is typically characterized by long periods of stable and predictable periods punctuated, from time to time, by major crises. Living during stable and predictable periods of time represents a “life”. In the course of a “life”, one acquires new knowledge and gains new experiences. This learning represents agami karma. The quality of this learning is dependent on one’s decisions. The major crises experienced from time to time represent many “deaths”. Each “death” leads to a “reincarnation” into another “life” thus forming the “cycle of rebirth”.
The potential of the individual in a new “life” always depends on past learning acquired up to the time of the last “death”. The sum total of one’s learning up to the time of the last “death” represents sanchita karma, which is also prarabdha karma for the “life” to come.
In other words, for as long as one is alive, agami karma acquired during a “life” is added to sanchita karma from the previous “lives” to form prarabda karma for the next “life”. At the time of physical death, sanchita karma is the sum total of one’s learning acquired during one’s lifespan.
Moksa is detachment from one’s wants and haves. It does not mean that an individual should not experience wants or that these wants should not be fulfilled. Nor does it mean that an individual should not have possessions. What detachment means is that, if a want surfaces, one is indifferent to whether that want is fulfilled or not. When something is possessed, it means to be indifferent if it is lost. By being detached, one can transcend the individual self, identify with the whole and meaningfully engage the world thus playing an effective part in Brahman’s Lila. By adhering to the practice of yoga as developed in the Hindu scriptures, moksa can be attained.
When we identify with our instruments (mind, intellect, ego, senses), we perceive ourselves as being distinct from our surroundings. Seeing the body transforming during its lifetime, we assume that its life started at birth and will end at death. In light of the yogic cosmology, birth and death are an illusion.
Human life must not be considered solely within the window delineated by the birth and death of the human body but rather within the boundaries of the holistic universe. According to Hindu wisdom, everything found in the cosmos emerged from Brahman at creation and will remain within the confines of the universe until its dissolution.
Through sacrifice, entities within the cosmos are organized and re-organized in an endless process of transformation. The corollary in physics is a law stating that in the universe nothing is created, nothing is lost and everything is transformed. These endless transformations within the cosmos never compromise the integrity of Brahman. In fact, they are a direct result of its intrinsic dynamic nature. Considering that humans share Brahman’s essence, life is nothing but a transient state of Brahman’s manifestation. Given that Brahman is omnipresent, so are humans.
Yves Panneton
CYA RYT Gold
By Yves Panneton
Whoever talks about life and death, or life transformation, immediately thinks of karma and immortality.
Karma is the process by which the results of one’s action in a given life are reaped in future lives. It evolves from the “empirical” observations that, in a given society, no one is equal. Some are born with privileges while others live an existence of misery. Others exhibit natural abilities that otherwise may take years to acquire. This is deemed to be especially true in the spiritual realm where very few people are seen reaching enlightenment in this lifetime and, those who attain illumination appear to display a natural predisposition toward religion. Hence, the only “logical” explanation behind these “empirical” facts is that, somehow, people are reborn.
The mechanics of karma is explained by three laws — the law of action and reaction, the law of consequences and the law of retribution. The law of action and reaction holds that every action produces an immediate reaction in a linear fashion. Hence, action “A” produces reaction “B”, which in turn becomes action for reaction “C” and so forth. The law of consequences says that the full outcome of an action may take years, even many lives in the case of humans, to fully manifest. When a seed is sown (action) a plant grows (reaction) but it will take weeks before the plant produce fruits (consequence). The law of retribution proclaims that righteous deeds bring good consequences to the individual while immoral deeds bring bad consequences.
There are three kinds of karma namely sanchita karma, prarabdha karma and agami karma. Sanchita karma is the total sum of karma from past lives that has not yet produced its consequences. It is deemed to be stored in the causal body to mature. Prarabdha karma is the karma that has matured and is ready to produce its consequences. It is the karma experienced in this lifetime. Agami karma is the karma that is created in the course of this lifetime through the exercise of free will.
According to the karma doctrine, the soul transmigrates in its causal body between two lives. During the transmigration, the karma that is ready to produce its consequences separates from sanchita karma and forms prarabdha karma. At birth, prarabdha karma leaves the causal body and enters the physical body where it expresses itself as the individual’s potential during one’s lifetime. Through free will, one’s actions generate agami karma, which is temporarily stored in the mind as impressions (samskara).
