We often wonder, especially when we suffer, why things happen the way they do; and what can we do to avoid such situations in the future. Similarly, we ask ourselves the same questions in moments of extreme joy too, trying to figure out exactly what led us to such tremendous happiness, and how we can recreate that joy again. The answer to these questions is simple – it’s the result of karma. Let us understand this in some more detail.
As explained by Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, an enlightened being, it is our karmic accounts that determine what happens to us; and also how, when and in which manner it happens. Everything that happens in our life is an effect of the karmic seeds sown by us previously, which are bearing fruit today.
If the seeds sown have been in the form of good deeds (punya karma), we are rewarded with happiness, prosperity and joy; but if we’ve sown bad deeds (paap karma), we will be punished with pain and suffering. While we are experiencing karmic fruits, we simultaneously continue to sow new seeds; and thereby entangle our future life too. This continues life after life, resulting in a vicious cycle of birth and death.
But do you know, there is a way to break free from karmic entanglements and end this cycle?!
Yes, and that way is through Self-Realization!!!
Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan explains that we are really a Pure Soul. That is our real identity; and the rest that we identify with is all relative. In reality, we are neither the body, nor the name given to identify the body. Neither thoughts, nor the speech, nor the action are really ours. That which is relative, by nature is temporary. Therefore, our relative identity arises and in course of time it passes away, whereas our real identity is permanent; it is the same forever.
It is only after Self-Realization that we realize, ‘I am a Pure Soul.’ And thereon, since we experience the fruits of our karma in the awareness of the real, we do not sow new karmic seeds; and hence there will be no new karmic entanglements taking place thereafter.
Thus, the key to break free from karmic entanglement begins from Self-Realization.
However, Self-Realization cannot be attained on our own. Only the One who is Self-Realized can help us attain the same. A few thousand years ago, this knowledge came to us through the Tirthankars like Lord Mahavir. And in this day and age, when Tirthankaras are no more, fortunately, the path of Akram Vignan has become available through Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan where we are able to attain Self-Realization through the direct grace of the Enlightened One.
After Self-Realization, what remains are only the old karmic entanglements, the seeds of which have been sown in the past life already. Following the words of the enlightened One, slowly even those entanglements ease out and eventually get released. Hence, we can say that anyone who attains Gnani, the Énlightened One’s blessings, and with true surrender and unshakable faith in his heart follows Gnani’s words, is sure to break free from all karmic entanglements and experience Moksha – the ultimate liberation!