A human mind, as great as it may be, is riddled with its own impediments. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali identify these as ignorance (अविद्या, avidya), ego (अस्मिता , asmita), attachment (राग, raga), aversion (द्वेष, dvesha), and clinging to life (अभिनिवेश , abhinivesha). These five kleshas (क्लेश) are impediments to enlightenment.
The five kleshas produce vrittis (वृत्ति) in our mind. If mind was to be thought of as a reservoir or a lake, then the kleshas are like the rock being thrown into it, and the vrittis are the ripples on the surface of the water. This, of course, makes it difficult to see the bottom of the lake. In other words, the vrittis prevent self-realization.
When an action (कर्म, karma) is performed, it results in some fruits; good or bad. If a karma is virtuous, its fruit is virtuous. Likewise, when a karma is non virtuous, its fruit is unfavorable. This is the law of karma. The root of this karma is in the klesha. To complete the cycle, this karma also reinforces the kleshas further. Kleshas provoke an individual to act in a certain manner – good or bad. Those actions further reinforce the kleshas. “There is a vicious cycle: kleshas provoke karma, and the karma fuels the kleshas“, writes Edwin Bryant in Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Every karma is stored in the chitta (चित्त, mind lake) as a samsakara (संस्कार). The frequency or karma determines the intensity of samskaras in the chitta. And the intensity of the samskara determines the “time it takes for the seeds of karma to fructify – whether in this life or a future one”.
When a person dies, the chitta does not. It continues to the next body along with its samskaras and repository of karma. At the time of the new birth, only a portion of the accumulated karma from past lives is activated (प्रारब्ध-कर्म, prarabdha-karma). The rest lies dormant (संचित-कर्म, sanchita-karma) in the new life, and in some cases many subsequent lives. In any new life new karma is also being accumulated, which is known as sanchiyamana-karma (संचियामण-कर्म). The best outcome one can hope for in a life is for the dormant to stay dormant, and to accumulate no new karma. Prarabdha-karma will still have to run its course though. The absolute best outcome in a life, however, is to resolve all the past karma, accrue nothing new, and shut down the samsara (cycle of rebirth).
What humans really are are a mechanical runoff of their past karma
– Ram Dass
Can good karma destroy bad karma? That’s a logical question, which one wonders about sooner or later. In order to understand that mechanism, it is important to understand two important nuances of karma beyond the action itself; beneath the action there is its intentionality. And sometimes, just the intentionality.
Karma is not just physical action. Karma includes thoughts, and intention. Killing a being, thinking of killing a being, and hating a being so much so as to be wishing death on that being, they all accrue karma. A murder does not have to happen on the physical plane alone. An emotion piles up the karma as well. This is the reason forgiveness is often cited as the first step to reduce karma. “Forgiveness breaks the cycle of bad karma for both parties”, as Vaisesika Dasa reminds us.
An obvious first step to attending to past bad karma is to overshadow them with good karma. Both active and dormant bad karma can be addressed with yoga related activities. Bad karma of the current lifetime can be resolved with penance (प्रायश्चित्त, prayaschitta). Confession, repentance, pranayama, kriya yoga are some ways to prayaschitta. However, ordinary prayaschitta will not erase bad karma of the past lives. “The karmas of past lives can only be assuaged or erased altogether by intense tapas or austerities under the guidance of a guru.”
Your life is a game tailor-made for you. There is no error in this game. What is offered to you in life is determined by your karma. How you play in it is determined by your ego.
– Ram Dass
Karma Management is the biggest gift an individual can gift to him/herself. While there is formal, well-structured, and method-intense approach to do so, the first thing an individual can do is to understand the five kleshas and start attempting to observe and address them. To use the wisdom of Vaisesika Dasa, it is time we move from Karmically Prompted Mind (KPM) to Dharmically Engaged Mind (DEM).
धार्मिक छवियाँ 