Of happiness and karma...

In a casual discussion with one of my friends, I realized that we have become so engrossed in our worldly pursuits that we have forgotten to be happy. The discussion went as follows: Friend: What is the purpose of life? Me: It is to live. F: What does it mean to live? M: It means to be free. F: And how can I be free? M: By doing what you were born to do. F: How do I know what was I born to do? M: For that, you have to dig deeper...you need to know who you are. F: But I already know who I am. M: Do you? Who are you? F: But you are my friend. You also know who I am. I smiled at him lovingly. My friend was as innocent of the reality of life as I was a year ago. I used to think if I got admission into an IIT, I would be happy. I did. While in job, I thought if I got a promotion, I would be happy. Then I dreamed of making to an IIM. I did. God, please give me a good campus placement. I got into Amazon. But as I sit down today to reflect, I never was happy and never would have been, had I not understood my life’s greater purpose. I was more successful than an average individual but I had my setbacks. I failed in many ways. I wasn’t able to be a good son or a good brother and even a good lover. I did try but I had difficulty in letting go. I failed to accept that I cannot fulfil everyone’s expectations. I felt attached in human relations. In my own small world, I failed to see the bigger picture. I could not accept failure in the same way I accepted good things happening to me. We all take birth with our karmas. Little by little, through our actions, we build our karma. We either erase bad karma and become better human beings or accumulate bad karma to become worse off. Some go a step further and start building positive karma. But what is the use of thinking about karma. Because it helps you grow. I believe the family you are born in, the situations you have to face, the successes you attain, are all a result of good karma. It may sound strange that I am reaping the fruits of my karma without even the memory of what my actions were. Understand that the Lord is very kind. Since it is not possible for you to continue your present life, bearing in mind all the memories of your past lives, without being miserable, he has erased them for you. However, it does not mean that you are forgiven. The good balances the evil in this world. Whenever the evil overpowers the good, God takes an incarnation. Presently, the world is on the verge of a moral and ethical collapse. It is to take care of such adversities and for life to continue, he takes the divine human form of a guru and guides the individuals who are worthy of purifying the evil spread in the world through their selfless deeds. But where does happiness picture in this discussion? Imagine for an instance that your actions are guided by the Divine, what would your state of being be? Would not you be more peaceful? Would you not experience bliss? Would you not be happy to be amongst the privileged few who have understood this simple secret of life? Imagine a dark room with many unlit lamps. That is the world today. Now imagine one lamp getting lighted, wouldn’t that feel good? Now imagine more lamps getting lighted. The room would no longer be dark. It is you who has to decide whether you wish to be a lighted lamp or continue your present style of living out of ignorance. In doing so, you would make this world a better place to live. I was once a disbeliever. But the love of God has changed me. The first step in any direction is the beginning. It is also crucial. A conscious decision to improve our lives cannot emerge out of anything but the knowledge of our mistakes and shortcomings. More than the knowledge, it is the acceptance that I am not perfect. No one is. But we can be. All we need to do is to try. Many of us find it hard to manage our problems. We get frustrated and irritated. We shout. We live life out of fear. In that fear, we stop loving. Worse than that, we hate others and in the process start hating our own existence. How wonderful it would be, if we forgive the mistakes of others and give them another chance? We have enough to live our lives in comfort. Still we are unhappy and stressed out. Ever wondered why? We think of our jobs as a burden rather than being grateful to God for providing us with one. We think we have to compromise for our families. Ever thought of those who were never blessed with a family? Aren’t we then blessed? And isn’t this something to feel happy about? Most of us live life out of comparisons. We fail to understand that each person has a different baggage to carry. How wonderful it would be if each person is content with his/her own growth? Unless we are ourselves happy, we cannot extend a helping hand, to the ones who have not been as fortunate as we are. I heard somewhere that a person’s true character is reflected by his actions when he/she is not being watched. What this means is that every man is the best judge of his character. Still, we have been living a life of double standards. Who are we fooling? How can we expect to grow when we repeatedly fail to accept who we are? The truth for such people is straightforward. We came empty handed and so shall we depart. The only thing left behind will be our memories and they won’t be shaped by how much we earned. A person shall only be remembered for his good deeds. That will be a sure way to earn good karma. Enlightened men, however, do not act out of any such fear that their wrong actions might earn them bad karma. They have crossed that stage of life. It doesn’t matter to them anymore. It is in their character to do righteous deeds alone and they do not do them with expectations.