Karma : An outgoing arrow

  

A group of trained soldiers were about to enter the battle field. The commander called for the most enthusiastic soldiers in the group and asked a question. Why were you so desperate to go the battle field where your life is at risk? The answer of the each soldier was different. The commander categorised them hearing their answers. 

I) I will fight because my duty is to obey your command (Dutiful )  

2) I am excited that I can learn many techniques of combat practically (Learner) 

3)  I want to show the gratitude to my motherland by  offering best that I can (Contributor)  

 4) I love the art of combat. It is my passion (passionate) 

5) I want to have recognition in my town (reward seeker) 

6) I am concerned about the salary hike and comfort in life when I win this battle ( consumer)

 7) I am very hopeful about what the country is going to offer me in return if I give a victory to it( businessman)

All the men fought bravely however they lost the battle. After the battle was over the dutiful soldier was happy because he felt that he did his duty with an utmost dedication. The learner was happy because he learnt a lesson from his failure. The contributor was happy because he contributed what best he can contribute to his mother land in the time of need. The passionate soldier had just enjoyed the act of the fight.  However, the reward seeker lost his reward, the consumer lost his perks, the businessman missed his return gift. They were left with pain and disappointment. 

All the soldiers did their duty . However the  focus of the happy group was limited to the act of fight while the disappointed were concerned about the rewards linked to the act.

Types of Karma: 

There is difference between how an arrow works and boomerang (an Australian weapon) works. The arrow shot out don’t return back to the shooter. However, the boomerang comes back to the shooter taking a U turn. 

In the above story, the dutiful soldier, the learner soldier, the contributor, the passionate soldier does the Karma expecting no gain in return. The enjoyment of all the above people revolved around the "out going act itself” not on the “incoming reward”. This karma is "one way" just like shooting an arrow. 

The boomerang unlike the arrow has an outgoing pathway (while it moves away from the shooter) and an incoming pathway (while it moves back towards the shooter). The consumer soldier or businessman soldier did the karma with a part of their attention on the outcome of karma (incentive or profit). There is fragmentation of the attention here. A part of the attention is directed towards karma, while other part is directed to incoming reward to the person who does it.  The shooter of the boomerang has to pay attention not only  to the shooting of the weapon but  also to the return of the weapon. In the same way  doing a work  in which the focus lies on the rewards is like launching a boomerang.

Outcome influencing the act itself:

 If we shoot a series of arrows at a target. We are only bothered about the target we never bother about what happened to those arrows. However if we shoot a series of boomerangs at a target and if each boomerang returns  to you. The incoming weapon takes away most of the attention away from the launching of the next weapon to the target. 

Reward and feedback:

For every karma executed into the world the world gives a reaction. The incoming reaction of any karma can be of 2 types. 1) Reward - punishment loop 2) feedback. A reward-punishment loop is the result of work which gives us pleasure or pain when accepted. A feedback is the one which helps in corrective action of the outgoing karma. A feedback helps in giving the karma right direction or in improving or learning the principles of correct action.It can be compared to a guided missile which corrects it's path by sensing the obstacles through a radar before it hits the target. 

The same reaction may be a feedback for one person and reward or punishment for another person. A scientist was successful in making an invention in his 100^th attempt. Someone who is in the reward punishment loop said "Finally you had got success after 99 disappointments. The scientist who stood in the action feedback loop replied that I learnt 99 ways through which this invention  cannot be done. A disappointing outcome for a person in the action - reward loop is perceived as a resource of learning for some one in the action feedback loop.

Karma and emotion:

When ever an action is done by the person in reward - punishment loop, It inevitably results in the pleasure or pain. Both the pleasure and pain are strong distractions of attention and skews the direction of the action. A karma yogi does an effective work by staying indifferent of its results or by having  the capacity to use every outcome as a feedback for learning. Passion for work (passionate), selfless contribution(contributor), dutifulness and feeling responsibility (dutiful), enthusiasm to learn(learner) from every small work are important characters of karma yogi.It is not the karma but it is identity attached to the performer while performing the karma (passionate, dutiful, contributor,learner) that decides quality of the karma.It is this identity which makes one person a soldier and other a criminal for the same act of killing.

Karma yoga is one of the four methods ( Bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, Raja yoga being the other three) of discovering the truth. Swami Vivekananda says work for the sake of work not its result .A highly passionate work is no different from samadhi sthithi. The mind becomes one pointed when a person is totally involved in work. The time and space awareness ceases and the person dissolves in the present moment completely. The identity of the person is lost. However a reward oriented work brings the identity into existence. Where the identity is there the emotion, and struggle for existence and expansion starts. A true Karma is like an outgoing arrow. Anything which comes back is a feedback for a Karma yogi. There are no good or bad outcomes there are only lessons for a karma yogi.