191. The Law of Cause and Effect

The most fundamental law there is is the Law of Cause and Effect. Sir Isaac Newton described it in his Second Law of Motion when he said that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The Laws of Karma work the same way. Karma is sometimes instant as when you are training in the Martial Arts - Theow a punch and your training partner throws you ! More usually, though Karma takes longer to work out. It may be days,weeks, years or even whole lifetimes before the effects of your actions come back to you but they do come back.

The technical description of this law in action is that the action done here and now enters your kryamaan, your future sanskara. When you are born you come into the world with this sanskara which is made up of sanchit - everything you need for the lifetime and prarabda - the circumstances into which you ar born which are best suited for the working out of your sanskara. The sanchit interacts with the prarabda and produces each event that befalls you. This is all utterly mechanical and in the absence of your conscious decisions would just play out mechanically. You have the ability to choose your response to any and all situations. By acting to simply meet the need, you will eliminate your past sanskara and prevent the creation of future sanskara, thus freeing yourself from the cycle of birth and death.

104. The Law of Increasing Returns

Most people are familiar with the Law of Diminishing Returns. This states that after you reach a certain point in some situations the more you put in to a system, the less you get back. This point is called the point of diminishing returns and once you reach it, it is time to quit. Unlike this, however, the Law of Increasing Returns operates in the opposite fashion. Just as a farmer gains many more grains of wheat for every one sewn, for every service you render, you gain a multiple of that in return. This only works if it is done with the right mental attitude. If you do it unwillingly or resentfully or for your own profit you will gain nothing back. Only true givers gain.

This is another example of the indifferent action at work. If you do something simply because it needs to be done then it is clean and attracts no karmic energy either good or bad. This opens a path in your karma or sanskara, allowing pure consciousness to light your path. In contrast, a good action will attract good sanskara and a bad one will attract the bad. These clutter up the life and can make things difficult for you. Better to look for no reward unless you are working in a formal arrangement for pay.

15. Doing the Right Thing

Learn to do the right thing always, simply because it is right, and not for the sake of the approval of others. Doing things for external approval is people-pleasing behaviour. It is craven and unattractive and completely insincere. To act simply because it is right is also known as acting indifferently. Acting this way means that you are simply meeting the need that you see in front of you. Acting indifferently does not mean that you don't care; it means that you have no attachment to or desire for the fruits of your action or any advantage you might gain. It is said that good actions are better than bad actions and that indifferent actions are the best of all because they destroy bad sanskara (karma). Indifferent comes from the Latin for not to carry in two - it means to act from unity.