Finally, it is

Friday, May 05, 2006

Karma - A Poem

Continuing from my last post, here is a beautiful poem about Karma by my friend Jay Yagnik. I could not resist myself from writing my understanding about his poem and Karma in general. Your views are welcome.

With the basic truths revealed
Wounds deep within are healed
Bathing silently in effortless grace
The mind is absent without a trace

The starting itself teaches us the most important lesson about Karma. Wounds, deep in the mind - the mind impressions (good, bad, right, wrong etc) that we have gathered over time, are healed (getting removed) once the basic truth is found. And what is that basic truth? That all suffering is an illusion, happening in perception only.

Once you get this truth, your journey becomes effortless. Now, you don’t have to do something right. All things that happen through you are RIGHT. When mind participation is zero, the underneath spirit takes over. And it can seldom do wrong as there is no right, no wrong. If we are ready to be healed, the healing is always there to happen.

Again it comes with a fiery tale
Fast and strong shots in a hail
Drawn in a second, by tumultuous thoughts,
The existence feels full of knots.

But wait!! Realization isn’t just getting the truth. It is LIVING that truth to the fullest. Mind, with all its potent, tries to regain the control over us. How? There might still be some mind impressions, some belief that makes us indulge into unconsciousness. There might still be some unconsciousness that makes us indulge into these mind impressions. Whatsoever is first, the cycle continues. We burned all Karma seeds but sowed few new. That change is only that of degree, not of kind.

Why? I wondered, did the soothing breeze
Turn to shabby air, full of disease.
“Karma” I thought, was at work,
My own choices, giving a rebuke.

What Now? Is life to be,
By karmic fate or choices free,
Each thought, an endless tree,
Who am I? Amongst thee.

Here is the first conscious thought after that tumult. Why has everything that looked so peaceful, joyful and simple become sorrowful, painful and complicated? Consciousness is like a light in a darkened room. Darkness is only the absence of light. Darkness ceases when only a tiny light beam comes into existence.

The consciousness reckons it to be the Karma that is at work. But consciousness also reckons that Karma simply doesn’t mean fate which is predefined and unchanged. It reckons Karma as his own choices that he made in past and giving fruits in present. It reckons that all these are in fact, effects, not the cause. The cause lies in his choices. Which choices? His choices to choose some situations, beliefs, ideas, things, persons etc. to build his mind impressions and believing it as who he is.

Don’t Fight, watch through,
These thoughts are not you,
Let them come and float by,
Floods don’t leave marks in the sky

This is one of the basic spiritual understandings. Do not participate in thoughts. Just watch them as they pass by. I recall one nice story about it.

The disciple said to his master: "I have spent most of the day thinking about things I should not be thinking about, desiring things I should not desire and making plans I should not be making."

The master invited the disciple to take a walk with him through the forest behind his house. Along the way, he pointed to a plant, and asked the disciple if he knew its name.

"Belladonna," said the disciple. "It can kill anyone who eats its leaves."

"But it cannot kill anyone who simply observes it," said the master. "Likewise, negative desires can cause no evil if you do not allow yourself to be seduced by them."

~ ~ ~

We often tend to believe that thoughts define us. Even the quote: “I think therefore I am” strengthens that belief. In fact, it is just the opposite.

Thoughts and emotions come and go.
I remain.

The flute makes beautiful sound
Hollow within, it is never bound,
Infinite blows through, in rhythm divine,
The discords are all, chokes of mine.

If we recall the property of any resistor, it does not allow electrons to pass from it. The more hindrance it can produce, the more resistance it has. Similarly, mind impressions are like these resistors. They occupy mind space to hinder any present moment. When any present moment passes by our mind, they reduce it by resisting what is. At the end, what we get is the reduced image of what actually is. A mind, free of such impressions is thus, a conductor of peace and joy.

Such mind simply connects us to the rhythm divine, to the infinite whole. There is no discord, no disagreement. All is one.

With this all redemption starts,
All the past karma departs,
The Karma passes without repeats,
The witness is, as it is.

With such consciousness, the redemption follows. Once all past Karma seeds are burnt, one is called realized. He then no longer produces new Karma seeds as there is no thought of doer ship. All that remains is I, the real I.

O Master eternal, my holy shrine,
Please look at me, not thoughts of mine,
Hanging on without support,
Thy eyes are my only hope.

