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“"Surely if living creatures saw the results of all their evil deeds, they would turn away from them in disgust. But selfhood blinds them, and they cling to their obnoxious desires. They crave pleasure for themselves and they cause pain to others; when death destroys their individuality, they find no peace; their thirst for existence abides and their selfhood reappears in new births. Thus they continue to move in the coil and can find no escape from the hell of their own making."
- Gautama Buddha

Very often, especially when some thing goes gravely wrong, we conclude that the bad tide is the result of our ‘karma’. A gambling addict, who loses every earthly possession, blames it on ‘karma’. An attorney who wins a case in the Court of Law credits it to his expertise but if he loses, he blames it on his client’s (not his) ‘karma’. It is the same attitude with doctors. A burglar who gets caught in the act and ends up in prison blames it on ‘karma’. Here the burglar is referring to the act of getting caught and not the burglary itself. The list goes on. If the great Himalayas was a punching bag called ‘karma’, it would have crushed into pieces a long time ago with all the blame human kind attributes to ‘karma’ for its’ failures. We have just made ‘karma’ an easy way out for our moral failures.

Recently, I embarked on a quest to find  the true meaning of ‘karma’. The search was never meant to be a deep journey into spirituality or religion but only to find out the true meaning or essence of ‘karma’. I began listening to the lectures of visiting swamis at temples and other venues. Since they claim to be the learned people, I was very confident they would be able to put an end to my search. Alas!!! It didn’t happen that way. The more I listened to them, the more I got confused. 

Any way, why have many of the spiritual and religious leaders tagged the word ‘Ananda’ to their names, which translates to ‘happiness? ‘Swami Agnana Ananda’, ‘Swami Shivas Ananda’, ‘Swami Chardene Ananda’ etc. Is it because they are truly happy (ananda) all the time? To me, most of them look like lost children or they are in search of something, like prospective donors to fund their pet projects in India. They rarely smile or crack a joke at these events. Nope…I was not convinced these swamis are ‘ananda’ at all. 

May be I was wrong. Maybe they are in fact truly happy (ananda). Sure, they could be happy at all the times. They don’t have any bills to pay. Come April 15th, they don’t have any tax returns to file or fear any unanticipated IRS audits. More importantly, they don’t have to deal with the daily challenges brought on by teenage children at home. At the end of the day, when the ‘ananda swami’ returns home, he doesn’t have a ‘swamini’ waiting to nag him about how neglected she feels due to his day long absence or other sundry matters. Not having to deal with any ‘swamini’ at home alone should be a reason for the swami to be ‘ananda’ all the time.

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"We have just made ‘karma’ an easy way out for our moral failures. "

If karma truly reflects deeds of your previous life, how could you find out what you were in your previous life? Assuming, even if there is a way to find out about your previous life, how could it help you in this life? What if you found out that you were a frog in your previous birth and was swallowed in one gulp by an ugly snake (not that it would make any difference, even if that snake was pretty)? How would that help you in this life other than in making you terribly afraid of snakes or a long rope in the darkness? What if you found out that you were a king with several beautiful wives in the previous life but are driving a cab for a living in this life? Don’t you think that would drive you into severe depression? As Mahatma Gandhi said, "It is nature's kindness that we do not remember past births. Life would be a burden if we carried such a tremendous load of memories."

Come to think of it, why would they repeatedly write in our mythology and puranas that such and such king lived very happily with several wives? I know, many of you would secretly confess, living with just one wife it self is not all that fun, but is rather a challenge! 

Most of you must have heard about ‘bad karma’ and ‘good karma’. Now you can learn about ‘Instant Karma’ from ‘Swami Narenderananda’, (that’s me.), a self-confessed ignoramus about scriptures and religion.

‘Instant Karma’ is not a difficult concept. This is what we generally understand to be ‘karma’. If you slap a big burly man, he immediately slaps you back, thereby returning your deed. When man is thirsty, he drinks water and quenches his thirst. When he is hungry; he eats to satisfy his feelings of hunger. All these are examples of ‘Instant Karma’ where you immediately enjoy/suffer the fruit of your action. This concept could teach us to believe that it takes courage to face one's own shortcomings and wisdom to do something about them. It could teach us that committing deeds that benefit us, but at the cost of hurting others would haunt us in this life alone and that we do not need to wait till our next birth for punishment. This notion should suffice to deter us from selfish thoughts and deeds. Belief in ‘Instant Karma’ ought to make our life pure, strong, serene and enjoyable. 

Note: If my column offends you, blame it on your ‘karma’ that made you to read it!!

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