UNDERSTANDINGS is derived from various sources and yet really from only the one source, source of all sources.

"Upadesa Saram" is considered the supreme legacy of Shri Ramana Maharshi’s teachings. The opening verse of this writing is:

Kartu Ragnaya, Prapyate Phalam.
Karma Kim Param, Karma Tajjadam.

By Divine disposition actions bear fruits.
Is action then paramount? No, it is inert, unconscious.

According to the divine ordinance our karma keep unfolding like one scene after the other scene in a movie. The effects of past bad karma yield unwelcome results; those of good karma yield desirable results or neutralize some of the bad karma. We (our egoes), who are subject to these forces have no control over the results dispensed by these laws.

I (ego) have but limited, perhaps just apparent control over my response to that which unfolds. To think that I am the do-er is a mistake made by the mind, even as in a dream the dream-I continues to believe it is the do-er when in fact it is only “as though doing”.

The best thing “to do” (caution!!) is to teach the mind to silently, patiently watch the movie, including the ego's conditioned responses to that which unfolds, through Choiceless Awareness (J. Krishnamurti). Observation takes place without any choice, motive, judgment or expectation of any personal benefit. (Patanjali Yoga Sutra 4.7: Karma-suklakrsnam Yoginas Trividham Itaresam.)

IF WHAT IS DESCRIBED ABOVE IS "DONE / HAPPENS" THEN THE LOVING, UNDERSTANDING ACCOMMODATION WILL CALM THE CURRENTS OF THE NEGATIVE AND THE POSITIVE; THE NEUTRAL (see Cakras Notes) WILL FLOURISH, NATURALLY AND SPONTANEOUSLY. It is in this state of non-reactive recognition that the right "action" - as opposed to "re-action" - takes place. New karma ceases to be generated by a mind in such a state, as karma is the product of "re-action", that is, the response of the conditioned ego when there is a lack of attention / awareness.

The good effects of good karma do not last forever; that is the only guarantee we have that the effects of bad karma will also not last forever. More importantly, all good as well as bad karma belong to the body-mind-sense complex and hence the effects are only relevant as long as I think that I am the body-mind-sense complex. Once the mind becomes clear that the real I is the Consciousness (atman) then these karma have no effect on the I, the pure Being, as by definition this Being is beyond the reach of space, time and causality.

May the mind learn that I am that Being, that Consciousness. All painful conditions are meant to encourage the mind to learn that ultimate lesson. That is the "yogaschittavritti nirodhaha".

All "my" Love,
Ramanand Patel
March 8, 2011