"The very first step in understanding what this is all about is giving up the concept of an active, volitional 'I' as a separate entity and accepting the passive role of perceiving and functioning as a process." - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

You Reap What You Sow

Sri Saradamma

When a person dies all the karma he has accumulated is carried over into the next life. All of it must be experienced, both the consequences of the good actions and the consequences of the bad actions. The good karma does not wipe out the bad karma, nor does any amount of puNya (merit) wipe out even the smallest piece of papa (demerit or sin).

Some people say that a person's last thoughts affect his next birth. There is a common belief that if a person dies thinking of God, then he will automatically go to heaven or get a good rebirth. This is not so. If a person has led a bad life and dies saying, "Ram Ram", then he will still have to experience all the consequences of his bad actions. Saying "Ram Ram" when he dies will not help him at all.

It doesn't really matter how a person dies; it doesn't matter whether he is conscious or unconscious, whether he dies while meditating or while committing sins. If he has not realized the Self he will be reborn again; if he is reborn again he will have to experience the consequences of everything that he has done before.

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सर्वभूताधिवासं यद्भूतेषु च वसत्यपि।
सर्वानुग्राहकत्वेन तद्स्म्यहं वासुदेवः॥

That in whom reside all beings and who resides in all beings,
who is the giver of grace to all, the Supreme Soul of the universe, the limitless being:
I AM THAT. -- Amritabindu Upanishad