CHYK Class Summary Tattva Bodhah The Karmic Cycle By immediate knowledge that I am Brahman alone, one becomes

free from bondage of all karmas (actions). An ignorant man performs actions under the false notion that I am the doer and as a result becomes the enjoyer or sufferer of the results of his actions. We are told that a realised person knows that he is not the body and is not the doer of actions. As a result they are free from the bondage of all karmas. This is not freedom from action, but rather freedom in action. What does this mean? The Karmic Cycle To act in the world is unavoidable. We all perform countless actions in our lives (both this and previous lives). They can be mainly categorised into three which correspond to the three times periods and can be explained in terms of the Karmic Cycle.

PAST
X1 Store House X2

PRESENT
Y1

FUTURE

Y2

X3

Y3

SANCHITA Sanchita Karma

PRARABDHA

AGAMI

The result of actions performed in (all) previous births which are in seed form to give rise to endless crores of births (in future) is called sanchita (accumulated) karma. Sanchita karma is best explained as a storehouse or a bank account of the accumulated effects of our prior actions which we have performed both in this and in previous lives. They are in unmanifest form or can be described as dormant karmas. Our sanchita karmic bank is an infinite, endless and beginningless capital of karmas. They have been accumulated through the effect of innumerable previous births and we have a large enough stock to create endless future births. It would be impossible to exhaust them totally. When our Sanchita Karma becomes manifest/ is expressed, they become praradbha. Prarabdha Karma

Having given birth to this body, the actions which give result in this very world, in the form of happiness or misery and which can be destroyed only be enjoying or suffering them is called prarabdha karma. The sanchita bank of karmas will eventually fructify at different times and places and will cause certain events and experiences to occur. People often refer to these as their fate, luck or destiny. This suggests that there is a lack of control over our lives and that external forces are deciding the path of life. In fact if we understand that what I am experiencing now is a result of my past actions, this will stop us from abstaining responsibility of our lives and experiences. We should realise that even though we may not understand why our sanchita karma has created our prarabdha, we can still control our interaction with it through our free will (purushatha). When we react to these events and experiences, the karma then becomes agami. This reaction can come the next instant, after a few years or in a future life. Agami Karma An event will always cause a person to react. If the person reacts with a sense of doership and ego there actions will then deposit in to the sanchita store bank of karma and cause the cycle of karma to continue. It is very rare that one does an action without a sense of doership. One still performs a sattvic action (e.g. an action of charity) with the notion of doership. Therefore, we need to be aware that the qualities and intentions behind our actions will in turn affect the quality of our sanchita karma and the resulting future praradbha karmas. It is said that animals do not have a sense of doership and act with instinct only and so they do not collect the effects of their actions. All they can do is exhaust their sanchita karma. A human birth however gives us an opportunity to exhaust our sanchita karmas but also give us the ability to increase the bank to new heights. The key to spiritual progress is to be able to perform actions which will exhaust our sanchita karmas without creating new ones which will lead to future joy or sorrow. Even if we need to collect karmas, then we should make sure that we only collect those ones that will provide happiness in the future and aid our spiritual progress. An application to an example Due to someones past tendencies (sanchita karma) a person gets the desire to rob a bank. This desire is their prarabdha. The desire has now manifested in the mind as a thought and so the person is faced with having to make a choice. They can exercise their freewill and either let their desire drive them so that they rob the bank or they can control their desire and choose not to rob the bank. The choice they make is their agami. Dependent on their choice, that person too will also experience the consequences of their actions. If they rob the bank they will go to jail, if the choose not to they will remain free. Whatever the decision, this choice will still be born out of a sense of doership and so it will leave an impression and deposit on their sanchita karma. The karmic cycle is therefore complete. The quality of the impression together with its future effects however, will depend on the choice made. How is the Karmic cycle broken? How is a realised soul free from the bondage of Karma? Sanchita karma is destroyed by the firm knowledge that I am Brahman alone. Sanchita karma is infinite and therefore cannot be exhausted. The only way to break the cycle is to remove the notion of doership. A person who has firm steadfast knowledge that I am Brahman and am of the nature of Sat Chit Anand will break cycle of ignorance and burn his Sanchita Karma in the fire of knowledge.

For a wise man who has stopped identifying with their body and their actions and is no longer attached to the fruits of their actions whether they bring joy or sorrow; Sanchita Karma is automatically destroyed as it no longer has an owner. Such non-identifiaction is akin to roasting the seeds of Sanchita Karma - they can no longer sprout- they can no longer give rise to any events (i.e prararabdha). Prararabdha Karma can be destroyed only by living through it It should be noted that those actions that are already fructifying as a result of sanchita karma couldnt be stopped from manifesting. This is why a wise man may still be put in conducive or non-conductive situations. For example some Swamis face bad health while some end up living in luxurious surroundings. For a Wiseman, he still just remains the experiencer of these karmas and is untouched by them but from the point of view of an ignorant person, these situations are simply his prarabdha and represent karmas that had already started to grow and need to be exhausted. The actions of a Wiseman Agami karma is also destroyed by knowledge and the wise man is not affected by it as a lotus leaf is not affected by the water on it A Wiseman will still continue to act in the world. What happens to the effects of their actions? As described above, for a person operating without a sense of doership there is no one there to enjoy or suffer the, they are free from the bondage of action so where do they go? Further, to those who praise, serve and worship the wise man, go the results of the actions done by the wise man. To those who criticise, hate or cause pain to the wise man go the results of the unpraiseworthy and sinful actions done by the wise man. Actions must have results. As they wise man is not the enjoyer or sufferer of good or bad results it is said that the good results go to those who love him and the bad to those who hate him. The wise man does not will the results to go to a particular person but the results are distributed according to His Will or this will of the Totality. One who has a purified mind and can recognise his greatness and serve him is likely to attract the good results. Whereas one with a negative mind full of prejudice is likely to attract the bad.

Thus the knower of the Self, having crossed Samsara, attains Supreme Bliss itselfthus ends the Prakarana called Tattva Bodha. Hari Om.