TV Channel

Part 1: The Law of Karma: Our First Guru Hari Om, everybody. Hari Om, Śyām. I am very happy that so many have come for the lecture here today about karma and destiny. In my opinion, this is perhaps the most important topic on our spiritual path at all. That is why I also suggested inviting people from other cities, so that many have the chance. Let us go into silence a little bit and chant OM together. Svanvertitam Tare Kundrasistham Satgurum Tannamami Naham Prabhu. So, our topic is karma. You all have heard a lot about this from Swāmījī. I will just try to put it all together. We are here so that one can really understand how deeply it influences our whole life. We are here in this life, in this world, because of karma: to experience karma, to create karma, and to purify karma. Therefore, this world is also called Karma Bhūmi, the world of karma. And only here in this world can we create karma, and even only in this form as humans—we will come back on this point. But let us start systematically. What does karma actually mean? Karma comes from the Sanskrit root kṛ, and that means simply to act, to do something. We also know the word kriyā, which comes from the same root. So from the word, you can say karma and kriyā are somehow one and the same, though we usually use the word "kriyā" in the context of Kriyā Yoga or the Haṭha Yoga kriyās—simply to say, these are special techniques. But the word "karma" really is used in the right sense now, especially as the law of karma, the law of action and reaction. This is a general rule, you can say, a general law like the law of gravitation, which is valid everywhere and independent of whether you believe in it or not. Often, people hear others saying, "I don’t believe in karma." And I say, that doesn’t matter. Still, it works. You may also not believe that if you drop something, it will fall down and break, but it will. So simply, if you know about the law of gravitation, you can respect it and you have little problems. In the same way, when we deeply understand the law of karma, we can simply avoid a lot of troubles, a lot of suffering in our life. Karma is the one principle which governs our whole life, from birth until death. Now, how do we produce karma? It is said there are four ways to produce karma. In Hindi, it’s called tan, man, dhan, and bhajjan. The first is tan, our body, our physical body. So, just think about our daily activities, how we work now, especially with our hands, for example. So whatever you do physically, as physical work—even when you work on the computer, you use your fingers—also, when you kick someone with your foot. So all physical acts are, of course, karma. This is most obvious. But one aspect of this is very important. This is the vācan, what we speak. And part of speaking is also how we speak, our gestures, and our body expressions. So this can also create very strong karma. When I say strong karma, there is no judgment in this, in the sense of negative. You must understand these are general laws which have no judgment in them. Like the law of gravitation, everything falls down to the center; it falls down to the earth. And it doesn’t matter now for the law of gravitation if you drop a feather or if you drop some very precious vase and it breaks. In the same way, the law of karma says, whatever you act, it comes directly or indirectly back to you, independent of whether it is a positive or a negative act. Though, instead of positive and negative, it would be maybe better to say, what is our motivation? Our motivation is mostly always somehow selfish. We want something for us, maybe for our children, for our family, Purījī, or for our village, but this is always somehow directed to us. So this kind of karma will now come back often in a way that we don’t like so much. But when someone is always giving, always helping, always supporting, as Swāmījī says, these are the human qualities, then also another type of karma comes back. So very simple. When someone is always taking from his friends but never actually thinking to share also, what will be his result, the karmic result? After some years, he will have no friends anymore, or very special friends. So that’s a self-created life situation in which he comes to. When he is old and feels lonely, he shouldn’t ask why. So the law of karma works in general for everyone without any exception. So now, when I said that with speaking we can create strong karma, that also works in both directions. If you express your appreciation of others, your love for others, your support of others, they will really be happy about that. But, let’s say, in a partnership, it comes to a conflict. Ten years you’re together, and it was very good. And suddenly, uncontrolled, you say a sentence: "I hate you. I always hated you." And in that moment, you realize what you said. And you stop and say, "Sorry, it was not meant like that." But you cannot undo that. You said it, so now the partner will forgive you. But as Swamījī says, it’s like a string which is broken and then connected. But there always remains a knot. This is his memory. And maybe ten years later, it comes to a similar situation, and then suddenly your partner will tell you, "Already at that time you told me that you hated me." So, uncontrolled actions and also uncontrolled words—what we speak—can create quite strong karma, lasting karma. But before we speak and before we act, there is always some moment of deciding. That means there is a moment when you are going to do it, but you haven’t done it yet. That means in your mind. This is the man, so the mental activities always precede. Also, this includes the emotions when you are angry or when you have real affection for someone. So these emotions themselves are already karma. It can happen, for example, it’s like boiling in you; the emotions are there, the mind is active, but then you control yourself. You can say, "I did nothing." That’s not true. The other person often can feel that and already reacts to that. So we must be aware that our mental activities are