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There are three types of karma: Sañcit Karma, Prārabdha Karma, and Kriyamāṇa Karma. Sañcit Karma is like a huge bag full of karmic seeds. These are the many, many karmas we created in previous lives. We may have lived in many different countries and social roles, creating many different types of karmas. This is altogether too much to work through in one life. I call them karmic seeds because every seed has a very specific character. It is already clear within the seed what kind of plant will grow from it. But as long as it remains a seed, nothing actually happens. We cannot experience this entire huge bag in one life. This karma is part of our astral, our subtle bodies. Fortunately, we are not directly confronted with it all at once; that would not be possible. It is as if a hand goes into this bag and takes out only one handful of seeds. This handful now designs our life. This one handful, which is active for this life, is called Prārabdha Karma. In English, we would call it destiny. This is what you can actually get information about. For example, astrology is simply a method to analyze our Prārabdha Karma, and there are many other methods as well. So you can find out something about the quality and type of karmas we have for this life. There is a big "but": even if you know, it is still valid. Even if you know a certain karma is coming, it will still come. Astrology cannot change it, but through yoga practice we can actually influence it. We will come to this point later. To be clear: this one handful of Prārabdha Karma is the old karma that becomes active in this life. Both the huge bag of Sañcit Karma and the Prārabdha Karma are old karma. That means karma we have already created earlier, and now we are only dealing with the effects coming back. The Sañcit Karma is like inactive old karma, and the Prārabdha Karma is slowly, one by one, becoming active in this life. Now comes a simple question: who decides which seeds come into the hand? As I said, it is as if some hand goes into this bag and selects something. But when, where, how? This happens in the moment of death. Death is like the essence of our life. That which was most important to us in our whole life will also surface in our last thoughts when we have to leave this life. If your whole life you were busy hoarding money, then definitely this thought will come: who will get it now? Basically, you can say it is like an application: "Oh, I would like not to leave it, or at least to get it back." So now it is an application to God. And God says, "Okay, approved." But then you have to come back. So our desires are the reason for reincarnation, and the desires are the result of our karmas. If you were busy with your family all your life, these thoughts come in the last moment. It is basically like an application to God: "Please let me meet these souls again." And God says, "Okay, approved," and next life you come together again. This can, if we knew all of it, cause many complications. Therefore, Swāmījī says sometimes it is good that we do not know what was in the last life. So you can say, what was most important for me, as a last attachment, will come up in the last moment. Practically, it means to continue a learning process. We are busy with something, and we have not yet learned our lesson, so now we have the longing to continue. You can say reincarnation is also a mercy, that we are granted the chance to continue our learning process in another life. But that means a concrete learning process. Everyone is in different learning processes; therefore, everyone has different karmas and different destiny. We said this handful of seeds is for one life. To be very clear, this is limited, this is counted. Karma is not endless, and also every single seed is clearly defined. What is the character of this karma? How strong is it, and how long will it last? Then it is over. So there is also no endless karma. Only, we always react and create new karma, and then it feels endless. But in reality, it is a chain. Every karma has a special character, which means also a special time when it becomes active. Some karmas become active right in the beginning. But we must go one step back about the question: why are we born? There is a common understanding: a couple has sex, an embryo is there, and now it is like searching for a soul to enter. That is wrong. Swāmījī says clearly, first is the karma, and then comes actually the birth of a child. He says in Hindi: first the Prārabdha Karma was created, and then the body. That is a very important point, because it means there is no incarnation by mistake. There is not a body which suddenly got the wrong soul. No, first is the karma, and then actually the body is created. So that we are born is already a result of karma. If there were not this karma, the birth would not happen. All the circumstances of the birth are also a result of the karma. These are the first seeds which sprout immediately: for example, if you are born as a boy or girl, in which country, in which kind of family—a rich or poor family, a spiritual or worldly family. Also physically, if you are maybe handicapped mentally or physically. So many, many things are already decided right in the beginning, and that is all karma. There is no mistake in karma. Now comes a very strong point: there is also no mistake with our family. The relation to our father and mother is the strongest karmic relation of all. No one has a wrong father or a wrong mother. I know that is a statement which is not easy to swallow for everyone. I remember many years ago I gave a lecture in a seminar. Swāmījī was present. Afterwards, some people