The Indians Abroad

Overseas Living: NRIs & India abroad

Archive for category Karma

Karma and Rebirth – The logical choice

Nov 1

Posted by admin in Consciousness & Awareness, Culture & Society, Karma, Religion

This is a guest post from Vanamali Thotapalli, sharing thoughts and views on Karma, Rebirth and Life

Karma and Rebirth is the only logical choice – no more Hell, thank God! This can be proven by the following examples:

A child continues to misbehave in a store despite the admonitions of his parents. Eventually he breaks a product. Do the parents simply forgive the child? Then the child learns nothing. Or do you give him a beating? Use physical violence against a child? In the olden days this was quite common, but today this action might get you jail time! So, what do present-day parents do? Today we talk to the child, make him see why his actions were wrong, have him apologize to the store owner, and then make him do odd jobs to help pay for the cost of the product. This way the child learns the right lesson, imparted by loving parents using non-violent methods. This is essentially Karma and Rebirth in action! If a Hindu were to commit an error but was unable to correct it before his death, he is given another chance to do so in the next life. He is not going to be physically punished, but he is not going to get away with his error either.

A second example: A driver makes an error on the highway resulting in horrific consequences. He dies; the occupants of the other cars survive but endure terrible injuries. They go through multiple surgeries; some of them lose their life-savings and houses, and are forced to live in home-less shelters. Some religions teach that God forgives everyone, but can one be so callous as to enter heaven knowing that the victims of the accident are suffering? This brings to mind some of the henchmen of Hitler who escaped to countries like Argentina and lived a happy life while their victims were left to deal with the pain and suffering.

What if God gave you a choice? Either go to heaven or be reborn and maybe help the victims of the car accident or others in a similar situation? Which option would you choose? For me, honestly, there is only one option. Karma and Rebirth is the only logical choice. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

3 Comments

O Karma! Where Art Thou?

May 21

Posted by admin in Consciousness & Awareness, Culture & Society, Entertainment, India, Karma, Religion, india abroad

As she has planted, so does she harvest; such is the field of karma.~Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Me and my karma often talk to each other. Well actually, I do most of the talking; I am hoping that my karma listens, at least . ‘The karma has a mysterious way of responding’, so I am told by everybody since childhood. I have never been able to figure out how it works…..
To solve these mysteries of karma and to improve upon it, I have tried some out-of-the-box ideas for a long time. I even once befriended a Punjabi with the same name – Karma; however I found out that my karma had nothing to do with my desi friend, so we have drifted apart since. Now and then, I still get calls from him, some times in the middle of the night due to time difference with India. He mainly calls me to send him some money; it will clean or improve my karma he says. I tried it a few times a while back, but I did not win any lottery; nor did it help me with any other signs of karma cleaning.
I noticed that my overseas karma is no sharper or better than what it was back in India. Everybody told me that going to America was a sign of good kismat; I thought my good karma would follow the glory of my new NRI status. However, I am not very happy to report that the whole thing – going to America – may be a bit over-hyped. My karma was quite sluggish, especially during the first year of my ferengi experiences. Just like most of new-comers, I have had my share ofhurdles and challenges abroad. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

3 Comments

The Karma Concept

May 15

Posted by admin in Consciousness & Awareness, Culture & Society, India, Karma, Religion, personal development

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” ~ Unknown

‘As you sow, so shall you reap.’
‘The present is nothing but a result of our own past actions.’
‘Our present and future is affected by the cause and effects of our past.’
All this is karma, the reflection or effects of our own doings from the past. Over time, we are expected to be punished or negated for the bad deeds, and rewarded for the good ones. The concept of Karma is the basis of world equilibrium, a way of balancing the universe. The inequalities are related to the constructive or destructive actions of human beings.
As we all know, a person’s true identity is not based on his words but his actions. In very basic terms, someone with good intentions and clear conscious living a noble life is expected to have good karma. Any incident that adversely affects our life is blamed on bad karma – the result of destructive or ‘bad’ deeds from the past.
Of course, this is simplification, but our karma can be directly related to our conscience.A person with clear conscience always thinks twice before doing something hurtful or bad. He/she often sticks to a positive outlook and prefers ‘right’ actions, instead of the ‘wrong’ ones. The conscience providesw us the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. The karma eventually rewards him/her for all the beneficent or ‘right’ actions. On the contrary, someone without a conscience would be more inclined to be selfish and sinful, less thoughtful while taking advantage of a situation with no regard for others’ welfare. Those actions eventually catch up with us, and the karma is bound to punish sooner or later for ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ deeds. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

4 Comments