By: B.K.Geeta
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/1776/the-daily-guardian%09/15
Dated: December 14th, 2024
Consider a school with hundreds of students. Suppose there are thirty students in the graduating class. All of them study the same subjects, from textbooks that have the same content, and are all taught by the same teachers. Yet they do not score the same marks in exams. Of course, everyone does not have the same capacity for learning, so some difference in academic performance is to be expected. In addition, commitment to learning varies among students, and two students with the same intellectual capacity may score vastly different grades if one is studious and the other is negligent. The careless student may admire his teachers and adulate them, but if he does not study, will he learn all that he is supposed to? And when he fails his exams at the end of the final term, would it be right for him to blame the teachers for the result – the same teachers, some of whose students passed with distinction?
Many people act like the lax student when it comes to facing the tests of life. They pray to God, extol His virtues, supplicate before Him, and consider their job done. They think it is now God’s duty to ensure that their life goes smoothly, even if they are doing things that yield the opposite results. Just as a student’s grades are determined not by their teacher or school, but by their academic work, the course of our life is decided by what we do, not by God or supernatural forces that we imagine create our destiny. This is what the concept of karma teaches us.
Karma refers to the principle of cause and effect, wherein our actions, thoughts, and intentions influence our future experiences. Every action, whether good or bad, has a corresponding reaction. Positive actions generate good karma, while negative actions result in bad karma. Karma is not just about actions but also about the intentions behind them. Even a good deed done with selfish motives may not generate good karma. Karma also emphasises personal responsibility. Each individual is responsible for their actions and the consequences that arise from them. It is an impersonal law of nature, a natural outcome of actions, unfolding over time, rather than something governed by a deity.
The scriptures underline this fact. In the Bhagavad Gita, God tells Arjuna: “He who does not perform his duties and abandons them to engage in rituals, does not attain liberation. Rather, he lives in vain." The Gita says righteous actions, selfless conduct, and fulfilling one’s duty are key to spiritual development.
The Bible contains the consistent theme that good deeds - especially justice, mercy, humility, and care for the vulnerable - are far more important to God than empty rituals. Prayer, fasting, and other rituals are insufficient on their own if they are not accompanied by genuine transformation in how we live and treat others.
Accepting this truth empowers us, as we realise that we are the creators of our destiny, not its hapless victims. This encourages us to live ethically and take responsibility for our actions. It also frees us from the unhelpful habit of blaming others for our woes, because there is now the recognition that each experience in life is a fruit borne by seeds sown in the past. I, the immortal soul, carry a record of all that I have done, even in past lives, and the results of my actions may manifest themselves any time in the future. God does not reward or punish anyone. Like a teacher, He shows us the way to a happy life. If we choose to walk the path shown by Him, we reap the fruits thereof. If we go astray, then again, the consequences are for us to bear.
It pays to be a good student in the school of life.
B.K. Geeta is a Rajyoga teacher
at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Abu Road, Rajastha
