Sadhana Panchakam - Post 55

 

In ordinary existence, the actions we do now, get added to the bundle of Karmas which we have to pay off in our future. 

However, in the case of the saint who has realized his oneness with Brahman, whatever actions he does during the remainder of his life after realization, can bear no Karma in the future. 

Karmas are incurred by one who considers himself as their “Doer”. The saint has no trace of ‘doer-ship’. He holds the feeling that God alone is the doer of everything. His actions therefore cannot create any Karma. As there is no ego-sense in him, his actions cannot leave any trace of Karma. 

The “wisdom” referred to in this step is the wisdom of living and acting without any “doer-ship”, without any ego-sense. All actions are offered to the Divine; they are totally selfless; they have no power to bind the actor. That renders the man of realization exempt from incurring any further Karmas. Such a soul is freed from all past and future Karmas. 

Chitti Balam means “the strength of one’s pure mind.” These words appear significantly in the middle of the sentence, between the past Karmas and the future Karmas, and can therefore be taken to apply to both. Even as a light placed at the doorway between two rooms will light up both rooms, in the same way Chitti Balam applies equally to both the past and the future Karmas. 

When one uses intellect to reflect on the matter of creations of thoughts in Mind, it will be seen that even as earlier thoughts condition the latter thoughts, the later thoughts influence the influence the earlier thoughts, twisting and formatting the mind to a new mind.  

One cannot open one’s Mind to spiritual inputs without the inputs being presented in marks, symbols and words and experiences to which the Mind is familiar and receptive. Completely an unconditioned Mind is difficult for common masses, therefore, one should consider taking a leap to the spiritual from the temporal foundations. 

Therefore, Uddalaka Aruni prevails upon his son Shvetaketu “be receptive, well-disposed one to the temporal as well as the spiritual ones”. 

It is only a receptive one that can intelligently resolve to free him from the effect of subsequent actions, knowing the nature of the performance of his earlier actions, the result which such performances had on his mind and also the result which the performance of action in future would have on one’s mind and the samsara. 

The state of awareness comes when one realizes that a human Mind is an instrument for fulfilling the Divine Intent, and therefore one is obliged to keep it pure and auspicious by performing only such actions as are in accordance with that Divine Intent. As said in Isha Upanishad, having performed his duties in this manner, he strives to live for hundred (many) years.  

When a person becomes a Jivan Mukta, he stops identifying with the body, and his identity is established firmly as the Self. 

The scriptures say such a person – who no more has any sense of doership or enjoyership – does not acquire any Agami Karma, and Self-Knowledge also destroys his Sanchita Karma.  

For a Jivan Mukta, only Prarabdha remains. A Jnani (enlightened person) is like a ceiling fan whose electricity is cut off. But because of past momentum, the ceiling fan still revolves. 

This past momentum is Prarabdha, and since there is no electricity (no doership or enjoyership), there is no new momentum (Agami). 

So since Prarabdha remains, it will continue to give pleasurable and painful experiences. These experiences will only affect the body, because the Jnani being established as the Self is not affected. Therefore the Jnani is immune even to Prarabdha. 

And once Prarabdha is exhausted, Sanchita gone, and no new Agami, there is no Karma left. So there is no reason for the Jnani to acquire a new birth. This is called Videha Mukti, liberation after death. 

Agami Karma is the impact of those new actions, explained in the Karma session as the result of aiming new, fresh arrows available to a human being in every birth, which is pure, neutral, neither red (which would give bad results) nor white ( which would give him good results), where both these red and white were explained as results of  his past Karma, which he carries  as sanchita karma, to be converted to Prarabdha karma in the current birth and  it was also explained that  jiva has no control over the results which these arrows would fetch him as they are already  marked as red or white, bad karma or good karma. 

And, now, let us think of a Jnani in the back drop of so many sessions, so many blog posts where the state of a realized seer or a Jnani has been explained. 

His newer actions in the present life after He realizes SELF, have no trace of Ahankara, no trace of vasana. 

Apart from basic duties towards his family if he is a grahastha, all other actions of a Jivanmukhta are aimed at serving the humanity in whatever way God intuitively commands Him. 

A Jnani may serve explicitly by setting up institutions for education or health care etc, may spread Knowledge by expanding his ashram or even spread Love and peace in society in silence, without doing any service which is apparently seen by the world. 

He is Love, His existence is Love, His breathing is Love, His actions are (in) Love. 

If the readers can close their eyes and imagine such an existence, then the author need not convince them that such LOVE cannot fetch a Jnani any new Karma.

Love.