There is this little woebegone puppy who hovers around our garden all day. Let's call her UN, for under-nourished. She must be about four months old but looks half her age. Her siblings are also street dogs, naturally, and are skinny, but have grown well. This girl has remained diminutive and has such a lost face that your heart goes out to her.
She is perpetually made fun of and harassed by her stronger siblings and her mother, far from protecting her, had not even fed her adequately. When UN was younger, her mother would freak at her sight and run away each time she approached her for a feed. UN has no friends and moves around reedy and miserable. To add to the pathos, she has a skin infection that looks like blisters on her slight, white frame. I suspect her eyes are a bit diseased too. They look padded and tiny, with strange spots around them.
Yesterday, I was unlocking my door when I saw her rush out of the stairwell in fright. When I cooed to her, she cocked her ears and looked mournfully at me. Next thing, she ran a mile. She is scared of every movement around her and stays eternally poised in a flight response. Whenever I try to pay any attention to her, she freaks and tears off to safer territory.
And yes, she barks. You should hear her. She sounds like two rusting machines scratching each other. She screeches dutifully very morning when our milkman is dropping milk at the door. In her mind, that's an attempt at theft. But she barks with the full intention of running away at the first sight of the milkman turning in her direction.
Her alleged barks are her tribute to the canine quality of loyalty. If she isnt unfaithful to her creed, she knows guarding the nearest block comes with the territory.
Many times, I wonder if I should take her in. The first stumbling block is how to, when she flees at sight. The second is who will look after her all day, especially toilet-train her. I have no time nor the inclination, all my compassion notwithstanding.
And then, I think of her fate. Right from birth, UN has faced discrimination and rejection. All for no fault of hers. She was given a fragile body that doesnt grow or protect her; a mother who shunned her; siblings who harass and a neighbourhood, that represents the world at large, which is eagerly awaiting her disappearance.
What is this about? Karma? If yes, what happens after this birth? She has had no opportunity in this birth to do any good or bad. How will her next birth be? I'm told karma works in complex ways and her next birth will not be dictated merely by this one, nor is this one governed entirely by the last. Fair enough.
Now, how does it work? Lets say there are five siblings in a family. They come together due to a past birth during which they were connected and fond of one another. Now, how is it that each one of them was connected to the other in the same X past birth and all other actions and karma matched so brilliantly so as to propel them to be born in the same family in this birth. How is it that apart from their fondness for one another, they also accumulated like karma to be entitled to the same type of upbringing, parents, relatives, education, etc.? How did their geographical karma - called naamkarma - match too?
This is probably the most elementary illustration of my problem with karma. I can go on like this. Each time I get a new neighbour, I am to understand that my karma was entwined with hers. But why would it coincide with her landing in the same neighbourhood? How did she also collect the same karma that she needs to to be in that space? Ditto with every other situation.
I am told my arguments are too simplistic and, some tell me, naive. Maybe so. I have argued endlessly with karma believers to the most subtle point from where I come back unconvinced. There are so many things we dont understand about this world. In fact, we understand barely 1 per cent or so. The real world is not what is given to the naked eye or the dumb human brain.
To my simple mind, we are governed by the energies around us. Our thoughts are energies, our feelings are energies, our bodies radiate energy too. All the subtle levels of existence delineated in Hindu philosophy - the mind, ego, intellect, radiate energy. Our breath gives out and takes in energy. It is the vortex of this energy which circumscribes our experiences and defines our destiny. Negative bhaav creates a channel of negativity around us; positive thinking keeps our body healthy.But it isnt only our internal energies that affect us. We are greatly influenced by energies released by others-- positive and negative. That's why you feel sapped when you deal with a negative person.
There is this journalist I know who was extremely negative, not so much in her dealings with others but in her mind. She was extremely particular about being on everyone's right side and keeping everyone in good humour. Even though I was neutral about her because she did not matter to me, I could never understand why I felt so negative around her. I would feel compelled to crib about others when she was around. I would also have negative things happening to me when I was sitting near her. And strangely, I would feel this urge to be away from her as if to protect myself. I never understood any of this, until another friend who had virtually no interaction with her told me, vehemently and full of feeling, one day, "This sounds biased but she is so black. Black as in full of negativity. I feel repulsed and scared if she is around even though we never interact." Later, when I came to know how obsessed she was with me because of her inner frustration or whatever reason, I understood why I heard warning bells inside my head telling me to stay away from her.
Sometimes, a person may not be negative towards you but will suffuse the air with such negativity that you want to scream. It is possible to variegate the air around anybody you want with a little focus and the right mantras, which are nothing but sound energies. Tantriks work, and they work on this scientific principle- that energies can be changed, channelled and coloured. You cannot block negative energy coming your way the same way that you cannot stop positive energy coming your way.
