YOGIC GARDENING
By doing wrong actions, you taint your character. By doing virtuous actions, you develop a
noble character. Without character, man falls down to the level of a brute. A man of character is
honoured, trusted and adored everywhere. Therefore, develop a good character when you are
young. Learn how to eradicate vices and how to cultivate virtues in the garden of your heart. Vices
and evil habits are the weeds. Virtues are priceless fruits and flowers. Learn the Yogic method of
Pratipaksha Bhavana or cultivation of the opposites. Purity or celibacy, forgiveness, generosity,
humility and selflessness are the opposites of lust, anger, greed, pride and selfishness. Become a
skilful Yogic gardener. Plant good flowers in the garden of your heart and enthrone the Lord in the
centre of the heart-garden and meditate on Him. You will enjoy eternal bliss and immortality.
CONCLUSION
You must obey the laws or rules of conduct. The rules are given for you by the law-givers
for your own betterment and spiritual uplift. The law-givers are great sages who had direct
God-realisation.
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ALL ABOUT HINDUISM
To stick to Sadachara is difficult, no doubt. Mockery, misunderstanding and persecution
will have to be faced. Therefore, the cultivation of forbearance, meekness of spirit, calm endurance
and spirit of forgiveness are of great importance. Uphold virtue at any cost. For its sake, bear any
calumny. Return good for evil.
Do not leave the path of morality even if your life is in danger. Do not leave righteousness
for the sake of some material gain. Consult the Sastras and Mahatmas whenever you are in doubt.
Build up your character. Grow. Evolve. Keep up your ideal always before your mind. Stick to
Sadachara or right conduct. Practise it. You will soon attain eternal bliss and immortality.
CHAPTER 5
HINDU TENETS
THE LAW OF KARMA
WHAT IS KARMA?
Karma means not only action, but also the result of an action. The consequence of an action
is really not a separate thing. It is a part of the action, and cannot be divided from it. Breathing,
thinking, talking, seeing, hearing, eating, etc., are Karmas. Thinking is mental Karma. Karma is the
sum total of our acts both in the present life and in the preceding births.
Any deed, any thought that causes an effect, is called a Karma. The Law of Karma means
the law of causation. Wherever there is a cause, there an effect must be produced. A seed is a cause
for the tree which is the effect. The tree produces seeds and becomes the cause for the seeds.
HOW KARMA IS FASHIONED
Man is threefold in his nature. He consists of Ichha (desire, feeling), Jnana (knowing) and
Kriya (willing). These three fashion his Karma. He knows objects like chair, tree, etc. He feels joy
and sorrow. He wills to do this, or not to do that.
Behind the action, there are desire and thought. A desire for an object arises in the mind.
Then you think how to get it. Then you exert to possess it. Desire, thought and action always go
together. They are the three threads, as it were, that are twisted into the cord of Karma.
Desire produces Karma. You work and exert to acquire the objects of your desire. Karma
produces its fruits as pain or pleasure. You will have to take births after births to reap the fruits of
your Karmas. This is the Law of Karma.
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HINDU ETHICS
THE WORKING OF THE LAW
The Law of Karma is one of the fundamental doctrines not only in Hinduism, but also in
Buddhism, and in Jainism. As a man sows, so he shall reap. This is the Law of Karma. If you do an
evil action, you must suffer for it. If you do a good action, you must get happiness. There is no
power on this earth which can stop the actions from yielding their fruits. Every thought, every word,
every deed is, as it were, weighed in the scales of eternal, divine Justice. The Law of Karma is
inexorable.
Things do not happen in this universe by accident or chance in a disorderly manner. They
happen in regular succession. They follow one another in a regular order. There is a certain definite
connection between what is being done now by you, and what will happen in the future.
Every action produces a threefold effect. It gives you an appropriate reward or fruit. It also
affects your character. It leaves behind an impression in your mind. This impression will urge you
to repeat the act again. The impression will assume the form of a thought-wave in the mind on
account of a stimulus, either external or internal. An action produces an effect in the world also.
As You Sow, So You Reap
If you put a seed in the earth, it sends up a little stem. Then leaves come out of the stem.
Then come flowers and fruits. There are seeds again in the fruits. Mango seed only produces mango
tree. If you sow rice, you cannot expect a crop of wheat. The same sort of seed produces the same
kind of plant. A human being alone is born from the womb of a woman, a horse from a horse and a
dog from a dog. Similarly, if you sow the seed of an evil action, you will reap a harvest of pain and
suffering. If you sow the seed of a virtuous action, you will reap a harvest of pleasure. This is the
Law of Karma.
Whatever you sow by your actions come back to you. If you make others happy through
service, charity and kind acts, you sow happiness like a seed; and it will give you the fruit of
happiness. If you make others unhappy through harsh words, insult, ill-treatment, cruel acts,
oppression, etc., you sow unhappiness like a seed; and it will give you the fruit of pain, suffering,
misery and unhappiness. This is the immutable Law of Karma.
Your actions in the past are responsible for your present condition. Your present actions will
shape or mould your future. There is nothing chaotic or capricious in this world. You become good
by your good actions, and bad by your evil actions.
If you entertain evil thoughts, you must suffer the consequences. You will be in difficulties.
You will be surrounded by unfavourable circumstances. You will blame your surroundings and
circumstances. Understand the law and live wisely. Entertain noble thoughts. You will be happy
always.
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ALL ABOUT HINDUISM
Action—Habit—Character—Destiny
Thought moulds your character. If you entertain noble thoughts, you will develop a noble
character; and if you entertain evil thoughts, you will develop a base character. This is the
immutable Law of Nature. Therefore, you can deliberately shape your character by cultivating
sublime thoughts. Thought materialises and becomes an action. If you allow the mind to dwell on
good, elevating thoughts, you will do naturally good and laudable actions.
Conduct or behaviour reveals your character. Conduct also moulds your Character.
Cultivation of good conduct needs rigorous discipline and constant vigilance. You will have to
watch every thought, word and action. You must be extremely careful when you conduct yourself
with others. With all your good intentions, you will be carried away by the force of your previous
wrong impressions, instincts and impulses. Even highly educated people lack in behaviour. Good
behaviour indicates that you have a refined or polished, disciplined mind and real, good spiritual
culture. The practice of Japa, Pranayama and Mauna (or vow of silence) will help you to control the
impulses etc.
You sow an action and reap a habit. You sow a habit and reap a character. You sow a
character and reap your destiny. Hence, destiny is your own make-up. You have built it. You can
undo it by entertaining noble thoughts, and doing virtuous actions, and changing your mode of
thinking. Now you are thinking that you are the body, Mr. So and so. Now, start the anti-current of
thought. Think that you are all-pervading, immortal Brahman. Brahman you will become. This is
an immutable Law.