At death, the physical body is dropped and the mind is enfolded by the subtle body, which in turn is enfolded by the causal body. Once the subtle body is enfolded in the causal body, the agami karma that was stored in the mind joins the sanchita karma already maturing in the causal body. The soul and the sanchita karma transmigrate again in the causal body until more prarabdha karma is formed for another life.
Liberation (moksa or moksha) is freedom from karma. In a liberated person (jivamukti), sanchita karma is burnt up, the last prarabdha karma is being experienced in this lifetime and no more agami karma is produced. At death, there is no more karma left to be burned, so the person is no longer reborn.
Despite what the karma doctrine may hold, good actions do not always lead to positive results and bad actions do not necessarily have negative outcomes. Countless volunteers have lost their lives while helping others, and crime has paid off for many. Moreover, it implicitly supports the view of an eternal separate individual self which is maya. Therefore, the doctrine of karma in its popular interpretation is misleading.
According to the yogic worldview, the nature of Brahman is reproduced like a fractal in the universe through the process of sacrifice, which is a non-linear deterministic process akin to chaos theory. Considering that the individual soul is nothing other than a transient state of Brahman’s manifestation, karma and reincarnation, in their popular interpretation, are views that are in contradiction with the nature and the workings of the universe. However, karma carries an important esoteric meaning when considered within the boundaries of one’s life.
In this revised view, the law of action and reaction holds that one’s actions bear consequences to the environment, others and oneself. The law of consequences says that these consequences are partly immediate and partly long term. The law of retribution proclaims that the results of an action are nonlinear. This means that although one may anticipate a certain result from a given action, the effective result can be totally different than what was expected.
In the revised karma doctrine, one’s initial potential is established at birth by bio-psycho-social determinants as expounded in Ayurveda. This initial potential represents prarabda karma.
One’s existence is typically characterized by long periods of stable and predictable periods punctuated, from time to time, by major crises. Living during stable and predictable periods of time represents a “life”. In the course of a “life”, one acquires new knowledge and gains new experiences. This learning represents agami karma. The quality of this learning is dependent on one’s decisions. The major crises experienced from time to time represent many “deaths”. Each “death” leads to a “reincarnation” into another “life” thus forming the “cycle of rebirth”.
The potential of the individual in a new “life” always depends on past learning acquired up to the time of the last “death”. The sum total of one’s learning up to the time of the last “death” represents sanchita karma, which is also prarabdha karma for the “life” to come.
In other words, for as long as one is alive, agami karma acquired during a “life” is added to sanchita karma from the previous “lives” to form prarabda karma for the next “life”. At the time of physical death, sanchita karma is the sum total of one’s learning acquired during one’s lifespan.
Moksa is detachment from one’s wants and haves. It does not mean that an individual should not experience wants or that these wants should not be fulfilled. Nor does it mean that an individual should not have possessions. What detachment means is that, if a want surfaces, one is indifferent to whether that want is fulfilled or not. When something is possessed, it means to be indifferent if it is lost. By being detached, one can transcend the individual self, identify with the whole and meaningfully engage the world thus playing an effective part in Brahman’s Lila. By adhering to the practice of yoga as developed in the Hindu scriptures, moksa can be attained.
When we identify with our instruments (mind, intellect, ego, senses), we perceive ourselves as being distinct from our surroundings. Seeing the body transforming during its lifetime, we assume that its life started at birth and will end at death. In light of the yogic cosmology, birth and death are an illusion.
Human life must not be considered solely within the window delineated by the birth and death of the human body but rather within the boundaries of the holistic universe. According to Hindu wisdom, everything found in the cosmos emerged from Brahman at creation and will remain within the confines of the universe until its dissolution.
Through sacrifice, entities within the cosmos are organized and re-organized in an endless process of transformation. The corollary in physics is a law stating that in the universe nothing is created, nothing is lost and everything is transformed. These endless transformations within the cosmos never compromise the integrity of Brahman. In fact, they are a direct result of its intrinsic dynamic nature. Considering that humans share Brahman’s essence, life is nothing but a transient state of Brahman’s manifestation. Given that Brahman is omnipresent, so are humans.
Yves Panneton
CYA RYT Gold