also creating strong karma. And if we look deeply, actually the effect of mental activities is stronger than the effect of physical activities. Just think of our mantra practice. You know the different steps of mantra practice. It starts with writing the mantra and chanting the mantra. These are physical activities, but this is not our main mantra practice. Our main mantra practice is mental repetition. Why? Simply because this is the most powerful. So mental activities are very strong, and we should be aware that already when you think something, you create some karma. So now we realize it is quite easy, actually, maybe to control physically my body so that I don’t beat someone, but not to be angry—that is another step, another story. It’s the same as in meditation. First, we have to master our physical body, then our breath, our energies, and then we come to the mind, to the meditation. And that is the most powerful technique, meditation. So we shouldn’t underestimate that. And then comes dhana. Dhan means, on one hand, money or wealth. For example, you want something to be done, but you don’t dare to do it yourself. But you give some money to someone, and something happens. And you say, "I didn’t do anything." But that’s not true. Without you giving the money, it wouldn’t have happened. It’s actually your karma. Of course, the other one also has karma, but the main karma goes to you. And the same is valid now with the power position. Let’s say you have an important position in some company, or you are a political leader, and now you give some order, and many people are affected by that. And that is your karma. It is your multiplied karma. And at this point, I usually always speak about Ahiṃsā. Now, I know that all of you are vegetarians, but when I give this lecture in public everywhere, it is a very important aspect of the law of karma. You see, when we eat meat, we don’t kill. A normal meat-eater is in the consciousness, "I never in my life killed anyone. I couldn’t even do that." I myself was a 35-year meat-eater, but I never killed any animal—except maybe a mosquito. But the question is now simply, how can the meat come to you without someone killing an animal? You must be aware that, already, to buy something is a karma. So now when you buy a steak, someone has to kill an animal; otherwise, you cannot get it. So somehow you give the order to kill an animal, and it’s your karma. I remember one saint in India was asked about this: what is the karma of a meat eater? And he said, very simple, when you add on your life a hundred chickens, then you have a hundred times to incarnate as a chicken to experience how it is to be killed. So, and I am German, you know about German history, you know about Hitler. And I believe everyone is learning in school now that Hitler killed six million Jewish people. And I ask you, how did he do that? Did you see any picture where he had a rifle in hand and then six million times he would kill? No, he just signed a letter. He just gave an order. So now others are doing the bloody work. And, of course, it is also their karma, very strong karma. But everyone understands, naturally, the main karma is Hitler. He gave the order. Without him, it would have never happened. So, dhana, in the sense of giving money, or let’s say making someone do something through money, or simply to order from a position, is a very strong karma. You see, I am here in this moment, already in this position. Now, you are sitting here, maybe 30 people, and I tell you something wrong, and you believe me, and now you create negative karma. That all goes back to me. But I hope I don’t tell you something stupid today. But already in such a position you are, and you must think you have multiplied karma now. So now, let us think, what is actually the point of this law of karma? Mostly, for example, the parents say to the child, "Don’t act with fire; it’s dangerous." But the child, of course, is curious and does it. And the mother sees it and... So now ask the child how it feels about that. And the child will say, "Oh, mother punished me." Right? But ask the mother, did you want that your child is suffering? What will the mother answer? "I want to help my child, I love my child, I want to protect my child. I want it to learn that it’s dangerous." You see? Completely different aspect. What is the intention of the mother, and what is the experience of the child? You can understand this. I will tell you a little bit of a funny story. In a small village, the leaders of the village came together, and they realized that they would soon have a jubilee, like the 100-year existence of the village. And they said, "We must celebrate this together." So now they started to organize a big feast. And one part of that was that they said, "Oh, we will enjoy beautiful wine together. And we make it in a simple way. From every family, you bring one bottle of white wine. We fill it all in a big drum, and then we enjoy it together." So now the day came, and they were coming with their bottles of wine. And one after the other, they filled the bottle from the big drum. And then the glasses were filled, and the celebration started. Cheers. And they drank this. Only it looked a little bit strange. And it tasted a little bit strange. It tasted like actually no taste. Understand what happened? Someone was thinking, if everyone comes with a bottle of wine, wine is quite expensive. I can save my money; I put simply water inside. If one bottle of water and so much wine, no one will realize. So unfortunately, now everyone had the same idea. So there was no wine at all; it was pure water. So now we can look at what is the effect of the law of karma. So it came instantly back. They had now to drink water. Everyone wanted to drink the wine from the other’s cup, but there was no other. So everyone had to drink water now. But there’s another very important aspect. Now, how was the reputation? Everyone knew now, from everyone, that they all were cheating. So it was an act of honesty, you can say. Suddenly, everyone knew