asked Swāmījī about that: "Gajananda said that our father and mother are a result of karma. Is this true?" Swāmījī simply said, "Yes. I know it’s not easy to swallow that." Because not all of us have nice memories from our childhood. Maybe you were neglected, beaten, or even abused. Many things happened in our childhood, and these are very important impressions. Especially the first three years, it is like we are psychologically created at that time. These are impressions which last for our whole life. So that is not so easy for everyone to accept. But the point is simply, we are here to learn. Everyone is in different learning processes. So we are here experiencing karmas according to that which we have to deal with in our life. Already as a child, we are given certain topics. This is a question which is always discussed in therapy. You are an adult and have certain problems. You go to a therapist, and you find out, oh, it was some event in my childhood. And now you know who is guilty: your father, your uncle. And then this anger is in you. Remember the story of the thief. In the moment when it is stolen from him, he gets angry because he cannot see the connection between his acts and what comes to him. Anger is not the right reaction. The search for who is guilty is stupid. The law of karma always confronts us with ourselves. No one is guilty. Simply cross out the word guilt from your dictionary. Always, there is action and reaction. Cause and effect, that is all. So selfish acts cause suffering, and selfless acts cause positive experience. When you find out my problems, which I have now, go back to some experience I had in my childhood. Something happened with my parents. Then you have to go one step further. The simple question: why do I have these parents, and others have other parents? This is my individual karma. That means now, what is it actually that I have to learn? What kind of karma may have caused these experiences to happen in my childhood, which influenced me till now? This is the question we should always ask ourselves. The law of karma teaches us always to ask the question: what should I learn? What do I have to develop? What do I have to purify? In this way, suddenly your whole life becomes very interesting. There are no good and bad experiences anymore, but simply the question: what do I have to learn in this and that situation? When you look back in your life, in which situations do you think that you most spiritually developed? Was it situations where everything was peaceful, calm, and you were happy? These are mostly those periods in which we get lazy, and we tend to forget or neglect our past. Who thinks of God if there is no problem? But when there is war, then the churches are full. Suddenly everyone thinks of God, thinks of the essence of life. So, looking back, mostly we realize the demanding, challenging situations in life are actually those in which we develop most. When we understand the law of karma deeply, it changes our view on our life. We simply accept our life as it is. Whatever happens in our life, all important things which happen are simply a result of our own karma. And this is exactly right: this is my karma. The karma wants to teach me something. If I always go against this, then it becomes complicated. But if I am really open and try always to understand what I should learn, what I should develop, then it becomes smooth. Then also, seemingly negative experiences suddenly have their value. So when you look at your childhood and you have some negative experiences, from another point of view you will say, "Ah, this is actually what was given to me to develop." You can say our parents are actually the first karmic partners. They give us exactly these experiences which we need to have according to our karma. Because this is their karmic role. So however it was, good or bad, we should simply thank them that they did the seva to us. And then we should think, what do I have to learn? This is now slowly, slowly going through our life. Who were our family members, friends? Then later, our school teachers, our comrades. And very important, our partners. 99% of our partnerships are simply karmic continuation. Partnership is a wonderful way for spiritual development. In partnership, we learn something together. And this process is now not finished. So it has to be continued, very simple. So you come again together in new forms, in new bodies, and continue your learning process. I can say myself, before I became Swami, I also had some partnerships. In one case, we both really found out the karma which brought us together. It was so interesting because I found it out. I said, "How do I say to her?" And when I told her, she said, "Ah, did you also finally find it out?" I found it out, and I confessed to her, and then her reaction was that she said, "Ah, also finally you found out." That means she had found out already earlier. I remember we were then once sitting afterwards in a Chinese restaurant. There were many tables, and on every table were sitting two. We were a little bit smiling and said, "You see, they don’t know yet why they are together, but we know." Interestingly, you see, this karma becomes like a magnet, pulling together. When you have learned your lesson, then this magnet loses its power. And then, quite soon actually, we separated, but in a harmonious way. Afterwards, she married, had two children, and divorced. This is now already nearly 30 years ago, and still we have a loose friendship relationship. You see, when you solve this karmic point, then the quality of your relationships also changes. Now, in summer, she again organized a yoga program for me in Germany, but there is