THE KARMIC CYCLE

A beautiful message from Sanjivji, New Delhi.

William Shakespeare has so beautifully written: 

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages.

At first, the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.

Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school.

And then the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad

Made to his mistress' eyebrow.

Then a soldier,

Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,

Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,

Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth.

And then the justice,

In fair round belly with good capon lined,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws and modern instances;

And so he plays his part.

The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound.

Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. 

I have sometimes wondered if there is a karmic cycle too. The karmic cycle may also repeat itself with the incidences which happened in some previous lifetime manifesting in some form or other. It may not be the same but could be related… an extension …an offshoot…. something much lighter…. maybe grosser. Who can predict the divine’s play? It may be possible that some of these incidences would have been explained to us by an evolved soul or through a nadi reading. We may have ridiculed ourselves for having made such blunders. We then went on to complete the parihars and silently thought, "How could have I?” In this merry go round of life in addition to the stages are tests at every step. 

The pitfalls are many those who falls do not realize that they have missed another chance to get out of this vicious cycle and those who still walk do not know what’s round the corner. So we need to pray for those who have fallen to give them enough strength and wisdom to distinguish between right and wrong and also for those who are still walking to give them enough wisdom and strength to hold on tight. 

The Guru is on a higher pedestal than that of God. He is the one who helps us overcome all pitfalls. He is the one who shows us the ways to improve our karmas and keeps sending subtle warnings when we go wrong. He is the one who will see us through this test and see to it that we come out with flying colors and mind it this karmic cycle will confront each and every one of us this test we all have to clear with distinction. 

Imagine being told in a nadi reading that you did not respect your Guru or did not heed his advice and in a previous lifetime and in our current life we come across people who will slander and talk ill about evolved souls and want us to tow the same thoughts. We may or may not choose to ignore such people. The choice is ours. 

In the merry go round of life we will meet such people and this happens more than once. Each time we come across a different person badly wanting us to toe his thoughts to pollute us and take us away from this beautiful journey He has already fallen straight into the pit. We could too, so let’s tread carefully. The choice becomes ours whether we have to hold on tightly and somehow get out of this never ending circle of life and death or let go and once again open our eyes to find ourselves in the same vicious circle. 

We need to give back to creation in whatever form we can. Help a friend, a neighbour, an acquaintance, someone unknown, someone hungry, some voiceless creatures, stop slandering. After all we do not know which test was for us. 

We may decide to contribute our bit to creation or may choose to ignore but the tests will take place as scheduled on the destined day and time. Are we prepared? 

It is here that the grace of Agastya works……