Karma (2) - A vicious cycle

   There was drought in a village. People were worried because there was no water source for the village. Years of suffering continued. A young man in a village had a plan to solve this problem. He convinced the people of the village to help him in executing the plan. As per the plan the people of the village built a check dam across the nearby river. Each person in the village was asked to give hundred digs per day into the soil with spades. With each day of digging the paths through which the water flows started taking shape.  Finally, the canals were dug towards the village into the channels in the fields. When reservoir of the dam got filled. The water reached the fields through canals and channels. The village became prosperous.

  Visible karma is just the replica of invisible karma:

Even before the visible karma (digging of irrigation canals) took place there was an invisible karma (imagining a blue print and having a conviction to execute) that took place in the mind of the young man. Even before the water canals were dug, the belief about structuring them was grooved in his mind. Beliefs themselves are like the canals through which the consciousness flows. Our “will” uses our thoughts as spades to channelize our patterned thinking and beliefs. The karma manifests in the nerve circuits first then in the external world.

 We don't need an external act to be performed for doing Karma:

 A soldier of a country was abducted by a terrorist organization. He was tortured by the terrorists to extract some important defense secrets of the country. When he did not yield, they took his family members as a hostage and threatened to kill them. The soldier has to choose between the family and country. He has to choose between the personal and professional duty (conflict of values). He has to choose between role as family head and role as protector of the country (conflict of roles).  The soldier did not utter a word and his family got killed. Here the soldier did his duty by adhering to his decision. He did his duty without doing single external act. Karma doesn’t mean doing something visible. A soldier in the processes of training not only trains his body and skills, but he unconsciously forms new neural networks by conditioning his beliefs, prioritizing his values and carving his new identity. This is also Karma. Being conscious of the values, making a decision, doing evaluations, planning and performing other cognitive functions are the part of internal karma.

 Karma starts with the conviction to do and completes with the capacity to do:

In Mahabharatha, Pandavas lost everything including their wife Draupadi in the game of dice. Draupadi was pulled by hair and was dragged into the court before she was disrobed by Dusshasana (brother of Duryodhana, A Kaurava King). Draupadi begged everyone in the court to stop this horrendous act. Everyone in the court knows that it is a disgraceful act happening infront of them. Some people just had opinion that it is wrong, some people strongly believed it is wrong, and some people who had strong conviction that it is wrong were angry but they were afraid of the King and kept quiet. Some people like Bheeshma who knew it was wrong and who had power to stop this just expressed dissatisfaction to it they didnot try to stop it (because they don’t want to displease the King Drutharashtra) . Vidura was the one who had strong conviction to act. He strongly opposed the act happening infront of him and questioned the king. Both Bheeshma and Vidura were unable to change the outcome. Bheeshma doesn't have the conviction to change the outcome and Vidura had conviction to change but lack the power to change the outcome.

Karma and identity:

 We are aware of the changes a Karma brings in the external world. Every Karma how small it may be brings a change in the internal world (in our habits or identities) in the long run. Bheeshma saw himself as the loyal well-wisher of the King and his Karma was directed to please the King. However, Vidhura attached himself to a larger identity, the protector of the chastity of the throne, respect of the king's court and Kuru dynasty, protecting the principle of Hindu dharma of respecting a woman. He acted to protect what he believed was his duty. When a person's karma is below the level of his identity, the pain of guilt arises. Guilt is the one which make us to do corrective karma to protect our identity. If we let the guilt subside with justification, it leads to the death of that identity.

Karma and integrity:

An apple seed grows out into an apple tree when the climate and soil favours it. However, in unfavourable situations sprouting may be delayed or the seed may even die but it wouldn't compromise and grow into a pineapple tree. Manifesting its nature is the primary goal of a seed, survival is secondary for it. Karma yogi selectively does what he believes is his duty (but not profitable for him) in any circumstances. Integrity is nothing but capacity to think, speak, and act what you believe is correct in any circumstances.

Karma is a manifestation of the thought:

In Hindu philosophy, purity of any act involves Manasa-Vacha-Karmana. It means a person who is doing the act should have clean, unbiased thought and a strong will (Manas). Then it will be reflected in the speech (Vacha), Finally the same purity will be manifested in the deeds (Karma). It means Karma what we speak and do is just a part of the whole cycle of Karma which starts with the Manas (thought and will in the mind). What is there in the seed manifests in the tree. In the same way what is there in the manas is reflected in the deed.

Effect of Karma:

The karma (objection) of the vidura had not changed the outcome finally but it protected his righteousness. The primary purpose of the Karma is not only to make difference in the external world but first to make the difference within ourselves, in our mind and thought. Swami Vivekananda says any change in the microcosm (within us) finally bring changes in the macrocosm (outside us). Karma is not what we do outside, Karma is what we manifest out from within. The origin of the karma doesn't start at the level of our speech or act. It starts at the level of the thought. Karma is there at the level of perception even. Most of our Karma is unconscious.

Our way of life has strong influence on the Karma:

Yogic philosophy and buddhist philosophy say that our way of life is the greatest training of practicing the karma. Our way of life decides the type of the thoughts that can flourish in our mind. The frequency of the thoughts flourishing in the mind decides their chance of getting accepted by us. The accepted thought decides its manifestation as an external karma. We can say the internal karma (the thinking and cognition) decides the external (speech and acts) and external karma decides the internal karma. Karma is a vicious cycle.