no attachment anymore, no desire anymore; it is just a loose friendship, like I can have with everyone of you. When we carefully observe our life, we will feel where the karma is always active. And if you want to learn self-inquiry meditation, then you have so much stuff. Do not search for anyone who is guilty. Do not refuse any life situation as bad. Always look at what I can learn. Every life situation is a chance to develop. And then suddenly we realize the value of our life. So there is nothing anymore boring. Now we come to another, not easy, point. We said in the beginning, some seeds are active already. Then, in the course of time, every seed has its own character. More and more seeds become active, and that means we experience something. So you can say this is our karmic life plan. Every experience we have is like taking one seed out of the hand. So this handful of Prārabdha Karma is actually slowly emptying. Not 100%—I simplify it a little bit, because also some karmas which we create now we are experiencing already soon in this life. So we are still adding something in between, so some complications always, but the basic life plan is coming one day to an end. And then there are five seeds left: four, three, two, one. And what is then? This is the natural time of death. We said there is nothing wrong with the birth. No one is born by chance. There is nothing wrong with all the karmas which we experience in our life. And there is nothing wrong with the time when we die. When someone dies, simply his life plan, his karmic plan, has come to a natural end. It is like you go into a theater, and there are five acts, and at the end of the fifth one, the curtain is closing, and you say, "More, more..." But there is no more. They will only say, "You are welcome. You can come tomorrow again to the theatre, then we play the next one." Practically, the life plan for this life is over; it is fulfilled. But still, there is this big Sañcit Karma. So that may be continued in the next life, or not—that is a question. When we understand the law of karma deeply, we will have to accept death. Which again is not so easy when a relative dies, a friend dies, someone who is really dear to you, and you are crying. Now we have to be honest: why are we crying? Because we are suffering. In reality, nothing is wrong for that soul which left. When the life plan is fulfilled, what should the soul do more here? So we must be honest and say, when I cry when someone dies, it is actually a little bit my own selfishness. If we really love someone, then we should say what is best for this person, for this soul. When the karmic life plan is fulfilled, logically the best is that the soul can go on. So, another practical consequence of the understanding of the law of karma: do not try to hold on to someone who is leaving. Do not make obstacles for the soul which wants to go on. It is like a ship is in the harbor, and it wants to start to sail. It starts already, but one rope is still holding it. And that is your attachment. So our attachment to a person who is dying can become a real problem for the person. It can make it hard, actually, to go. Do not forget, this mental karma, manas, is also very strong. So when we really love that person, we should wish for what is best for this soul, and we should, in a loving way, say, "Please go, go on into the light." So instead of holding on to that person who is dying, we should give all our love to go on. When we understand the law of karma deeply, it can change many things practically in our life. This is now all about our old karma. Let me stop a moment. So now we come, of course, to the most important part: this is our fresh karma, what we do now. The old karma, this Prārabdha Karma, is giving the stage in which we are acting. We cannot change that stage. The life conditions in which we are born and many, many things which we experience in our life, we simply have to accept. But now it is our choice how we act in these conditions. So the old karma is done, but the new karma is not yet done. This is in our hands. And here we have a responsibility. Now we come to another very important point, which I did not mention yet. Who actually can create karma? When I became vegetarian, my father, who was not vegetarian, always said, "But look at the nature, lions are also killing." So, what is wrong if I eat meat? So, what is our thought about that? What is the basic difference between animals and humans? Animals have no chance to decide. Animals are actually following their instinct, so they have no choice. And because of that, they have no responsibility. Now, surely animals also act. So if we understand karma just as an act, then we can say, okay, animals are also acting. And if a lion comes and hunts you, it is a strong act. But in the strict sense, it is not karma. Because he is just following his nature. But when we behave like a lion, then it is our karma because we have the choice, we have the buddhi, the intellect, and therefore we have the responsibility, and therefore also we can actually learn and develop. And there is a final result of that: we can get God-realization. Animals are limited; they cannot. Just to understand the concrete difference: if a mosquito comes and stings you, and you let it do it, now there are two karmas: the mosquito and you. But the mosquito followed just his nature. It is his nature to sting. So there is nothing wrong with the mosquito stinging you. But if you now kill the mosquito, that is your karma. You also could try in another way to get rid of the problem. So, to be clear, when a lion is hunting and killing, it is not his bad karma. And when a cow is eating grass and living