THE LAW OF KARMA AND THE DOCTRINE OF REINCARNATION
We are born to undo our past bad actions and purify ourselves. Only by doing good will our negative tendencies decrease.
We should understand that our present life has been traced as a result of past karmas; that we are having this earthly body to undo bad karmas from past lives and accumulate good ones and to evolve spiritually. We have to perform such action that will undo these bad karmas. We have to undertake major transformations in life as a whole, whether physical, mental or spiritual. Only then can we hope to earn God’s grace; to feel the divine protecting and guiding us in every sphere of life.
Meditation is the only path to God-realisation. Meditation is a long process of purification. All negative impressions and other impurities accumulated through countless births have to be eliminated, consumed in its flames. The one aim of meditation being to bring man closer to God, reveal to him his divinity and lead him to Self realisation. Whatever our past karmas, whatever our present condition, whatever blunders or shortcomings there is only one way to redeem ourselves: meditation.
Animals are pre-programmed and governed by instinct. Man has intelligence and freedom and is ruled by reason. His subconscious mind is the storehouse of innumerable impressions of past lives or incarnations as well as the present life. These impressions determine his future.
The body is impermanent while the soul is permanent, deathless and immortal. The body is but a means for the soul to work out and reap the results of its actions. As a man discards his old garments and takes a new one, even so the old body is shed and the soul takes a new one. The soul should keep on progressing to higher planes until it attains perfection and frees itself from the cycle of life and death. Rare are those who can attain perfection in a single life. It may necessitate several lives for an individual soul before perfection is achieved.
The law of karma makes the doctrine of reincarnation a reality, allowing each soul a cycle of births for the completion of its evolution. The law of causation, action and reaction, compensation and retribution are included in the law of karma: every action must be ultimately followed by an effect.  Action can never die without producing action. Our every act will necessarily produce appropriate effect and continue to bring us back until we complete the circle of cause and effect. This is the doctrine of reincarnation. It is based upon the continuous evolution of an individual soul and a re-manifestation of all potential impressions. Reincarnation is the evolution of man till the ultimate manifestation of God within occurs.
We all consider God as impartial and just. Yet the world reveals gross injustice. In this ever changing existence there is suffering and misery for some and opulence and enjoyment for others. One is born wealthy beyond account and will remain so throughout his whole life. Another remains a beggar for his entire life. One is born intelligent and another, foolish. Why this glaring partiality? Instead of making God partial, this doctrine gives us the scheme of justice.
The karmic law throws light on the seeming shocking inequalities and diversities of life which the theory of heredity or all other theory has failed to explain. The karmic law eliminates the need of a vengeful, punishing God for evildoers and a rewarding God for the good. It is rather the result of our own past actions; certainly not God’s will! The wicked are punishing themselves, reaping the fruits of their own bad thoughts and actions. The virtuous reward themselves, harvesting the fruits of their own good thoughts and deeds.
Is there any way out? What has been done is done! Rather, we should learn from past mistakes, not repeat them. Every moment is a fresh chance to uplift ourselves. No power on earth can alter this reality: we have been existing eternally and we will exist. No power can confine man to this small earth either. There is eternal freedom for all. Every good action is the manifestation of that freedom. We are prompted by our destiny to struggle and be free.
The law of reincarnation is vital for man’s upliftment. It is crucial for the moral wellbeing of humanity. Viciousness is driven out. Perfectibility of humanity will culminate into Divinity. We have to reach the acme of perfection, Divinity.
What we are is the result of our past actions. It follows that our future will depend on our present actions. Our present actions will determine our next birth and so on. Our potential at birth is determined by our past actions. No one can get anything until he has earned it. It is the eternal law.
According to the karmic law, every single human desire has to find fulfillment, ultimately. It is only desire that binds man as such to the wheel of reincarnation. If the thought is good the reaction will be good. Evil thought will bring evil reaction. A good reaction brings happiness, satisfaction and peace of mind. An evil reaction brings suffering, unhappiness and misery. Every single soul is a free agent of its actions, as well as for reaping the results or reactions of those actions. This is the karmic law.
The karmic law makes of each soul the sole architect of its destiny. We alone determine our character and fashion our future through our own thoughts, words and deeds. Present tendency has come as a result of one’s past actions. Everything one has is of one’s own doing. It follows that it is exclusively in our hands to control our tendencies and direct them properly. Neither God nor anyone else is responsible for our misery or suffering. We can only blame ourselves. We always get what we deserve and shall do so in future. We are solely responsible for our happiness and for our pain.
The doctrine of reincarnation advances that each individual soul is potentially perfect and is gradually actualizing its powers through the process of evolution, gaining different experiences. Once perfection attained, there is no longer need to reincarnate. Death is a mere change from one body into another. Reincarnation is the logical sequence in the process of evolution. This completes and makes perfect the doctrine and explains the basis of the moral and spiritual nature of man.
The doctrine of reincarnation is founded on the law of cause and effect. Action is the cause and the reactions are the effects or results. Our present life is the result of our past actions and our future will be the result of the present. Actions being done now will not vanish without trace. They will not end suddenly at death; they are sure to re-manifest in future.
Man performs different actions or karmas. ‘Sanchita karma’ refers to accumulated or residual karma from all previous births. With every new birth, part of this will become operative. It will bear fruit, bringing suffering and happiness to add to ‘Prarabdha karma’.  This ‘Prarabdha karma’ is the action of the last birth, that which determines the coming birth: the body, looks, complexion, the family and social environment, the economic and social status, the life span of the individual and the time of death. That part which is not operative will add to the existing accumulated or ‘Sanchita karma’.