The only thing we can do is to avoid the negative ones as much as possible and counter them with our inner energy with as much force as we can muster. All battles dont require a battlefield.
She is perpetually made fun of and harassed by her stronger siblings and her mother, far from protecting her, had not even fed her adequately. When UN was younger, her mother would freak at her sight and run away each time she approached her for a feed. UN has no friends and moves around reedy and miserable. To add to the pathos, she has a skin infection that looks like blisters on her slight, white frame. I suspect her eyes are a bit diseased too. They look padded and tiny, with strange spots around them.
Yesterday, I was unlocking my door when I saw her rush out of the stairwell in fright. When I cooed to her, she cocked her ears and looked mournfully at me. Next thing, she ran a mile. She is scared of every movement around her and stays eternally poised in a flight response. Whenever I try to pay any attention to her, she freaks and tears off to safer territory.
And yes, she barks. You should hear her. She sounds like two rusting machines scratching each other. She screeches dutifully very morning when our milkman is dropping milk at the door. In her mind, that's an attempt at theft. But she barks with the full intention of running away at the first sight of the milkman turning in her direction.
Her alleged barks are her tribute to the canine quality of loyalty. If she isnt unfaithful to her creed, she knows guarding the nearest block comes with the territory.
Many times, I wonder if I should take her in. The first stumbling block is how to, when she flees at sight. The second is who will look after her all day, especially toilet-train her. I have no time nor the inclination, all my compassion notwithstanding.
And then, I think of her fate. Right from birth, UN has faced discrimination and rejection. All for no fault of hers. She was given a fragile body that doesnt grow or protect her; a mother who shunned her; siblings who harass and a neighbourhood, that represents the world at large, which is eagerly awaiting her disappearance.
What is this about? Karma? If yes, what happens after this birth? She has had no opportunity in this birth to do any good or bad. How will her next birth be? I'm told karma works in complex ways and her next birth will not be dictated merely by this one, nor is this one governed entirely by the last. Fair enough.
Now, how does it work? Lets say there are five siblings in a family. They come together due to a past birth during which they were connected and fond of one another. Now, how is it that each one of them was connected to the other in the same X past birth and all other actions and karma matched so brilliantly so as to propel them to be born in the same family in this birth. How is it that apart from their fondness for one another, they also accumulated like karma to be entitled to the same type of upbringing, parents, relatives, education, etc.? How did their geographical karma - called naamkarma - match too?
This is probably the most elementary illustration of my problem with karma. I can go on like this. Each time I get a new neighbour, I am to understand that my karma was entwined with hers. But why would it coincide with her landing in the same neighbourhood? How did she also collect the same karma that she needs to to be in that space? Ditto with every other situation.
I am told my arguments are too simplistic and, some tell me, naive. Maybe so. I have argued endlessly with karma believers to the most subtle point from where I come back unconvinced. There are so many things we dont understand about this world. In fact, we understand barely 1 per cent or so. The real world is not what is given to the naked eye or the dumb human brain.
To my simple mind, we are governed by the energies around us. Our thoughts are energies, our feelings are energies, our bodies radiate energy too. All the subtle levels of existence delineated in Hindu philosophy - the mind, ego, intellect, radiate energy. Our breath gives out and takes in energy. It is the vortex of this energy which circumscribes our experiences and defines our destiny. Negative bhaav creates a channel of negativity around us; positive thinking keeps our body healthy.But it isnt only our internal energies that affect us. We are greatly influenced by energies released by others-- positive and negative. That's why you feel sapped when you deal with a negative person.
There is this journalist I know who was extremely negative, not so much in her dealings with others but in her mind. She was extremely particular about being on everyone's right side and keeping everyone in good humour. Even though I was neutral about her because she did not matter to me, I could never understand why I felt so negative around her. I would feel compelled to crib about others when she was around. I would also have negative things happening to me when I was sitting near her. And strangely, I would feel this urge to be away from her as if to protect myself. I never understood any of this, until another friend who had virtually no interaction with her told me, vehemently and full of feeling, one day, "This sounds biased but she is so black. Black as in full of negativity. I feel repulsed and scared if she is around even though we never interact." Later, when I came to know how obsessed she was with me because of her inner frustration or whatever reason, I understood why I heard warning bells inside my head telling me to stay away from her.
Sometimes, a person may not be negative towards you but will suffuse the air with such negativity that you want to scream. It is possible to variegate the air around anybody you want with a little focus and the right mantras, which are nothing but sound energies. Tantriks work, and they work on this scientific principle- that energies can be changed, channelled and coloured. You cannot block negative energy coming your way the same way that you cannot stop positive energy coming your way.
The only thing we can do is to avoid the negative ones as much as possible and counter them with our inner energy with as much force as we can muster. All battles dont require a battlefield.
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