vegetarian, it is not her good karma. It is simply no karma. Or, Swāmījī in one seminar in Vilach, when he spoke about that, he simply said, "The karma of the animals is going directly to God, because He created them like that." So, be clear, the law of karma, about which we are speaking now the whole time, is actually, in this strict sense, only valid for humans. In other life forms, what we say, the cycle of life and death, birth and death in many forms, we only experience the fruit of karmas, but we are not creating karmas, and we can also not purify karmas. And this is also valid for what we call heaven, Devaloka. In Devaloka, you experience good karma. But you are not liberated, and unfortunately, you cannot do anything for your liberation. Therefore, it is like a dead-end road; it is like a trap. Therefore, our aim is not Devaloka. Our aim is Brahmaloka, liberation. And the only exit is from human life. Only here we can purify karmas. Only here can we learn, develop, and get liberation. So the law of karma tries to teach us to live very aware. Aware of what we are acting, not only what we are doing, but also our motivation is very important. Because this mind is already an important part of karma, and Swāmījī simply tries to teach us to think about the consequences and the character of karma before the act. As Vāmitjī always says, as long as you have a stone in your hands, it is under your control. But once you have thrown it, you cannot run behind and catch it. Or an arrow which you have shot, it is gone. So whatever may be the result of this—if now, for example, a glass breaks or a child is dying—it is already done. So we have to think in time about the consequences. So this is the point of this Kriyamāṇa Karma, this fresh karma which we are doing now all the time. Somehow, this is the most important part because this is in our hands. And of course, this includes also our spiritual path. It includes our sādhanā, it includes our following a master and a certain teaching. So here is now actually the spiritual road as a part of the karma. As Swāmījī always used to say, our present is according to our past. But our future will be according to our present. That means the destiny which we are experiencing now is a result of old karma. We cannot change it anymore. We should simply accept it, but what will be in the future is still in our hands. But there is now another point. We speak now about the result of karma as a future result. When we look at it a little bit deeper, we realize karma has results not only in the future. It has results in the future, in the present, and even in the past. How do I mean results in the present? Let’s say you get angry at someone, and this anger builds up, and then you beat the other person. So now, definitely something has happened, and as a future result of that, it may happen that the person beats you back. Or if he died, maybe you have to go to prison or whatever. But this is only one aspect of what may happen and will happen. But before he experiences a beat from you, you experience already something: the anger that was in you. The first who was affected by your anger is not the other, but you, yourself. It means we affect ourselves first, and this has a real effect. Now, let’s say someone is a smoker. Is anyone born as a smoker? I guess not. So, definitely, there was a first one, the first cigarette which you smoked. So, this first cigarette was some single karma. But now it was tasty, and out of that came the second, and the third. So then after some weeks or months or so, you became a smoker. That means this single cigarette had not only the effect that it now made a bad smell for others, but it had an effect first on you, yourself. You experienced it, and it had an effect: I want more. So then you started to repeat this act, and out of that, after some time, came a habit. And now suddenly something changed. Now you are a smoker, but before you were not. That means that is the result. What I mean is, in the present, we influence ourselves through every act, and this is again neutral. It can also be a positive act. I remember, for example, I had one girlfriend, and I was at that time a little bit stingy, not so giving. I just had bought a bag of oranges, and I was sitting in the garden with two or three friends, and she came and saw the oranges. In a book, one for you, one for you, one for you. And first I was a bit offended, like she is giving away my oranges, but then I saw how they loved it, and how good it was that one created a good atmosphere. And then later, I started to imitate her until it became also my nature, just giving, so not always holding on. So also, positive things we can develop just through a single act. This is the first time. So, a single act of karma has the tendency to multiply, and we actually develop a habit. Now, according to our lifestyle, we develop a whole group of habits which are somehow all connected. For example, a thief has a certain lifestyle consisting of many thief habits. So it means all these together actually become our character. Means now we have the next step. We have developed through our karmas a certain character, and this is actually then, how to say, the direction of our life. As Swāmījī used to say, character is the second nature of man. It is very hard to change that, but we have developed it. And every single act can actually change something. And this is also that, at the end of our life, according to our character, certain thoughts come, and this designs our future incarnation. So, karma acts also in the present. It has direct effects on myself. From single acts come repeated acts. Then they become habits, and all together