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Doctrine of Karma EXPOS ITI ON O O O O O DOCTRI N E O F KARMA BROT H ER A T I S H A Lon don T heosolyhical P ub li s hi n g S ociet y 1 6 1 N e w B n d t r e W . o S e t , 1 9 1 0 C O N T E N T S P A GE M C HA P T E R I . F U NDA ENTA L M EA N I NGS O F K A R M A O R G N D E VE LO P M E N T A N D I I , , C ESSATION O F K A R M A A B S T R A C T A N D C O N C R E T E KARMA T H E P H YS I CA L KARMA IN , BI LO GI CA L M E NT L D O , A A N M ORA L S P H E R ES ACTI VE AND P A SSI VE KARMA KAR MA CONSIDE R ED F U NCT ION A LLY K A R M A IN T H E P O WE R AND RE ADIN E SS WIT H WH I C H I T T AK ES E F F E CT R M CC R D I N G T T I M E VIII . K A A A O O O W R G -O E F F E CT S F O K IN U T . Goon A N D BA D K A R M A , A N D T H E P LA CE S I N WH I C H E F F E CT I VE P A GE E A O P S S C H A P T E R X . J U S T IC ND C M A I O N I N I T S M ET H O D H U M A N P LA ETA RY A , N , ND C OS M IC KARMA T H E T H R E E AND F O U R KI N D S O F KARMA I VI U AL A C LL T V X III . IND D ND O EC I E KARMA T H E KARMI C M O D I F I C AT I O N S O F KARMA A ND S O M E B E L I E F S A T T A C H E D T H E R ETO T O BE L R T F R M X VI . LESSONS EA N O A K N O WLE D GE O F KARMA X V . S U M M RY O F T H E D T R II A OC INE , AND I T S C O RO LLA R I ES EXPOSITI ON D O CTR I NE O F KAR MA CHAPTE R I T H E F U N D A M E N T A L M EAN I N GS O F KAR M A . There are fi ve fundamental m e an in gs o f w ord the Karma , and no single word in any European lan guage w ill su ffi ce to convey all t hat is meant by t hat one an scr it s S word . I t denote t i I . A c . , or Act vity 2 . C The Law of Action , of ause ff . and E ect , or of Causation . a resu lt ct s . 3 Retribution , as of A ’ ” 4 . One s store o f M er it s and ’ D . Demerits , or one s eserts 5 . C haracter . 6 D octrine of K arma. The root meaning of the word Karma is Act ion , and as every action contains ff e inherently its coming e ect , w thus get an d at its second meaning , it is in this sense that the word is most frequently used , and so we frame a general working D efi n it io n : I t of Karma, viz . is the Law f of Cause and Ef ect , absolutely inviolable in the mental , moral , and material worlds . B e in so m g , it is infallibly the eans by which we reap as we sow, so that no d goo deed can escape its reward , and no fi t e B evil deed its p nalty . y this Law our present character and development are t he exact products of our past evo lu ~ tion from an embryonic and potential state through numerous and varied states n and experie ces . It follows , therefore, that our future 15 i n our own hands now to make or mar. This is a great fact to o o i d be c gnisant , and a mere knowle ge of this Law is su ffi cie n t to change our vie w of Life and E volution . There is f i s no escape rom the Law, and t measurements are always just, and for r f a ou welfare . Our present li e is strange 7 F undamental M eanings. u admixt re of good and evil , of strong o f a t and of weak points , bili ies and deficien cies fo r , it is in very deed the ' soil which w e ourselves have prepared i n mt/z r ou /z in the past , and this soil , and g D o m it w . , lies our gro th we have any ' s ufi er in gs ? They are the results o f eyil done in the past somewhere and some when , and , more than that , these very sufferings are the very best means of us lesson s w e m o t n eed teaching the s . a a This lso is great fact to recognise , and when it is thoroughly grasped will chan ge o ur pessimism to a boundless optimism . A n d what of our joys ? These also are the results o f past good s . m ust deed Good come out of good , and evil out of evil . We are here on a long, long pilgrimage through matter, and many are the lessons we have to n G lear ere the Great oal is reached , but w e are e n couraged by the knowl e dge that we can shape our future if only we make use of this knowledge , and rise more and more swiftly t o union w i t h that Divine Self within that sitteth in 8 D octrine of K arma. be on d the Heart, which is y the reach of . A n u it a Karmic Law Thus in the g , i xvii . f , we read The True Sel is beyond Action ( Karma) . Actions have a begin 1 ning and an end , and the body s tied down by action . With thy heart intent e t upon the R al Entity , hou wilt certainly come into M y Sel f. These are the o f words the Lord Krishna, speaking in n the ame of the Supreme Lord . From this root meaning , all the other meanings of Karma fl ow natur w ally . Popularly it is synonymous ith retribution , for retribution is the result of past deeds . We say of a man who ff has su ered some signal misfortune , or an met with unexpected stroke of luck , ” seem s that it is his Karma. It to be luck or chance , but it is not so it is the ‘ resultant of something done 1n the past . There can be no such thing as chance n . in _ a u iverse governed by a Wise Being ’ a Ag in , we speak of one s accumulated o f deserts , or stock merits and demerits , ’ as one s Karma . Events happen because it is our Karma that they should so 9 F undamental M eanings. happen ; some events can never happen because they are not in our Karma . A certain kind of seed will only produce e t its lik , and so we can get nothing hat we do not deserve , nor reap what is not b r ib e sown . We cannot heaven , nor can we slip the noose of our own making . Weeping will not give us any more than we deserve . The very Angels or Gods are there because they deserve to b e ; “ and the spirits of evil are there also , because it is their desert . And yet we are not in any sense children o f a blind Fate, for j ust as we had the power in the past to make our present what it is , so we have equal power now to create a happy and useful future . The Law is fo r bou n d really our best friend , it is to u s it help if we keep . If we smart the smart is from ourselves , for the Law may not be broken with impunity . What a song of triumph did the Lord B uddha sing wh e n the Truth dawned upon him I B d h who we t w t all m the s , u d , p i h y bro r t a s e t , 10 D oc r e f K a t i n zo arm . ’ Whose heart was broken by a whole world s woe, La and am la fo r e is L ! ugh g d, th re iberty ’ H o l y e who sufi er ! know Ye s ffe m o u l u r fro y rse ves .
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