AGA - Karma And Reincarnation

"Ask Gurudev Anything" (AGA) is a brand new Live & Unscripted Series where the viewer can ask Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar your very own question on a new topic every week.

This week's theme is “Karma & Reincarnation!”

This post is also available in: हिन्दी

July 1, 2021
Bengaluru, India

“Ask Gurudev Anything” (AGA) is a brand new Live & Unscripted Series where the viewer can ask Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar your very own question on a new topic every week.

This week’s theme is “Karma & Reincarnation!”

A guide on the practical understanding of karma & how it can change your outlook on life

Karma is mysterious, unfathomable, and deep. There are many theories on karma. But how does karma affect our daily lives? What part does it play in deciding our actions and relationships? Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar throws light on several questions on karma. The insights shared could be the very answers you’re looking for.

Questions and Answers

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1. What is karma and how exactly does it work?

   Well, karma means action. Action leaves latent impressions in the mind which will give rise to similar situations. Karma has three dimensions: one is the impression of actions that you have in your mind and your consciousness; the second is the action that you are doing in the present. The third is the possible activity or action that may befall you or which you would attract because you have similar impressions within you.

2. Are bad incidents happening due to my past bad life, past karma? What is the fastest way to burn negative karma?

   Karma is not always bad. You might have done some good action in the past which will give you good results too. Some bad experiences in life would be due to past karma. Meditation and Sudarshan Kriya play a big role in removing most of those impressions from the mind and removing the subsequent karma too.

3. Why do we see good bad things happen to good people while the bad people are enjoying life?

   It appears like that because we’ve seen a very small window. If you just expand your awareness these so-called bad people have done something good in the past and that’s giving them those good results. If something bad is happening to good people – knowingly or unknowingly – something must have happened in the past.You don’t get a mango fruit from sowing a neem tree, right? As you sow, so shall you reap. It’s not because of the goodness of a person that he experiences misery, it could be because of their not being smart or being a little foolish, that could be one reason. Another reason is that circumstances or situations could have brought him tough and difficult times. Tough times sharpen your skill, misery in life gives depth. Use every situation – whether it is good or bad – to your advantage.

4. How much time does it take to finish our karmas?

   Karmas can never be finished, karmas continue. It’s like you are asking when will the ocean have no waves? The ocean will have waves but you can rise above the waves, you can surf, that is by being a witness to it, not being reactive but to be a witness to your actions and tendencies. It is possible – any moment, any time.

5. If one is thinking about bad stuff but not doing anything, will it still create karma? Which is more important: thought or action?

   Thought, of course, is important but you have no control over all your thoughts, do you? Good thoughts come, bad thoughts come. As long as you don’t identify with them, and think, ‘Oh this is my bad thought,’ you are free. Do you see what I am saying? Thoughts come and go, don’t worry about them, don’t chew on them or resist them. This is the way to sail over those impressions.

6. Is the meeting between two people decided by karma? Then is love also karma?

   Oh yes, of course. Good karma is that which brings you happiness, brings you joy, merits in life, makes you ecstatic. Things you do to hurt yourself and which are harmful to others are also because of karma.Don’t get stuck to good karma and bad karma. Just move on. Sweet and bitter experiences come and go, arguments happen in any relationship. If you go on analyzing it, there is no end to it. Being smart is just taking them all in one go and not being bothered about it.

7. I am 27 and I still don’t have a girlfriend. Is that because of some past karma or am I doing something wrong?

   Whatever is the past that is already done, you cannot repair the past. You can’t now go back to when you were 17 and try to have a girlfriend at that time but it’s open to you now. Come on, wake up, you do what you want to do. That is your current action, right? You are free to do what you want to do now. Don’t think you are bound by karma so much that you have no freedom at all. Let me give you a simple example: we have this huge confusion in our mind about life being all karma or is there free will also in it? Life is a combination of free will and destiny. Karma and karma swatantra are both with you. Your height is determined, it’s destiny but your weight is your free will. Though you have not inherited a huge wealth of the past, nothing can stop you from dreaming about it and creating it in the future.