they become our character, our nature. Now comes a very interesting point: how karma can also influence our past. That means how our present karma can, at least partially, also influence our old karmas. Part 2: ### The Law of Karma: A Story and Its Deeper Meaning I must correct a little of what I said before. I said old karma is done and we can just accept it. Generally, that is right, but there is a slight modification. Instead of a lot of theory, I will tell a story, and then you will understand. It is a classical story, about 500 years old, from the time of Guru Nānak, the founder of Sikhism. Guru Nānak was traveling, giving satsaṅgs. When he came to one village, two of his disciples, who were friends, decided to go to the satsaṅg every afternoon. They started together, but on the way, one changed his mind. He told his friend, "I forgot I have some business today." Only one went to the satsaṅg; the other went to a prostitute, for that was his business. In the evening they met, and the one who went to the prostitute also heard a little about the master from his friend. The next day they started together again, but again one changed his mind, and only one went to the satsaṅg. This happened day after day for several days. Then, one day, something special occurred. The man who always went to the prostitute found her house locked; she was not home. So, he went home, bored, waiting for his friend. At that time, 500 years ago, houses were clay huts. He was sitting with a stick in his hand and, out of boredom, made a little hole in the ground. Suddenly, there was a sound. He thought, "What’s that? There must be something underground." He got interested and started digging. He found something: a round pot, which in India we call a maṭkā, used for keeping water cool. Such a maṭkā was buried under his hut, and he never knew about it. Carefully, he took it out. It had a lid, so he opened it and saw a piece of gold. He got greedy, thinking, "Oh, a whole pot full of gold!" He took it out, but underneath the one piece of gold, everything else was only pieces of coal. Still, he was very happy with at least one big piece of gold. He waited for his friend, eager to tell him, but his friend did not come at the usual time. When his friend finally arrived, he was limping and suffering, with blood coming from his leg. The first man asked, "What happened?" The friend replied, "You know that dark street where I always go? A branch from a sawney tree broke down." In India, sawney trees have thorns that can be up to five centimeters long. He had stepped on one. It was very painful and bleeding, and every step was painful as he came home. Then the wounded man saw his friend was smiling and asked, "What happened to you?" The first man told the story of finding the gold. Both were completely confused. They knew about the law of karma. They thought: the one who goes to the prostitute gets a reward, a piece of gold, and the one who always goes to the satsaṅg gets, as a reward, a wound from a thorn. That’s not fair. Where is the karma? They said, "Tomorrow we must ask our master. Something is wrong with the law of karma." The next day was the first time they really went together. They asked the Master, and Guru Nānak smiled. A guru is called a Trikāla Darśī, one who can see the past, present, and future. Have you ever thought how he can see that? It is because he sees the fine bodies; he sees the karma. Karma is vibration in our fine bodies. Once he expressed it humorously: "Oh, my disciples, they are all vegetarian, but in some auras I see some fishes swimming." He indicated very clearly that he can see our acts, our karmas. The master can see which karmas we have created. He can see how these karmas have effect now as pralapta karma in our present life situation. And he can also see which karmas are still going to come—that part of our karma which is not yet active but will become active. This explains many acts of the guru. Because he sees which karma is ahead of us, he tries to help us, to save us. One Swāmījī expressed it very dramatically in a seminar: "You don’t know which karma is ahead of you. There may certainly be such a karmic storm which completely blows off the fire of your jijñāsu." Jijñāsu means a spiritual seeker. Something may come which actually takes us off from our spiritual path, and then we lose the chance. Many acts of the guru are understandable from this point of view. He tries to guide us in a way that we purify these karmas which are ahead, so that we reduce them. When we come to that point, let’s say in 10 years, and this karma becomes active, instead of a big stone which would kill us, it’s just a small stone, and we go on. The tricky part is that the guru doesn’t explain that. So if you follow and you have no problems, you will never know why you had no problems. But if you don’t follow, and you have the problems, then you are suffering. And maybe you have doubts in the guru: why didn’t he protect me? He tried, but we didn’t follow. That’s the point. A Trikāl Darśī can see the origin of the karma, how it acts now, and what is still ahead. That explains, for example, the importance of our Anuṣṭhāna seminars—when we do Mantra Anuṣṭhāna or Kriyā Anuṣṭhāna. It is actually meant to be an intense time of sādhanā to purify future karmas. Now, back to the story with Guru Nānak. Guru Nānak was a Trikāldarśī, so he could see the karmic reason for what happened. He first spoke to the one who had gone to the prostitute and found the gold. He said, "You had been in a previous life very generous, always giving and supporting others. Once you gave a big piece of gold as a donation to a temple or ashram." According to the law of karma, karma