Triple yearnings, triplets of divinity
It is
only natural and reasonable to expect that this vast flow, this constant
movement must have something fixed and unmoving as its base and support. This
is exactly what is posited as Atma or the Supreme Brahman (Parabrahman).
The
very first vibratory movement on that base happened when the Supreme Brahman
became the Highest Godhead (Parameswara)
and expressed the three thirsts for wisdom (jnana),
wish, and action. That very movement was known as the primordial act (karma), the act of Being, transforming
itself into becoming, the act of creation (srishti).
The
importance of action (karma)
necessitated the triple aspects of Divinity: Brahma (who causes creation),
Vishnu (who supports and sustains) and Maheswara (who dissolves and destroys).
The law of karma rules the motions of the stars, the planets, the galaxies, and
other heavenly bodies in space. The same law directs and con trols all that
happens in all the worlds. It is inscrutable in its very essence. No one can
penetrate the time or space when karma was not. What, why, when, and how events
happen is beyond the capacity of people to predict with accuracy. They are laid
down from eternity to eternity.
Experience non-action in action and vice versa
Just
as a work being done or an activity that is engaging one can be referred to as
karma, no work being done and no activity being engaged in are also karma! On
seeing people silent and calm, sitting quiet and doing nothing, we infer that
they are free from activity. How, then, can they be described as doing
activity? What is meant by saying, “They are not doing any work; they are not
engaged in any activity”? That statement means only that “They are engaged in
keeping themselves away from any work or activity.”
So, it
can be affirmed that people sometimes are busy doing work and sometimes busy
keeping work away from their attention; that is to say, they are engaged in
activity (karma) as well as
inactivity (a-karma). If they are not
engrossed or attached with the action they do and are engaged in it as their
duty, as their way of worship, and if they are not attached to the fruit of
their action, then they can practice inactivity even in action. This is the
highest spiritual discipline.
The
very first act with which the career of a living being starts is “breathing and
vibration of vital airs”. When one thinks of it, it is wonderful how it
happens. It is an amazing mystery. No human being resolves, at the moment of
earthly life, to draw in and breathe out the air that exists around him. It
proceeds without being willed or wished for. Not only people but every living
organism is evidence of this great marvel.
Doubts
may be raised: How can anything happen to people without their knowledge or
their resolution? It is best to answer this doubt by confessing that people
can’t unravel such secrets. Even if an attempt is made to reply that nature is
the cause, the question still remains: What exactly is nature? Breathing begins
when life begins; it is an automatic, natural act, it is said. But all this is
only saying the same thing in other words. They do not explain anything. It can
as well be said that we are ignorant how it happens just when it is most
essential. It is indeed surprising that the act of breathing is a mystery even
to the person who breathes.
As you think, so you become
When
we reflect on the fact that yogis exercise their will and stop their pulse
beats and their inhaling-exhaling process, we realize the power of will in
inducing action (karma). Action, we
can infer, is not something hanging loose in midair! Unless we become doers,
deeds do not emanate. An axiom in the Nyaya Sastra says:
As one
knows, so one wishes; as one wishes, so one acts (na jnathi, icchathi yathathe). The Vedanta Sutras also proclaim the
same truth.
That
on which attention rests, that is the thing wished for (yad-dhyaayathi, thad icchathi). That on which the wish rests, that
is the thing for which deeds are done (yad-icchathi
thad karothi).
That
for which deeds are done, that is what he becomes (yath karothi, thadbhavathi). The manifest nature of the individual
is moulded by desire. One shapes oneself in line with hopes, aspirations,
attempts, and achievements. Even one’s own future life is designed through
one’s decisions and deeds. The force that one’s “reason” exerts on oneself and
that directs one’s will in specific directions is known as nature (prakriti). When once it is discovered
that one’s own level of intelligence is the prime factor in determining one’s
inclinations and desires, then, it is easy to follow the means by which one can
win release from the hold of nature.
continued...
Love.
