KARMA AND GRACE
There are three types of Karma : Past, Present and Future. Present
Karma must continue. It is like the carriage behind which is a trail
of dust. If the carriage stops, the dust will settle on it. A doubt
might be that the carriage cannot forever continue so as to be ahead
of its dust. But the carriage need not always travel on a dusty
road. It can get on the surface highway where there is no dust. The
highway is equivalent to the Grace of God. There is a difference
between the benefit of Grace and the benefit of the Bhakti, or
devotion. A patient with pain is given a sedative, which dulls the
pain. But Grace is an operation that does entirely away with pain.
Make no mistake; Grace does entirely away with Karma. It is like a
medicine which is labeled, `good until 1968'. If used in 1973, the
medicine is entirely ineffective. The body is the bottle, the karma
in the body is the medicine, God puts a date on the `medicine'; so
it is not effective.
(Taken form Sanathana Sarathi, April 1998)
WHAT IS DEATH?
The word `death' creates a fear psychosis, in the mind of human
beings. You tell a person that such and such person has died; it
will produce a wave of shock, in the mind of the listener. When
death occurs in the family, it is announced in the papers `SAD
DEMISE'. According to Author's own understanding, he explains
death as follows:
Death is re-union with God.
Death is like changing clothes and wearing new clothes.
Death is getting merged in God.
Death is to achieve Eternity.
Death is a realisation, that one is not the body, but the Atma
(soul).
Death is attaining a Blissful state (Sat-Chit-Ananda).
Death is to break all the ties that bind, and be permanently
released.
Death is the only certainty.
Death is understanding and experiencing the difference between the
transient and the permanent.
Anybody and everybody, who is born in this world, in any form, has
to meet with death sooner or later. Hence, death should be accepted
as boldly and cheerfully as we accept life. That will help us in
eliminating the fear of death, which has held most of us so tightly
in its grip that we can hardly breathe. In fact, any human being who
has taken a birth in this world may not be re-born again, if he
attains Moksha (Liberation) in this present life. But on the other
hand, each and every human being, who is born in this world, is
bound to die. So death is the only certainty.
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, has taken this human form, to
explain to the people and make them understand the secret of life
and death, by proclaiming that each and every human being,
irrespective of any caste, creed or colour, is the Atma (the Eternal
soul) and not the body, He further explains that the Atma does not
die. It is the body, which decays, and is declared dead, when the
Atma leaves it. The Atma is neither born, nor does it die, it ever
remains. On the other hand, the body, which is changeable, perishes
and dies. Anything, which is changeable, is not real. Anything,
which is permanent, is the truth. The Atma is permanent and Eternal.
Baba further explains the reason, why a person is reborn and the
Atma in his present body takes a new body. He says that Karma and
desire are the cause of the rebirth of man. The Atma takes a new
body for the sake of unfulfilled desires and in order to sort out
the balance of one's Karmic effects or the deeds done in many
previous lives. Until and unless man has sorted out all his Karmic
effects, he cannot be liberated and be free from the cycle of birth
and death. Baba says, "Man - Desire = God". Baba teaches us in
many ways, how to control our desires and be desireless. He
says, "The only desire one should have, is the desire to know
himself - that is who am I? Where have I come from? Where have I to
go? This will give one the self-realisation".
Baba says that mind is the cause of all the desires, and the cause
of the downfall of man. If one can learn the art of controlling the
mind properly, rather than taming the mind, one has won half the
battle. Unfulfilled desires give rise to anger, and anger boosts the
ego in man, and then man loses himself. Many times, Baba calls the
mind as `monkey-mind'. Baba says, "If you can make your mind a
die-mind, you can also shine like a diamond. He even gives a
therapy, how to make your mind a die-mind. He says, "If a person is
really dead, does it bother him, if he is being garlanded, or is
being beaten by chappals (Foot wear). He is not affected either way.
Similarly, while you are alive, let your mind not get agitated or
disturbed under any circumstances. Be calm and serene. Act like
a `sooka Patta' (a dried leaf), which is being pushed this way or
that way with every movement of the wind. This will enable you to be
the master of your mind and the mind will stop dictating to
you, instead it will start obeying you". Baba says, "Man's ego,
desires, attachments and sense perception to the worldly objects,
are the cause of man's bondage to the cycle of birth and death".
A scientist created a scientific luxurious cage, with all the
modern amenities, and put a number of mice, male and female inside
the cage, but deliberately kept the door of the cage open. He also
installed, two electrical gadgets, one of red colour and the other
of green. The mice while playing, if they touched the green colour
gadget, they got a piece of cheese, and if they touched the red
gadget, they got a shock. The mice were very happy in the cage,
dancing and playing and making merry, sometimes getting the cheese
and other times getting the shock. Surprisingly in spite the door of
the cage being open, none of the mice would attempt to get out of
the cage, to freedom!
The same is the fate of we human beings. We are so engrossed in
our day-to-day routine involvements, that we accept both happiness
and misery, but would not like to get out of this body prison to
free ourselves in spite of the fact that Baba is here and He has
kept the door open for us, to be liberated, yet we are clinging to
our bodies, love life immensely and are afraid of death. How foolish
of us!
Baba has given us two simple methods of getting Moksha
(Liberation) in this age of Kaliyuga. He says that Namasmarana
(reciting the name of the Lord) and doing Seva (service) to the
fellow beings (Manava Seva is Madhava Seva) will get us the required
liberation, in this present life itself. Let us take advantage of
Swami's assurance, and act as per His Will and Commandments and
earn His Grace, to win our coveted goal, Moksha (Liberation), which
is our sole purpose of being born as human beings.
(Taken form Sanathana Sarathi, April 1998)
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