usually comes back not one-to-one, but multiplied. Because you gave one piece of gold, it was your karma that you found this whole pot full of gold. This was waiting in the underground of your hut until one day you would find it. "But now, when you had the chance to come to the satsaṅg, you misused it and went to the prostitute. It was such a selfish karma that every day when you went to her, one piece of gold turned into coal. If on the last day she also would have been at home, then the last piece also would have gone. But the law of karma is, you can never completely lose your old karmas. So at least one piece had to remain. That’s why, on the last day, she was not at home. This is the remaining karma from your big karma which you had. So be happy, and that’s now over." Then he turned to the other man, who had always come to the satsaṅg but had got the wound in his foot. He became much more serious. "You know, in a previous life, you had been a very cruel and selfish ruler. You were taking so much money from the people, you were taking everything, and everyone was hating you. It was your karma in this life that you would suffer a lot, and in the end you would be killed by a sword. But now in this life, you have come on the spiritual path, and very devoted, you came every day to the satsaṅg. Through this and your sādhanā, most of your old karma is already purified, but something always remains, and that was now this thorn. So instead of this sword which was to kill you, now it was just this thorn in your foot. Some days of pain, and then it will be good." I think this story makes it a lot clearer how, through our present karma, we also influence our old karma—but in a limited way, so we cannot completely destroy that, neither positive nor negative. This purification may be very important for our spiritual life. So our karma has not only effect in the future; it also influences us and our personality directly now, and it can even purify some old karmas now. We have to come to the most important point now: how can we get rid of all karmas? In the beginning, we spoke about this sumptuous karma, this big bag of karmic seeds, and we said we are happy that we do not have to deal with this, but only with one handful, and that’s enough for us. We are quite busy with this. But what is now, even in the positive case? Still, then there is this big bag of karmic seeds, enough for many, many future incarnations. Here now comes yoga into play, or a spiritual path, or a spiritual sādhanā. Our yoga sādhanā is actually purification of karmas. First, we learn to accept the old karma. Then we learn how to avoid new complications through bad, selfish karmas which we create now. And then the guru teaches us techniques to purify our old karmas. What are the techniques to purify old karmas? Kriyā? Mantra? Positive thinking? Yes, everything is right. Basically, our whole yoga sādhanā is actually meant as a purification of karmas. Only we must be careful that, while we purify one part, we do not create another part. This is actually not so easy to avoid, because we have to act every moment. We can’t act without acting. The main technique is actually mantra and kriyā. But interestingly enough, one thing you didn’t mention, which is very obvious, is karma yoga. Karma yoga means, practically, a positive application of the law of karma. Usually we act unconsciously and selfishly. But now, when we know that we create a certain character of karma, we can change that. Karma yoga means now purposely I do something for others. I do something from which I personally have no benefit. But karma yoga is also tricky. Because now you know karma yoga is good to purify my karmas, so I will do a lot of karma yoga to purify a lot of karmas. So what is that? Selfish motivation—so already, karma yoga is spoiled. Karma yoga is actually when you just do, and you don’t have any specific motivation for that. It’s just like your nature. You always do, you always give, you always help. There is something deeper also. A single act of karma yoga can help us to develop our personality in that direction. So also here, it’s not about a single act—like a single cigarette doesn’t make a smoker—but it is like an attitude in life: always to be there for others and not to think, "What benefit do I have from that?" or "What will you pay me?" So, you can use karma yoga as an attitude in life. And the greatest karma yogī is the guru. He came here in this life only to help us, to serve us, because he has no karma that would force him to be here. Only we, the call of our soul, called him here. Let’s come to the end of the point. We have now collected many techniques through which we can work on the karma. Which is specifically important? Future karmas, which are in this life, are waiting for us already to polish and to reduce. But still, we have this huge bag of karmic seeds with which we are actually not interacting directly. We are not confronted with that; it’s just theoretical. So now, how to get rid of that? These seeds—seed in Sanskrit is called bīja—these are karmic bījas. When we achieve through our sādhanā higher states of consciousness, we come to concentration, meditation, samādhi. In samādhi, there is no time and space anymore. One important condition for karma is that it is active only in time and space. We say, now it has an effect; we will have this. So without time and space, no karma. In samādhi, there is no time and space. That means, in the higher state of consciousness, you are beyond the karmas. You know from Swāmījī the teaching about the different stages of samādhi: basically the temporary experiences which are called Savikalpa or Sabīja Samādhi. That means