its been long since I posted something on this space. But I guess it was already decided that I would post this blog today; neither a day earlier nor later. All events of my life and yours are predecided on the basis of time and days and seasons and years and man is said to have no influence on the matter. This is what they call destiny and it is a function of this thing called karma.
Considering that I am of the Catholic Faith which frowns upon the concepts of reincarnation and destiny, it is pretty radical of me to say that I believe we do have a say in what is to happen to us in our lives and it is subject to our karma. We Catholics believe in divine intervention: that all things that happen to us are what God intended to happen to us. But I think the God who made the heavens and the earth and gave us life and free will would give us the opportunity to exercise that will and choose what we want for our lives! Karma in that context is very relevant but in a very different hue. Let me tell you how.
Jon is this very successful businessman who has offices all over the globe and is the best at what he does. Although a busy man he is deeply rooted in values and is man of faith and prayer. He has everything in life except for an obedient son. His son, Jon Jr. is this spoilt brat who squanders his father's fortunes on cars, girls and booze and does not care for the family or company. One day his son was driving home after a late night party and meets with an accident with a trailer. He was severely injured and later succumbed to his wounds.
Jon was shattered and could not believe that his only son is no more. He lost faith in God and with time became an Atheist. His business also suffered severely and many of his companies were running into losses. He filed for bankruptcy after 5 years and with the little that he got from his sold property, he started an educational scholarship program in his son's name for deserving students. 20 years later, Jim, an orphan kid from the locality won the scholarship for pursuing his higher studies and made the most of the opportunity. He stood first in his class and in 3 years started a Business of his own which was highly successful.
Now in this thread of events concerning Jon, Jon Jr. and Jim it may seem that Jim benefited from the misfortunes of Jon and his son. It may look like had Jon Jr. not died Jim would not have got the opportunity to become who he is today. However this is where I feel Karma can be redefined. Karma although is a string of acts in the series of causes and effects, in some mysterious ways, not every effect is dependent on the same cause. Jim was an honest & hardworking kid and if it was not the Jon Jr. Scholarship it would have been some other one. He would have pinnacle of success, just the route would have been different.
Another bone of contention I have with karma is the concept of past life/lives affecting the present and future life/lives. Instead I postulate the Theory of the Painter and his Masterpiece. If we are like the colors the painter uses, each of us blends and mixes into other colors, producing new ones and changing the look of the masterpiece. How could a color used by the painter on a previous painting affect the current project? This feeling of sanchita (accumulated karma) I feel is more of other's karma rubbing off onto us and vice versa.
There is this bus by which I travel every Monday from my home in Mumbai to my office in Pune. I have been commuting in that same bus for almost 1 and a half years but never felt like I should remember the bus number. Last week however, I just made a mental note of it. I did not know how it would be of use to me. 5 days later as I returned home on Friday evening I saw a bus completely smashed from the front and in a terrible state on the Expressway. Its number: same as the bus I took on Monday.
Its been 2 weeks since I thought of writing this blog and was not able to complete because I somehow could not define in my words what karma and destiny are. After that day I realized that it is a game of Jigsaw Puzzle we play with God. He lets us fix some pieces in whichever way we want and He fixes the rest of the pieces in a way that the picture of our lives becomes meaningful and one with purpose.
Considering that I am of the Catholic Faith which frowns upon the concepts of reincarnation and destiny, it is pretty radical of me to say that I believe we do have a say in what is to happen to us in our lives and it is subject to our karma. We Catholics believe in divine intervention: that all things that happen to us are what God intended to happen to us. But I think the God who made the heavens and the earth and gave us life and free will would give us the opportunity to exercise that will and choose what we want for our lives! Karma in that context is very relevant but in a very different hue. Let me tell you how.
Jon is this very successful businessman who has offices all over the globe and is the best at what he does. Although a busy man he is deeply rooted in values and is man of faith and prayer. He has everything in life except for an obedient son. His son, Jon Jr. is this spoilt brat who squanders his father's fortunes on cars, girls and booze and does not care for the family or company. One day his son was driving home after a late night party and meets with an accident with a trailer. He was severely injured and later succumbed to his wounds.
Jon was shattered and could not believe that his only son is no more. He lost faith in God and with time became an Atheist. His business also suffered severely and many of his companies were running into losses. He filed for bankruptcy after 5 years and with the little that he got from his sold property, he started an educational scholarship program in his son's name for deserving students. 20 years later, Jim, an orphan kid from the locality won the scholarship for pursuing his higher studies and made the most of the opportunity. He stood first in his class and in 3 years started a Business of his own which was highly successful.
Now in this thread of events concerning Jon, Jon Jr. and Jim it may seem that Jim benefited from the misfortunes of Jon and his son. It may look like had Jon Jr. not died Jim would not have got the opportunity to become who he is today. However this is where I feel Karma can be redefined. Karma although is a string of acts in the series of causes and effects, in some mysterious ways, not every effect is dependent on the same cause. Jim was an honest & hardworking kid and if it was not the Jon Jr. Scholarship it would have been some other one. He would have pinnacle of success, just the route would have been different.
Another bone of contention I have with karma is the concept of past life/lives affecting the present and future life/lives. Instead I postulate the Theory of the Painter and his Masterpiece. If we are like the colors the painter uses, each of us blends and mixes into other colors, producing new ones and changing the look of the masterpiece. How could a color used by the painter on a previous painting affect the current project? This feeling of sanchita (accumulated karma) I feel is more of other's karma rubbing off onto us and vice versa.
There is this bus by which I travel every Monday from my home in Mumbai to my office in Pune. I have been commuting in that same bus for almost 1 and a half years but never felt like I should remember the bus number. Last week however, I just made a mental note of it. I did not know how it would be of use to me. 5 days later as I returned home on Friday evening I saw a bus completely smashed from the front and in a terrible state on the Expressway. Its number: same as the bus I took on Monday.
Its been 2 weeks since I thought of writing this blog and was not able to complete because I somehow could not define in my words what karma and destiny are. After that day I realized that it is a game of Jigsaw Puzzle we play with God. He lets us fix some pieces in whichever way we want and He fixes the rest of the pieces in a way that the picture of our lives becomes meaningful and one with purpose.