about everyone. What’s going on? Now, imagine some years later they will have a similar celebration, and they would again say, "We bring wine." What do you think would happen then? I think no one would dare anymore now to come with water, because it would be too embarrassing now. That means they learned something. First of all, the karma comes back as a punishment. You can say, "Now you have to drink water instead of wine, which you hoped." But the deeper point is, now they learned something. So that is actually the point of the law of karma. You can say the law of karma is our first guru. Everyone’s guru is the law of karma. The law of karma teaches us to develop slowly, slowly. Part 2: The Nature and Function of Karma To overcome our negative qualities and develop positive ones is our task. Unfortunately, this process takes a long time and is quite painful, largely because there is no one to explain it to us. We are always confronted with the consequences of our acts, yet we mostly fail to see the connection between an action and its result. Let us think a step further. What actually is karma? Is it a physical thing? Is it an energy? Is it green, blue, round, or big? What is it, scientifically speaking, or in yoga terminology? Where is my karma? Is it there, or here? It is like creation; it is the acting. It is energy. But how does it function? According to the longings? No, I want to know exactly where and how karma is. What is the shape of karma? Where is it located? One person said it is in our body, and another said it is in our subtle body. In Western language, we mostly speak only about the physical body; the whole of medicine speaks about one body. But in yoga, we know there are many subtle levels. We distinguish between three, or even five, levels of subtlety of the body. This physical body is called the Annamaya Kośa, the body made of food, the gross body. Then comes the Prāṇamaya Kośa, our energy body. Then our lower and higher mental bodies: the Manomaya Kośa and the Vijñānamaya Kośa. The finest one is called the Ānandamaya Kośa, or the Causal Body. This is a key point. What causes our activities? All acts we perform have a motivation behind them. From where does it come? This is the Causal Body, and there lies our karma. This means karma is a vibration at the finest level of our energy bodies. All these layers together are what we call the aura. The aura is always with us; these five bodies are with us all the time. Like a shadow, you can never get rid of it. So karma is always with us; we can never run away from it. To make it simple, it is like an invisible backpack you carry, which you don't see, but it works. It is there. We must be aware that with these subtle bodies, we are actually communicating. Not only when we physically touch someone in a loving way, but also through our thoughts. As we said, mental activities also create karma. We are like radio transmitters and receivers; waves are constantly coming and going. On this astral, subtle level, we are communicating with each other all the time. Many things that seem to happen by chance are, in reality, explainable on this fine level. Now, let's try to understand how it actually works that karma comes back. Take the simple example of a thief. The thief doesn't work; he simply steals all the time, and that is his income. His experience tells him, for example, that the end of the month when people get paid is a very good time to steal. He is a professional. But you must understand, he is creating karma. Does he think about that? Usually not. He steals from a man who just received his pay, taking his wallet and money. The man comes home and realizes, "My money is gone." He is a family father with five children, and the whole family now suffers because the money for the month is lost. Does our thief know about this? Does he think about it? From the karmic point of view, this is what he has to learn. The law of karma is the law of spiritual development. All our souls are actually longing for this spiritual development, though consciously, many of us are not aware of it. Let's think of it psychologically. When a thief is stealing, what kind of vibration would he send out astrally? We could formulate it like this: "I am a thief. I steal from others, and I never think what it means for them. But I want to develop. I want to learn. Can someone please help me make this experience that I need?" This is like a broadcast from his subtle body. The problem is, like when you search for a radio station, you must be exactly on the same frequency. He is broadcasting on a certain frequency, but not everyone will receive it. Who may receive his subconscious message? Others who are on the same vibration, those who have the same mental radiance, will receive his message subconsciously. So, another thief, thinking about where to go tonight, decides, "Okay, let me go on this street." Suddenly, he comes to the house of our first thief, breaks in, and steals from him. Now our thief is suddenly the victim. What he stole from others is now stolen from him. What will be his reaction? Will he be happy and say, "Oh, thank you for teaching me something"? Not really. He will be angry. He will try to find the thief. Maybe he will even call the police, but then he may think that's dangerous. They would ask, "What was stolen from you?" and he would have a problem answering. But definitely, he will not see any connection between his stealing and now having something stolen from him. We can say he hasn't learned anything yet, but he has had an experience. How is it when a sudden storm comes? It will definitely not change his behavior; he will continue, creating similar karma, now multiplied. And it will come back to him in this or that form. Karma is quite boring, quite simple. A friend once expressed it in a funny way. I was at her home, and we went out, but she left the garden door a little open. I said, "Better you close it. It's dangerous." She said, "No, no, it's for my cat, so she can come in and out. And if in my last life I stole a carpet