there are still some thoughts, some desires, and some seeds. Here we have the word "bīja" again—the seed, the karmic seeds. So there are some temporary samādhi experiences in which our karmic seeds are still there. But when you reach the higher state of samādhi, which is called nirvikalpa samādhi or nirvija samādhi—no desires anymore, no thoughts anymore, or no seeds anymore—that is actually the final mokṣa. These seeds are now removed. Or, to be more precise, Swāmījī used to say they are like roasted. It’s still there, but it’s not anymore dangerous. When you take seeds from a tree and we roast them and put them in the earth, nothing will happen. Therefore, it’s said the fire of yoga is burning all the karmic seeds. So all our sādhanā is aiming in that direction. But the final mokṣa is actually in nirvikalpa or nirvija samādhi. Then these seeds are not anymore dangerous. And don’t forget, karma is the origin of reincarnation. When there are now no karmic seeds anymore, then there is no incarnation anymore. So with this, we are automatically free from the cycle of birth and death. Then we go to Brahmaloka, but we may come back—only from our free choice. Then we would come back as an avatāra. This is actually the Guru Pūrṇimā Saṅkalpa. Remember what Swamijī gave us last July: that we should go on our spiritual path with full devotion to the Guru to achieve Mokṣa in this life, or at least at the end of this life, and then to make the Saṅkalpa to come back as a saint, as an Avatāra. But he says it to all his disciples. That means it would be like a mass incarnation of many, many saints here on the earth for a very specific purpose: to transform this Kali Yuga into the next Satya Yuga, to bring this suffering of the earth to an end. This is a huge task which Swamījī puts ahead of us, but when he gives us this task, he gives us also the blessing. We should never underestimate that. I am somehow at the end. But if you want and still have energy, I have still one funny story for the end, also somehow serious, about one special aspect of karma which I think we usually don’t understand: why Swamiji and every master warns us actually to speak negatively about others. How often Swamiji says: don’t gossip or backbite, negatively talking about others. It feels so good for our ego, but from a karmic point of view, it’s not good. So there’s one story about one king. His name was Az. He was a very spiritual person, but he didn’t have a master. He did his sādhanā every morning, meditating. Afterwards, he had for one hour almsgiving to give donations. That means every beggar and every sādhu could come, and he would give him something. The people really respected and loved their king. He was leading a quite spiritual life. Now one sādhu came, but he came later; the hour of almsgiving was just over. The king was meanwhile with the horses in the horse shed, and he found the horses neglected and dirty, and he was quite angry. In that moment, the sādhu comes, very devout with his begging bowl, and he asked him for some food. The king, now in his angry mood, said, "You are coming too late. The hour of almsgiving is over. And you see where I am here with the horses. What should I give you?" Then he pointed down to a heap of horse apples. He looked at the ground and saw those horse balls and said, "Take that and go." The sādhu, very devoted, answered like he always answers, "I thank you very much, and may God give you back a hundred times." The king didn’t really listen to that. But next morning, in his morning meditation, he had a surprise. There was suddenly a big pile of horse apples, and he was shocked. Of course, the memory came. Then in his meditation, also the sādhu appeared. He had an inner discussion with the sādhu in the meditation, and he asked him, "What is that?" "Oh, this is yours. You were so gracious to give me some, so now it has come back. This is yours." The king said, "No, I don’t want that. No, no... You have to eat that, this is yours." The king didn’t want to accept, and he argued and said, "You must tell me, there must be some way out of that." Finally the sādhu said, "Yes, there is a certain chance." "Okay, tell me, what is it?" "If some people would speak negatively about you or think negatively about you, then they would have to take a part of that." So now, after the meditation, the king was thinking and made a plan. He ordered a chariot to come with horses, and he ordered the prostitute of the village to come, and he ordered a bottle of wine. The bottle was empty because everyone knew that the king was not drinking alcohol, and they put water inside. Then the king sat on the chariot together with the prostitute. In his hand, the bottle of wine, which was with water, and he drank and said, "So now let us go through the city, up and down through the streets." The people were looking: "Our king! Is drinking alcohol with a prostitute? What happened to him? He lost his spiritual path." In one hour, the whole village, everyone knew, everyone was talking about that. So, the next morning, the king sits again for meditation. This big heap had become much smaller, but still it was there. The king was not so happy, and again there was the sādhu, and he asked him. The sādhu said, "Yes, you know yesterday so many people were talking negative about you, so they all had to take a part of that." But the king said, "But there is still so much, something always remains. This is yours, no one will take it." The king didn’t want it; he said, "No, no... It must be a way." The sādhu said, "No, the law of karma is strict." But the king insisted, and then finally the sādhu said, "Okay, there is a theoretical chance, but I tell you