” ‘विचारों’ से ‘कर्मों’ की उत्पत्ति होती है..’

Swami ji said…

” ‘Why does man do anything? What leads him to act? Why does he act in different ways at different times?” We all have the same basic needs of food and water to survive. Yet, we all seem to be doing different things and behaving in different ways. Man even behaves differently in the same circumstances. What is the root cause of such behaviour?”

” It is quite simply due to man’s thoughts.
Thoughts lead to action. All action is preceded and dictated by thought. Some eat more than they need to, while others don’t. Why? It’s because some think that to eat more in the present moment, will delay tomorrow’s hunger; while others think that feeding the body more than it needs will only harm it.”

” Even in the simplest of tasks, our thoughts – our way of thinking – leaves its imprints. And, this is also why, some of us perform good acts – good ‘karma’ – and others perform bad ‘karma’. It is because the nature of our thoughts are reflected in the nature of our ‘karma’.

” Let us take the simple act of exercising our bodies. Most of us exercise with a different motive and goal. Some of us would like to remain fit, disease – free and healthy, so, we allot a fixed period of time to exercise regularly, and, then, move on to other necessary activities through the day. Some of us could exercise way more than needed ; spend endless money on gym memberships and diets; waste time scrolling social media to get tips to get the ‘best body’ – lost in the ‘मोह माया’ of the body as we could be obsessed with it. So busy are we nursing thoughts giving paramount importance to our body that we are left with no time for any intellectual and spiritual growth in our lives. How can such thoughts help us in
leading a balanced and fulfilling life ?”
But, a ‘spiritual’ seeker will exercise his ‘body’ for a completely different reason, as he understands that to keep the ‘body’ healthy in which his ‘soul’ resides is a responsible act – as, firstly, he is looking after ‘the’ body which God has blessed him with ,and, secondly, it is through his ‘body’ that he will be able to do tap, jap and meditate on God and merge his ‘atman’ with ‘Parmatma’. Our thoughts can influence us to such a great extent !”

” It is thus essential to be aware of the nature of one’s thoughts. Many a times, we are oblivious to the nature of our thoughts, and, thus, our actions are also uncontrolled. Very often we gossip about others, quite simply, because somewhere in our hearts, we are jealous of them. We do this, even when we know, that we would never harm them. But, since we have not acknowledged, in our mind, that we might be jealous of them, and had never tried to reason with ourselves,nor, tried to get to the bottom of the reason for feeling jealous, we end up bad mouthing or gossiping about them, in an almost involuntary manner. Such is the negative power of one’s bad thoughts. If our thoughts are negative, they can lead us into the darkness of wrong, unwanted ‘karma’ and cause great misery and sorrow to us.”

” It is common in Hindu tradition to offer fresh un-tasted food as ‘prasad’ to God. Guests too are served freshly cooked food. Yet, in the Ramayana, Shabri, seemingly, broke this tradition by offering Shri Ram ‘ber’, which were tasted by her and then given to Him. Even though Lakshman seemed disturbed by her act , Shri Ram, paid no attention to the fact that the ‘ber’ had been tasted by her, and, readily accepted the fruits from her. Why was this? It is quite simply because Shri Ram only saw Shabri’s pure intent. He only saw Shabri’s love and concern for Him when she explained that she was tasting the fruits to ensure that He got only the tastiest ones to eat. In this case, even a ‘karma’ deemed ‘wrong’ by society, brought joy to God because the intent, the nature of the thought behind it was pure and kind. This ‘karma’ of hers, for all purposes, was in the end ‘good karma’ – a loving and caring act.”

” It is our ‘karma’ that decides our ultimate fate. ‘Good’ karma releases us from the tentacles of ‘maya’ and ‘bad karma’ entangles us in it further. However, looking more closely, it, becomes clear that our ‘karma’ is the fruit borne of our seed like thoughts. Thus, it is only good thoughts that can lead us to salvation. We must endeavour, at all times, to cleanse the mind ; for, by cleansing the mind, we will make our thoughts pure and our actions noble and good.”

” Yaad rakho…
‘विचार’ से ‘कर्म’ की उत्पत्ति होती है…
‘कर्म’ से ‘आदत’ की उत्पत्ति होती है…
‘आदत’ से ‘चरित्र’ की उत्पत्ति होती है…”