8. People say things happen because of karma, sometimes they say it happens because of planets. Are the two connected? What is really governing a person’s life?

   Your will governs your life. Make your will strong and know that you can overcome the past impressions as well and if you are not focused on your will or what you want, of course, it will get overpowered and your life gets overpowered by the past impressions, past karma. It’s like this: you have a certain amount of money with you to start a business and suppose you don’t think about multiplying your capital and you just sit with it, what will happen? Whatever you have earned, that capital will drain, it will finish over a period of time. In the same way, your karma is your capital but your present action, the karma that you do now can make it grow and if there is a debt the present karma can nullify it. So if it’s negative karma it can be nullified, if it’s positive karma you don’t want to get rid of your positive karma, do you? Nobody wants to get rid of the impact of positive karma, your merits, that will grow, you can make it grow.

9. What happens to our karma when we get a master and what karma is needed to get one in life?

   You need to have some karma to get into this spiritual path, no doubt about it. But once you are on the path, you will see most of the impressions which were not conducive for evolution will all fall apart. What’s good, right, suits your dharma, and your nature only will carry you forward. That’s what happens when you have a master.

10. Is there collective karma of the world as well? Whose bad karma is responsible for COVID-19?

    There is collective karma, family karma, and karma for a group. Collective communities have karma, geographical places have karma. That’s why they say unfathomable is the ocean of karma. Because the entire creation is filled with action. There is action everywhere and so it follows, there are reactions everywhere. Just don’t go and scratch your head on this, see the past as destiny, the future as your free will, and live happily in the present.With the COVID-19, yes, I strongly believe, rather I know, it’s a man-made virus. Some people may not agree with it or maybe wondering about it, but time will tell them it’s man-made. Deliberately or inadvertently, a man-made virus has escaped and it has caused havoc in the world. Analyzing it, yes there is individual karma connected to it, collective karma connected to it and some people had to die with it. That is also a part of karma.

11. I’m 45 years old. Is my next reincarnation already fixed at this point of time in my life?

    No, there are still ways to correct it. You can choose your next reincarnation.

12. Is it true that eventually, everyone will fulfill their destiny no matter what they do?

    Mostly. Some may postpone it to the next life also.

13. Can we nullify all karmas in a single life irrespective of our spiritual successes?

    Yes, that’s possible. That should be the goal; you should nullify all the karmas here, right now. That is when you are jubilant, happy when you’re full of enthusiasm—your mind is free. Know that this is your true, original state of consciousness, your nature of your life. And if we exit this world with that state, we are free.

14. If animals don’t have karma, then what decides their rebirth?

    The process of evolution decides that. Animals do have impressions. The biggest fear would form their greatest impression. Like a rat will eventually be born a cat because the rat fears the cat or a snake. All animals have a mind. The last impression in the mind gives them similar bodies in the future.

15. Why is the memory of our previous life erased when we are born?

    It’s good! Just remember that if you still carried all those memories, you can’t live this life happily. You should thank God for erasing all the memories so you can live and enjoy life afresh, now and here.Something is written on the blackboard and then you dust them, right? You clean them to write again. Suppose it’s written and you keep overwriting all the old impressions, it’s a big confusion. You already have enough to get confused here and you want to carry all those past impressions – the amount of money you earned, the buildings you bought, the people who are enjoying it today – you will be burning with all these memories. It’s good you don’t remember all that.
    Your life is fresh and alive now and it’s not rocket science to know about it – it’s no big deal. You can go deep in the eternity process to past lives – you can remember what all you did and where all you were. It’s a simple thing. I want to ask you one thing: You’ve had so many dreams – have you counted the number of dreams you’ve had? Are you trying to relive your dreams that you got a few nights back? No, dreams are dreams, they come and go and then you’ve forgotten about them, right? You wake up and you’re active. It’s a boon that you don’t remember the past.