‘Kriyaman Karma’ is our current karma in the present life, the building up of all karma produced in a single lifetime. We do have control over ‘Kriyaman Karma’. We can consciously produce new actions to counteract the previous actions that are operative or about to work out. Determination, selflessness and self discipline can overhaul the present life and give it a new direction.
Mass karma is a result of wars, natural calamities, epidemics, etc. It is beyond our control. Those who have to perish will perish, whatever be their current life. Usually, those with similar karma will tend to converge at the appropriate site of the coming event.
However, one good karma cannot offset the result of a previous bad karma; vice versa one bad karma cannot wipe out the fruit of a previous good karma. They will operate in what is termed ‘Agami Karma’ (future karma) that which will happen in the future and bear their fruit, good or bad.
Ratnakara was a highway robber, looted and killed many for a living. Â His life took a new turn when he met the great sage Narad. Â After long years of hard penance he ultimately became the great sage Valmiki, author of the Ramayana. In spite of his lofty life, Valmiki had to be reborn to pay for the sins he had committed as Ratnakara.
He was reincarnated as the great poet-saint Tulsidas and wrote among other grand works, the ‘Ramcharita Manas’. Even before his birth his parents were being wrongly blamed and molested. Soon after his birth they knew a violent death. Brought up by a foster mother, the latter would be killed by snake bite. Tulsidas was left all alone at a tender age. Although he was rescued many times and received protection, his life was very disturbed. His own brother disciples turned his worst enemies, harassing him continuously. Tulsidas had to suffer on account of his past bad karmas as a highway robber. In spite of his exalted spiritual life he never had any peace until his last.
Euthanasia is a most active area in contemporary bioethics. Meaning ‘good death’, it refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering. Although gaining recognition in the medical community, it is still subject to great controversy, without anyone having the proper insight. Is euthanasia the solution to terminal illness or intractable suffering? What is a ‘dignified death’? Death is death, whether on a straw bed or a bed of silk. It is the final hug that matters!
Life is a gift of God and as such exceptionally precious. No one has the right to willfully terminate it for whatever reasons. A natural death is the legitimate right of every being. What is not natural is either suicide or murder. Done with the conscious consent of the subject it is suicide. If not, it is cold blooded murder! To cut short suffering is just a temporary postponement. It is no guarantee that the subject will not suffer in the hereafter.  What has started has to have its natural termination. Reincarnation will start from the point which one reaches in the past life at death and will keep the thread unbroken. He will have to be reborn to bring to completion that interrupted period of suffering.
Suffering can and should be alleviated. More than anything else, what is needed is the care and love of the immediate links and those surrounding. These are the things which the dying will remember most and be grateful. A doctor’s duty is to save life and alleviate suffering. To prolong life through artificial means in cases where there is hope is fully justified. To sustain life artificially where otherwise survival is not possible is not justified. Life should be allowed to ebb away at a natural pace, but the subject being well looked after and cared. That is the most dignified death.
One who dies in terror or despair, having lost his faith in the almighty and oblivious of his immortal nature, carries with him into his next incarnation this fear and dwindling faith. He will attract to himself similar circumstances, a continuation of the karmic conditions. The man with undaunted faith loses the battle with death but wins the war of freedom. Soul consciousness can triumph over every external disaster. To be fit for self realization one must be fearless.
Suicide is a grave transgression of karmic law. A human birth is the most precious gift as only in the human body can one reach salvation and merge in the Divine. Suicide is no solution as one will have to be reborn to carry on from the precise spot where the act of suicide has brought the karmic action to a standstill.
No one can escape the inexorable karmic law. No one can escape past karma. One cannot have happiness which is not earned. Suicide or euthanasia adds to the karmic load. The new karma resulting from the suicide or euthanasia will be added to the person’s past karma. One who does not find heaven here will not find heaven hereafter.  The best alternative is to turn to God. To develop God awareness and meditate.
Nothing is unjust or unmerited in life. What seems absurd and incongruous is but the result of past actions. Babies are still-born, some deformed, others crippled, yet others normal. Some children die in infancy, some quite young, others in adolescence or youth. Others are centenarians. Each is only reaping the fruits of his actions in past births. As life advances, the accumulated actions will unfold adding to life’s misery and suffering or bring added sunshine, happiness and peace.
We are not predestined puppets. Only 75% of our life is determined by our past actions. The remaining 25% lies in our free will. Karmic forces are operative at the precise moment of birth. Man’s past actions determine his birth only, not his present life. Certain trends appear inevitable, but nothing is predetermined. Man has free will and will power to avoid or lessen the impact. He and no-one else builds his own karma or undoes his past karma. He can will his doom or divine destination: salvation.
There may be some basic character traits that suggest some tendencies. But no one is a born alcoholic, murderer, rapist or drug addict. Through self discipline and adherence to moral values one can check one’s tendencies. One can make or unmake one’s destiny. Lack of will power is usually the cause behind our weaknesses. A strong influence can usually save a weak person.
We are not born bound. No one ever was. Through our actions we make and unmake our destiny. We enjoy or suffer according to our deserts. If our new actions add to our past or present sins we will keep on degenerating and sink deeper in the quagmire of delusion.
If we perform virtuous acts, we will mould ourselves a higher destiny towards realisation of our Divinity. The real God is the Self. The Self is beyond, it is the all. It is the One.