What a beautiful expression!! Look at me, not thoughts of mine. If only we can look at the person and not to his thoughts, many fights and wars would come to an end. There can be different opinions on thoughts, but no discords in hearts.

In your presence, all fades away
No need for a path or a way.
In the light of your effortless grace,
The Karma dissolves, without a trace.

That presence, consciousness, awareness, alertness, knowledge is what we all are seeking. There is no predefined path for that. Your spiritual journey is the path.

Karma Yogi is the one who is conscious in all his works and peaceful from within and with everybody outside.

Salvation lies within.

5 Comments:

  • Hi Uday,

    I read your blog and found it very useful, I feel you can help me for the problem I am going thru.
    I am feeling very much guilty for something which happened to me, sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly I have given lot of pain to some other person. This person in more of a stranger to me. I want to say him sorry but its too late. I dont want him to again remember all the painful events which he might be forgetting by now.
    But I am feeling so guilty that I have lost interest in all the things, I am not able to concentrate on anything, am not able to enjoy my life bcoz of this guilt.
    Please let me know how can I take out this guilt from my heart, mind and live peaceful life?
    Waiting for ur reply.

    - Nina

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at May 27, 2008 9:24 AM  

  • Hi Nina,

    My friend Jay told me one quote he read somewhere; “Every remorse is a fresh blunder”.
    Life is nothing but bunch of opportunities to learn from. If we just relive our past with much agony and pain, we are not learning and moving ahead. Past is useful as far as it teaches us something meaningful. Past can also make one stuck in the same negative pattern over and over. Do not relive your mistakes again and again. Learn the basic lesson it is trying to teach you and come out.

    Please do not define your life as your past events. Life is present moment. We do not require peaceful past to live peacefully. We require peaceful present moment to live peacefully.

    If you are still in contact with that person, you do not necessarily need to say sorry for your past deeds. Try to make your present moment with him as beautiful as possible. One is never late to show love and care to anyone. Let your love heal those wounds, not mere words.

    And in the end, remember one thing: “Everything is honored, but nothing really matters.”

    - Uday

    By Blogger Uday, at June 03, 2008 10:58 AM  

  • Hi Uday, very interesting response. It really got me thinking. I don't completely agree with all that you have said in your comment above. Don't you think any given time, if we feel our doing was wrong or not right, and feel guilty about it, then we should apologize for it? I feel it is our duty to do so as soon as we realize we have made a mistake. So what if it happens a while ago, I think it will bring a closure to that incident and in turn reducing the ill feeling that one person might have towards the other, if any. After all, it feels better to know that the person who hurt you is resenting what they did than not know it at all. Speaking from personal experience, I can tell that it always helps to bring a closure to any relationship, regardless of what kind of relationship it is, than not doing it at all. I would personally do it, not to just make the other person feel better, but myself also. That's just my opinion. Please do respond. Thank you.

    Nina, my suggestion would be to go ahead with telling that person how you feel about the whole thing. He/she at least deserves to know that. I believe it takes courage to say sorry when we truly are. And if the other person is considerate enough, he/she will actually respect us more afterwards. Like they say, better late than never. I think I'm a bit selfish about my feelings. I'd rather feel happy or indifferent than say guilty. And if I feel terrible about something, I wouldn't wait for anyone or anything to make it straight, given the other person is ready to listen to my story. I also believe that what goes around comes around so I wouldn't want someone else to do the same to me, if I didn't like what I did to someone. Your thoughts? Thanks for reading.

    By Blogger Kanan, at June 04, 2008 7:20 AM  

  • Thanks Uday .. thanks for replying. I have decided to forget everything as I have lost contact with that person. But I will always ask for forgiveness in my prayers, and will always pray for his well-being.
    I have learnt a big lesson and will always remember it. And will never repeat same mistake.
    Thanks Again.
    Thanks Kanan, for replying and giving your thoughts.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 10, 2008 5:19 PM  

  • Thanks Uday .. thanks for replying. I have decided to forget everything as I have lost contact with that person. But I will always ask for forgiveness in my prayers, and will always pray for his well-being.
    I have learnt a big lesson and will always remember it. And will never repeat same mistake.
    Thanks Again.
    Thanks Kanan, for replying and giving your thoughts.

    - Nina

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 10, 2008 5:21 PM  

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