JaneSmith105
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In Hinduism, the principle of cause and effect that governs the material world is encapsulated in a single word – karma – interlinked to the theory of reincarnation.
In the Bhagavad Gita (“Song of God”), Lord Krishna succinctly expounds on the nature of karma to the distraught warrior, Arjuna. Change, says Krishna, is essentially a reaction to the past. An individual’s life is not a random collection of events; it is a response to past deeds, performed in his current or previous life. Each of us is responsible for our karma – virtuous deeds beget positivity while negative actions will lead to a backlash.
Krishna further says that the karmic cycle will roll on endlessly as long as one’s actions are dictated by the ego, the lowest of man’s mental states. How to break this cycle? The intellect helps one choose between two paths – reacting to a situation to please the ego or approaching it with an awareness of one’s soul. If one chooses the second path, the karma wheel comes to a halt. This is when one achieves moksha (liberation).
There are many paths to realize the soul – jnana yoga (using the power of the mind and intellect), bhakti yoga (having faith in the soul’s existence, and the humility to acknowledge that our perception of the universe is limited). The third way is karma yoga – to act as human beings, the only species who yearn to know the meaning of life beyond survival, who can empathize with other beings and live with a code of conduct superior to the law of the jungle.
In the Bhagavad Gita (“Song of God”), Lord Krishna succinctly expounds on the nature of karma to the distraught warrior, Arjuna. Change, says Krishna, is essentially a reaction to the past. An individual’s life is not a random collection of events; it is a response to past deeds, performed in his current or previous life. Each of us is responsible for our karma – virtuous deeds beget positivity while negative actions will lead to a backlash.
Krishna further says that the karmic cycle will roll on endlessly as long as one’s actions are dictated by the ego, the lowest of man’s mental states. How to break this cycle? The intellect helps one choose between two paths – reacting to a situation to please the ego or approaching it with an awareness of one’s soul. If one chooses the second path, the karma wheel comes to a halt. This is when one achieves moksha (liberation).
There are many paths to realize the soul – jnana yoga (using the power of the mind and intellect), bhakti yoga (having faith in the soul’s existence, and the humility to acknowledge that our perception of the universe is limited). The third way is karma yoga – to act as human beings, the only species who yearn to know the meaning of life beyond survival, who can empathize with other beings and live with a code of conduct superior to the law of the jungle.