clearly, practically it will not work." But still the king wanted to know. And he said, "If you would manage that a saint would speak negatively, then he would have to take the rest." That was a new idea. So after the meditation, now the king asked people, "Is there any saint in my village? I don’t know." They said, "Yes, yes, in the outskirts there is living a hermit, a saint, very, very respected." So again the king made a plan. In the evening, he got another dress so that no one should recognize him, and shaved his beard. Then, when it was already half dark, he went because he didn’t want anyone to see him going. He went to the place where the saint was living, and he very respectfully bowed down to him and greeted him. He said, "OK, you can come." According to the Indian tradition, he asked if he could wash his feet, and he allowed him to do that. So then, first he was washing the feet. While he was busy now with the saint, he tried to start some conversation. He said, "You know what? I have heard today about the king." The sādhu immediately stopped and said, "I am not interested in the king. These are worldly matters." So he had to stop and continued washing. Then he was drying the feet, and again he tried to start conversation. "And, you know, I have heard that the king was drinking alcohol." And the sādhu, the saint, said, "I told you already, I have no interest in the king." So again he had to stop. Then the feet were dry, and he started to give massage. He tried a third time, a little bit of talk. He said, "The worst thing is that he was sitting with a prostitute." Now the saint got really angry. He got up and said, "You go! Don’t think that I will eat your horse apples." I think it’s a nice end to understand a little bit why we shouldn’t backbite and not gossip about others. When we do, in fact, we help them because we take over some of their negative karmas onto our karma. That was it. I think our time planning was quite good. We sat till 7 or 8 o’clock, and it’s 2 minutes before 7. Any questions, any remarks from your side? Question: When somebody does something to her, but she doesn’t give back, but she forgives. Answer: You see, about giving, getting, and giving: whenever we give with love, in fact, we also give something from our karmas. And whenever you accept something, then actually you also accept some karma. So therefore, giving is always better. This is now especially in relation to the Master. When we give a dakṣiṇā to the master, or whatever, we give something to the master, and he accepts that. In fact, with this, he takes away part of our karmas. In our modern society, everyone wants us to have, have, have more and more, to collect and hoard. And this is one reason why there is so much suffering in the world. When we interact, someone is hurting someone, and it comes back. This is like a chain of karma. In the end, no one is happy about that. But when you can forgive, you can actually end one karma. So this is one of the best qualities which we can develop. Swamiji always says: accept, give, understand, accept and give. The best form of giving is forgiving. So this is a very good way to finish some karmas. Question: In other cities, I mean, I had this topic already in many cities, but somewhere you want this specifically. So this was now the first half of the lecture. Answer: No, the second half would be about dharma. These two topics, karma and dharma, belong very closely together. That means, for example, the dharma of a householder is different from the dharma of a sannyāsī. The dharma of a teacher is different from the dharma of a doctor. So now, if you follow your dharma, you create good karma. But if you don’t follow your dharma, then you create bad karma. So in this way, these two topics are very closely related. We will see. If you are interested, we could have another lecture about dharma at another point. Question: Even when somebody tries a lot in this life, that somebody may feel that the karma is still continuing, that still it’s not this. Or maybe it’s something continuing from the last life, or we have it in our thoughts. Or we try to purify it in this life, and we think we decide good. But maybe our decision is not good, but we think it is good. And it can be because, or it is that, in past times we decided and we were thinking it is good. But again, it was not good. Karma continues. Swamiji sometimes tells, it’s like not compromising, it’s long. Answer: I didn’t get exactly the point of what she wanted to ask, but I can guess. You see, karma has a certain character, a certain duration. And part of the karma is also that, for a long time, mostly we cannot understand that karma. For example, you are a meat-eater. Part of your karma is that you don’t understand what is wrong with it. So someone tries to explain to you, and you don’t listen. In my own case, it was like this. I was brought up as a meat-eater, and I remember some people always tried to talk to me, but I didn’t listen to them. That means part of the karma is that the mind is also blocked, and then at a certain stage, this is like a veil is going up and you see it. And then later, when someone told me, I said, "Why didn’t you tell me earlier?" Because it’s like we never heard it, but we did. So when karma comes more to the end, then actually we start to understand it. So this can sometimes explain why we don’t understand. This is a part of the karma, or we are afraid to change something. So now, you have enough material, I think, for your practical life. This goes really through every aspect of our life. Okay, thank you. But basically, I was only repeating what we all heard from Swāmījī. Only, I tried to compress it a little bit.