Welcome to Day 38 of our 40-Day Retreat.
Yesterday we spoke about the field and the nature of the field. We dealt with duality, saying that the field is a field of duality carrying both positive and negative qualities.
Field is self-protective and self-regulating
It has been exciting to explore the field and to see that there are many levels operating in the field. It is multi-dimensional. We saw too that duality is in the field. Sometimes, like I said yesterday, it may challenge us but there is a wonderful law in the field that protects the field. So if we think that destruction can get out of hand, it can’t! The field is a self-regulating, self-protective field. The law that governs the field is a very powerful law or principle called the Principle of Karma by the Hindus. But of course, it is a principle; it does not belong to any tradition.
Every action has its consequences
Science explains this in a very simple way in one of its physical laws. It says that to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. There is also a Biblical quotation: “As you sow, so shall you reap.” Karma says that to every action there is also a consequence; that action and consequence are not separate. Whenever there is some action, there is also some consequence. You see this if you look carefully each time you act. And I use “act” in a broad sense, meaning that even thinking is an internal action; creating and generating an emotion is a subtle action creating an intention and desire. It is an action inside. Of course, there are physical actions in the outer world.
Each time you act there is a consequence. In a very simple sense, each time you think, you leave an impression in the mind. So there is the consequence of an impression in the mind. When you send your thought out in the Universe, that may also arise in the mind of someone around you. Therefore another consequence is the thought going out into the Universe and arising in the mind of somebody else. And that somebody else may act so it can lead to a series of consequences. When it goes into the mind of another, it leaves an impression in their mind. When you physically act, the same happens. You leave an impression in the world and you leave an impression within you. So these are consequences.
Consequences can be harsh and destructive
According to the law of duality, consequences may be negative or positive based on our actions and our intentions. If your intentions are malicious or destructive then the consequences may also be very painful or miserable. So when you act in your Universe there is going to be consequences of your action, and sometimes you may not be aware of the seriousness of these consequences.
Consequences can have far reaching reactions
You may simply think “I want to die” just as a random thought in the mind, but it isn’t. It creates an impression in your mind that is going to stay together with the emotion of the event. It is going to influence every cell within you, and that’s a consequence. The cells in turn are going to react in a certain way. This energy “I want to die” is going to travel in the space around you as a subtle energy vibration, and it is going to influence or affect those around you who are in tune or sensitive to your energy. It is going to leave even the seat you sit on and things you touch with the energy.
Therefore, so many things are going to happen just from that one thought “I want to die.” These consequences are also going to have reactions. After a while the cells may even begin to prepare themselves to die. You end up with certain kinds of disease that become destructive, like an auto-immune disease when the body begins to destroy itself. Or you have everybody in the space who can feel your energy becoming miserable and sad. Or you begin to have this thought in your mind everyday and it becomes so strong that you actually begin to want to do something that is destructive.
Here you can see how action is having consequences. In a good sense if you do something to uplift the body and to uplift people around you, the consequences are going to be uplifting, beneficial and good.
You are the sum total of all your experiences
The principle says that whenever you act, there is going to be reaction. To every cause there is an effect. If you just consider who you are now as a person, know that you are the result of all the experiences that you have had. That’s what you are now. The ego within is really a reflection of the sum total of your experiences: mentally, emotionally, intentionally, and physically. Understanding this law or principle allows you to understand why you are how you are! And by the same token, it gives you an opportunity to transform that. In the same way that you perform actions that brought you where you are now, likewise you can perform action to change that if you wish.
When we think that there are people around us who seem to be doing all the negative things and they appear to be happy, I think it is important to look at the future. Now they may seem to be happy. For example, a person may seem to be happy eating anything. The person has a healthy body so is eating everything. However, you have to be careful about what you eat because your health is very delicate.
Do not judge others; no one escapes the Law
The person sitting next to you, however, is eating all the different foods. You are thinking, “Wow! Look at this person. He seems to be really having the best of everything.” But if you were to look down the line, you may see something that the person will not like to see. Though the body is healthy now and can accommodate all these different kinds of foods, they are going to wear down the body and the immune system. So the person will have to be very careful. There you have action and consequence.
When we see people around us who seem to be happy and everything seems to be good for them, or they appear to be doing negative things and they all seem to be working out, we need to think, “Are they living on the good fruits of past actions?” Like a person who worked very hard and now has a lot of money but is spending everything carelessly; that person is not going to be so happy in the future. So we should not be quick to judge when we look at the world, and quick to say that “this one will get away with this, and that one will get away with that,” because there is a law in the Universe that does not allow you to get away with anything. No one shall escape, no matter if it appears so.
Each time you act, be wise in action
There is a saying from the old folks: “If you are digging a hole for someone, be careful, you might fall into the hole.” It means you are also doing something bad for yourself. There is another saying: “If you live in a glass house, do not throw stones.” Yet another saying: “What goes around comes around.” These are very simple sayings that show you what happens in life. You need to be very careful. Each time you act you need to think, “What is the consequence of this action?”
Concept of reincarnation – to fulfill unresolved desires
If we extend this way of thinking over lifetimes, then when a person leaves a body after a lifetime of experiences, the person carries all these consequences inside of them: from the thoughts, the desires, the actions. They need to come back. Or the force of these impressions of themselves is going to bring them back, because all these impressions inside that are unfulfilled or unresolved need to be expressed again. This is the idea of Reincarnation – that you come back in a body so that you express all those unfulfilled and unresolved impressions or desires that are within.
We have choices in every moment
The question is “Can we use this principle or law to free ourselves from all the bondages we have created? From all the traps we have got caught in that hold us in the misery of this existence? Can we untie them that we may be free?” That is the question!
Another question is “Can I see how my past actions and my past thinking have created what I am now? Do I like what I am now?” This gives us a way of looking at ourselves critically, being able to analyze who we are now, and to be able to plan for the future. Of course, it gives us the power of being aware of choices in the moment, “Now, let me look at all the possibilities and let me choose that which will create a better consequence.” It gives me power in the moment to create my future.
I leave you to contemplate this. No one escapes the law. The law is the law of the field. For me, this is such important knowledge.
Post-meditation words:
Remember every action has consequences. Think before you act.
