Cycle of Desires, The Wheel of Karma
- What were you before your birth?
- When does the unformed foetus which is made up of billions of cells which takes shape in a mother's womb change into a separate human life? When did life actually enter into that foetus?
- What exactly is life? How will it be? How can we evaluate life by modern scientific methods?
Man takes birth again and again. Is it as a result of past karma? At this date, there is no scientific explanation for karma.
To understand karma, here is a small story ...
A miracle happened in the life of a stone cutter.
A fairy appeared before him and told him, 'From today, you will become whoever and whatever you would like to be.'
The stone cutter had always wanted to be rich, very rich and he wished he could become the king, and instantly he became the king.
He slept happily that night, 'there is no one more powerful than me from now.' The next morning, the stone-cutter who had then become king, wanted to go round his city in his chariot and called his minister.
The minister said: 'Oh king! It has been raining heavily from yesterday and you cannot ride in the chariot.'
The king thought: 'Is the rain more powerful than I? Then I should become the rain. Forthwith, he became the rain.'
He was extremely happy as the rain and flooded the city. Suddenly, there came a strong gust of wind which scattered away the clouds and stopped the rain.
Very angry at this, the rain thought: 'Is the wind more powerful than I! All right, then I must become the wind.' The rain instantly changed into wind.
The wind became very happy and blew hard and fast. It uprooted very big trees and destroyed many houses too. But, try as it might it could not do any thing with the mountains.
'What? Are the mountains and the rocks in it more powerful than I? I then wish to become a mountain.' The moment he thought so, he turned into a mountain.
At dawn, a stone cutter came to the mountain and began to cut on the rock face. The mountain could do nothing. Every cut and blow hurt terribly.
Even as the mountain thought, 'Is this stone cutter so powerful that I cannot stop him even though he hurts me? I may then as well be a stonecutter,' the mountain changed into a stonecutter.
The stone cutter returned to his starting point. One cycle was completed. How he has to be hereafter depends upon his desires. This is what continuously happens due to desires.
The stone cutter would not have continued upon such a cycle if at any stage he had remained contented and happy with whatever nature had bestowed on him, and without any pride whatsoever.
It was only because, at every stage of his desires, he did not feel fulfilled that he had to go frantically searching: what next? What next?
What we call karma, is the collection of unfulfilled desires and unsatisfied aspirations that we accumulate during our lives.
Enlightened Masters and incarnation appear from time to teach each one of us how to stop the wheel of karma and attain the state of bliss.
Some questions for those who may think that it is rather difficult to understand about karma:
- Why, out of two children born in the same house, is one child intelligent and the other dull?
- Why is it that only a few people are very lucky? Why do a few people suffer and fail in whatever they do?
- Why do a few people contract chronic diseases even though they do not have any bad habits?
The reason for all these is the result of activities of one's previous births and the accumulation of unfulfilled desires and discontentment!
If the awareness is brought to eliminate these desires, the wheel of karma can be stopped. Suffering can be stopped.
An easy method to make that awakening happen is meditation. Enlightened Masters arrive on this planet earth, so as to educate people at different periods in these steps: Raise ourselves in awareness through meditation.
Examine our desires thoroughly.
Find out which are practically feasible.
Enjoy and experience fully those desires which are actually possible.