The World Of Wellness And Karma
Wellness is not an abstract concept. It has a definite relationship to karmic input in the present continuous sense
Dr S. Radhakrishnan, eminent philosopher, who also served as the Vice President and President of our Republic in his work “words of wisdom" said "the law of karma says that each individual will get the return according to the energy he puts forth”. This is the input to output equation of the world of physical sciences.
Karmic flow is an energy flow. If we understand this, it is easy to address the confusion of the physical versus the spiritual. In popular Indian belief, karma is seen in a fatalistic sense. It is believed that all of your past karmas cause whatever happens to you in your present life. This is incorrect as an interpretation. In our traditional worldview, there is past karma. It is explained as Prarabdh. But there is also an awakening that leads to Kriya, action.
Think of a relay race – four runners run in sequence. Imagine you are all four. as the fourth runner, you can run harder to negate the falling behind from the earlier three sprint. This, loosely put, is Sambhav kriya or affirmative action.
The famous saint, Samarth Guru Ramdas gave emphasis on physical, conjoined with spiritual consciousness. In his estimation, Prayatna ( effort) is Parameswara (supreme being). Thus, effort equals success. No matter what the subconscious impulse may, the conscious mind can be trained to anchor itself in effort. An athlete knows that without training no real result or improvement is to be expected. The kriya or action of Puja or devotion can itself lead to realisation. In turn, realisation can lead to moksh or salvation. This – to my understanding – is the essence of it all. And on this thousands of commentaries and treatises have been composed.
Now let us ask : What is consciousness ?
Consciousness is plugging into the universal, ultimate reality. Karma is the path to such consciousness. Imagine yourself in a closed phone. You open a window and you see the outside world. If you go to the roof, you will see more. The room is now under your feet. Imagine again that you are standing on the road outside and seeing the room, from afar. In conscious terms, all are the same reality, but you see them from different perspectives. Such as the relationship between inner and outer consciousness too.
In the Upanashidic thought, there is a universe outside (Vaahya) and an equal universe within (Antar). We can develop our consciousness to be like a watchguard over our unconscious impulses. Of these physical consciousness is the easiest to cultivate. Sensory perception needs no preparation. It happens merely because we are possessed of physical sensory organs.
Imagine you see musicians playing on a stage. You can see and hear them. Then you close your eyes, and still, you can hear the music. Then, at another time, you may recreate the scene and the music only in your mind. These are all examples of varying degrees of consciousness.
In the Indian spiritual tradition, a Siddha or realised being sees and experiences without constraint of time and space. Likewise, a Siddha has to conquer the senses first becoming a JitIndriya. Above all, there is a trikaal darshi - who sees the past , present and future. In the Indian tradition, levels of consciousness have been defined. First, there is the material or physical phenomenon. Secondly, there is the semantical or reference based phenomenon and thirdly, there is the spiritual phenomenon which is more “about the aboutness”.
Here, physical pain would be the first level. Then , to be able to imagine something “as painful as – “would be the second level. Finally ,to be able to internalise “what is pain?” is the higher third stage.
In conclusion, karmic initiation is also a manifest example of consciousness. When trained, we can harness our subconscious impulses into karmic stream via the sluice gate of a conscious will. Meditative mindfulness is the start and practise makes perfect .