from someone, then they should come now and take my carpet. Then the karma is over." That's one way to understand the law of karma. Back to our story: our thief was stolen from, but he continues to steal. That means the karma continues to come back to him. In one way or another, he will suffer more and more, collecting more and more experiences. Slowly, this becomes a problem for him. A problem arises when he wants to steal because, at the moment he is about to steal from someone, the thought pops up: "How will it be for the person when I steal from him?" He now has the experience of how it feels to suffer. Still, he may step over it and say, "It doesn't matter; I will continue." But after many years, or maybe after many lives, the impression from the karma coming back becomes so strong that he simply cannot steal anymore. His inner voice, which we call conscience, becomes so strong that he cannot ignore it. Now he cannot steal anymore. So, what now? He is no longer a thief. What quality has he actually learned now? He has overcome the negative quality of stealing, and which positive quality has he developed? Compassion. Understanding for others, compassion for others. This was just an example to point out a little how the law of karma is our teacher, teaching us slowly to overcome negative qualities, to purify them, and to develop positive qualities. But how long and how painful was this process? Because there is no one explaining it. And how much karma does he create in between, always affecting others? This is a quite tough teacher, the law of karma. Therefore, after some time—after several lives, most probably—we consciously begin to look for a guru. And when we have learned one lesson—for example, I guess you are not stealing—we must be careful not to fall into arrogance. Like, if someone is stealing, I might say, "How is it possible?" Because when we judge in this way, it is already creating karma again. I always say it very strongly: if you cannot even imagine stealing, then most probably it is because you have already done it so often that you have learned your lesson. There is really no reason to be proud of that. We are all working on certain points in our life. Someone has already learned this lesson, someone has already learned that lesson, but we are all working on different points. We should not use this to become proud, but rather think: how can I help others? So the law of karma is a teacher, but a very slow and somehow cruel teacher. Therefore, we start to look for a real guru. Then you come to a guru like Swāmījī. He starts to explain to us about the law of karma. Aha, we had never heard about that. Then he explains the background, how it is a fact, and warns us. These warnings exist in every spiritual path, in every religion. For example, in Christianity, the Ten Commandments: you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. What laws do we have in the Yamas and Niyamas of yoga philosophy? We have Ahiṃsā: do not kill, do not hurt. We have Asteya: do not steal, and Brahmacharya. There are many such life rules for us. These rules aim simply to protect us from the worst karmas. So, let's say you don't want to suffer anymore, and you are looking for orientation. You find it in these ethical and moral rules. If you follow only these rules, you have already made a big step. Then, at least some of the worst karmas you can already avoid. We must be aware that the character of karmas is quite different. Take the example of the thief. Let's say you steal something from someone, and the next day you feel sorry. You have the chance to go to this person, return it, and apologize. Most probably, that person will say, "It's okay." But if you kill someone, and the next day you are sorry about that, what will you do? That's another characteristic of karma. The point is to learn to think about the character of karma, about the consequences. Swāmījī always makes it very simple. He says, "Who cannot give life has not the right to take life." A very simple life rule for us. We must be aware that karma also creates complications for our future. In the story with the wine and water, you lose the chance of a human life. Because only in a human life do we have the chance for liberation. Other acts also have severe consequences. For example, if a man rapes a woman, what is his karma? What does he have to experience so that he can learn? Very simply, he has to be raped. But how? It's not possible. So that means with this act, he already programs many future incarnations as a woman. This may cause some souls to come again and again as a victim for many lives. Here we can understand that the law of karma is actually also the background for reincarnation. As we said, this world is called Karmabhūmi. We are here because of our karmas. You can say a prisoner is in prison because he did something wrong. From a certain point of view, Swāmījī even sometimes uses the example of a prison. We are here in our karmic prison. Swāmījī says there are ten persons in the prison. Nine are there because they committed some crime. But the tenth came there as a liberator, and that is a guru. We are the ones who are incarnated here, and we have no choice because of our karmas. But the guru does not come because of karmas. He comes only out of compassion to help us. When we have liberated and purified all karmas, there is no need for reincarnation anymore. Karma is the sole reason for our incarnation here in this life. Now, it would be important to understand a little deeper about the different types of karma. Many say, "Yeah, the law of karma, everything is predestined, then I have no choice at all." That is a wrong understanding. We have to distinguish between three types of karma. They are called Sañcit Karma, Prārabdha Karma, and Kriyamāṇa Karma. I suggest we have a break at this point. Is there a question or a remark from your side about this, as far as we have spoken? Is it so far understandable? Then let's have a little break, and afterwards we will start to speak about these three types of karmas.