Saints, sages
and avatars are often ignored, slandered or martyred. We observe that the positions people
hold in life seldom correspond to their inner qualities. Men of real leadership qualities
are seldom found in positions of leadership. Men of true wisdom are seldom found at
the head of educational institutes. Most religious leaders lack in any real spiritual
experience. While we do see instances wherein evil
men fall or are defeated by the good it appears more as an exception than the rule. We see
a world teeming with inequality, wherein the weak and poor are often trampled under. Today
the earth itself is being destroyed, along with much of its plant and animal populations.
It appears that if there is a God, he is not watching over this world and is not involved
with its evolution.
The doctrine of karma, by the common understanding, means "as you sow, so shall you
reap". By this many take it to mean that those who are rich and affluent in life must
be reaping the rewards of past good actions, while those who are poor and destitute are
paying back for previous misdeeds.
Such attitudes of karma are simplistic and erroneous because karma is based upon the inner
reality of things, not upon the outer names and forms of the world. Karma as a spiritual
law is not adjusted according to our various and conflicting cultural definitions of
success and failure. Our life and consciousness is like an iceberg, the greater portion of
it lies beneath the waters of our ordinary awareness. |