SN Kandaswamy in his book THE YOGA OF SIDDA AVVAI, published by Babaji's Kriya Yoga and Publications, Inc, Canada writes, referring to Jainism, a Siddha was one who liberated himself from the clutches of karma that he lists as eight in numbers.
The Jains believe that generally the karmas obscure the following: right knowledge; right perception; right attitude and the bliss nature of the soul. Karma also determines the life span of a human; the specific body form and its qualities; the nationality, family and others; and the inborn energy of the soul.
Agathiyar ask us to look out for opportunities to help another fellow human. Ram Dass in his PATHS TO GOD - Living the Bhagavadgita, published by Harmony Books, New York, refers to the Bhagavadgita where there is a need to view actions as a sacrifice or offering which Ram Dass says is the central component of the Bhagavadgita. Ram Dass too ask us to look around for opportunities to serve as an offering to God. Hence we need to retrain ourselves to accept every act or deed as an exercise in karma yoga.
Ram Dass writes further that every act we do creates vasanas, life vasanas, subtle thought-forms, based on the desires connected with the act. When the physical body dies these subtle life waves continue determining the next round of birth. This is karma. It keeps going life after life until they are spent or exhausted. Ram Dass says the game is only over when there is no more individual desire, and no more separation. He says all of life is a predetermined karmic package that expresses the karmic law. Its a perfect law that keeps unfolding, he adds. Ram Dass says "This present moment is the sum of all that past karma."
Ram Dass beautifully says that even the choices we make arise 'out of a long chain of prior events that absolutely predetermined' our decisions.
To illustrate this he writes about an incident that happened with his guru, Maharajji. After returning to India the second time, and failing to find his guru, he ends up at a retreat in Bodh Gaya. After some time he resumed his search for his guru. A lady from the meditation group offered to take them to Delhi to look for their guru besides celebrating Shiva Ratri there. Subsequently thirty four of them were driven to Delhi in a bus. On nearing Allahabad, one of them insisted to stop over at the site of the Kumbha Mela. Ram Dass was ask to decide after the group could not come to a consensus. Ram Dass too 'wrestled with it', he says. Eventually he decided to turn right onto the Mela grounds. The bus stopped at a Hanuman temple when someone yelled, "There's Maharajji!" The entire group scrambled up to Maharajji and fell at his feet. Maharajji did not seem concerned about the attention given to him but instead just lead them on, himself climbing onto a bicycle rickshaw. The bus load of followers followed the rickshaw through the narrow streets of Allahabad arriving at a devotee's house. The devotee's wife surprises the group saying that they were expecting them since morning, busy preparing food for the entourage on orders from Maharajji. Maharajji had told them to expect thirty five people for dinner!
Ram Dass says "Long before I made my decision, it was already decided" saying thus Ram Dass puts a question to us.
"So if it's already writ in stone, can a guru change your karma?"
Ram Dass writes further. One day Maharajji acted out of the norm by gobbling eight oranges that Ram Dass placed before him. Usually he distributes them to all those around him. A disciple states that the guru was taking on his karma. That reasoning could not set into Ram Dass then.
Hindus choose to believe that 'the guru can free the disciple by taking on his karma in some way or other.'
Ram Dass says of his guru, Maharajji could see the whole pattern evolving. 'When you're at that stage (standing outside time, and observing at the timeline) you see in advance the direction the karmic waves are taking, and you know exactly why it's all happening the way it is.'