16. My strongest impression is my wife. Will I be born again as a husband? Please save me from this.

    There will be a connection. If your strongest impression is your wife, then definitely both will come together. Maybe in different forms, you don’t know what form you choose to take. There is a saying in India during wedding ceremonies that goes, “We’ll be together for seven lifetimes.” They don’t count this lifetime, they count lifetimes. In the past maybe we were together, in the future we’ll be together.But you have a choice. You don’t have to have that strongest impression until the end. Let your mind reflect your true nature – you are beauty, you are truth, you are compassion, you are love. See that you are much more than a husband or a wife. You are a beautiful human being on the planet and we must learn to connect with the entire creation. We must learn to connect with nature. We must see ourselves through the eyes of quantum mechanics. Do you understand what I mean by quantum mechanical eyes? It’s viewing the entire universe as energy, a field of energy. Then a big shift happens with your own identity. That is the way to be free.

17. What is the connection between our karma and our DNA? Is there one?

    DNA is physical, karma is much more than physical. Of course, DNA is part of karma. Karma is not just the impression at the gene level, but it’s also the impression at the level of the mind and the consciousness. It’s like software and hardware. You have both in a computer, they’re connected – that’s how it is.

18. How can we make sure we are born wherever you are coming back?

    Know that your intentions, wishes, and desires are very powerful. Don’t underestimate your will and desires. You got the answer!

19. How do we get our desired reincarnation? What should one do to be able to choose their future life — is it in our hands?

    Of course! Your future is in your hands. You can mold it, you can change it, you can turn it. Karma is not a fatalistic theory, who said karma is fatalistic? No! Karma tells you about what you have and what are your possibilities. It keeps open the possibilities in front of you. That’s what it is.

20. If a person’s actions and thoughts are driven by past karma, how do we switch lanes and act according to dharma and how do we know what is our dharma?

    You need to get a little intuitive, you need to follow your gut feeling. Your dharma is what you do when you feel absolutely at ease and you feel you’re doing the right thing.Adharma is when you do something and something inside of you is pricking you. You have that prick that’s saying, “Hey, this is not right, you are not doing the right thing!” That prick inside tells you, you are not doing your dharma or you’ve moved away from your dharma. Dharma is your nature and life is a perfectly blended cocktail of dharma and karma, it’s not just one.
    If you want to follow your dharma, you need your karma to support you. And to do good karma, you have to be in your dharma. Your true nature, which is dharma, that which supports your upliftment and evolution is dharma. When you go against it, you feel very uncomfortable in life, not just emotionally, but deep within. Like you need to do something different.

21. Gurudev, how do we get out of this endless cycle of life and death?

    First of all, why do you want to get rid of life and death? You want to get rid of it because it is miserable. You want to get rid of misery, not the life and death cycle. Suppose you were asked to come back to this planet and do some good work; suppose you have to become an avatar. Why wouldn’t you do it? All these issues come to us when we are self-centered, only focused on what we want. But if your life is focused on doing good to others, you should come back, why wouldn’t you? Yes, we want to be free of the cycle of life and death because it is causing more misery because we are running after pleasure. The day we say: I want nothing, I’m happy, now I’m here—that shift has already happened, liberation and freedom have already come to you. Our desires are our bondage and contentment is our liberation.

22. When one’s karma is cleared, where does the soul go and what happens to it?

    You might have cleared some of the past karma, but in the present, you are acting. When you are acting, you are collecting more karma. Karmas might not all be bad, you do some good karma and good karma brings you more happiness in life, more joy, more light, more wisdom. You say I want neither good nor bad, no pleasure, no pain, and that state is samadhi, where you go in deep meditation and you find yourself only as a witness to all action.In some ways, it happens to all of us. Everyone would have experienced this. Sometimes you are doing something but without your intention. Hasn’t this happened to you? Sometimes you shouted at somebody that you didn’t want to shout at and then you felt sorry about it. It’s not just you who is shouting, the other person’s karma also pulled that thing out of you and so you behaved that way. The person you shouted at also has a part to play here and is a part of the action. Suppose you shouted at somebody and that person’s karma also has something to do with your shouting. Similarly, in life, you are a witness to many actions that you are not really involved. Whether good action or bad action, you find yourself as a witness and this is worth noticing in life. That gives you eternal freedom, that makes you free. That’s enlightenment: when you act without getting afflicted by the action.

This post is also available in: हिन्दी