Four kinds of karma
Being under the illusion that the world around us is not just hostile to us, but, moreover, unfairly hostile, we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to develop. Because if a person takes the position “I am perfect, and the world is imperfect”, such a worldview concept deprives a person not only of the opportunity to develop, but also of the very meaning of such development. After all, why make efforts if the cause of suffering is the injustice of the world?
Even 2500 years ago, Buddha Shakyamuni said that disbelief in the law of karma is the most severe ignorance into which a living being can fall. In the Sutra so called, the Sutra on the law of Karma, the Buddha explains in detail to Ananda and other disciples that man himself is the cause of both his happiness and his suffering. And from this point of view, all moral precepts are not just dogma, they are the most rational form of interaction with the world. For if we do not cause suffering to others, we do not create causes for our own suffering.
The law of karma itself is quite simple to understand:” what you sow, you reap ” — so our ancestors said. However, to see all the intricacies of karmic knots and understand what the cause of certain events and phenomena, you need a considerable level of awareness. Sometimes some skeptics who hear about the law of karma, give a fairly common example that the law of karma allegedly does not work. They can give examples of various immoral people, commenting that they “get away with it”, or, on the contrary, talk about the suffering of seemingly almost Holy people. However, all this is in no way contrary to the law of karma.
The matter is that in ancient doctrines it is accepted to allocate four types of karma. And it is this division of accumulated or accumulated karma that explains the fact that the action of the law of karma can not always be seen in a short period of time. You can compare it with puzzles. If you take one puzzle and try to understand what is depicted in the picture, it is unlikely to succeed. To understand what is depicted, you need to put all the puzzles together. And in order to fully understand how the law of karma works, it is necessary to consider four types of karma.
Four types of karma
So, there are four types of karma:
Sanchita-karma,
Prarabdha-karma,
Kriyamana-karma,
Agama karma.
Behind these complex Sanskrit names lies the depth of the law of karma. Let us consider in turn all four types of karma described in the Vedantic literature.
Sanchita-karma is, in fact, all karma accumulated by man. By performing an action, a person creates a karmic imprint in his mind, creating a reason for a similar action to be performed on himself. And Sanchita-karma is the sum of all such karmic imprints in the mind that are created by past actions. Here again we may mention the example that immoral people get away with everything, and good people are everywhere overtaken by the arrows of suffering. Everything that a person does is recorded in his mind, and from his mind, as you know, it is impossible to escape. Therefore, for everything that a person does, he will be rewarded. Of course, the question arises: why do immoral people not receive punishment “here and now”, and the righteous continue to suffer? This question is answered by the following type of karma.
Prarabdha-karma — “ripe” karma, for the manifestation of which at the moment or in the near future manifest conditions. It is such a concept as prarabdha-karma that gives an understanding of why the retribution for certain actions does not fall on a person momentarily. The fact is that the manifestation of a particular karma requires appropriate conditions. For example, a person has the karma of being eaten by a shark. But how can this karma manifest if a person lives thousands of kilometers from the nearest sea? It is obvious that such karma cannot be manifested at the moment. Because the conditions for its manifestation are not “ripe”. There is an even simpler example that will be more understandable. Let’s say a little girl has the karma to get married badly. For obvious reasons, this karma cannot manifest right now. But years will pass, the girl will naturally have a desire to create a family, and then there will be this very “ripening” of the seeds of karma — from Sanchita-karma karmic imprint will go to the section of prarabdha-karma. And girl, living in a complete illusion that I met there, and to create a family with a person who is harmed by them.
Most interesting is that, given the fact that the infinite multitude of past incarnations, each soul or the zhivatma accumulated virtually all possible karma. And with high probability we can say that, for example, each of us has the karma to win the lottery. But how can such karma manifest itself if a person, as in the anecdote: “asks God to win, even without buying a ticket”? Therefore, the conditions for the manifestation of a particular karma create prerequisites for its realization. And, returning to the question of why immoral people do not receive instant retribution, we can say that their negative karma is not yet “ripe”, that is, the conditions for its manifestation are not created. But it is important to understand that it is only a matter of time. And any karma sooner or later manifest.
Kriyamana-karma is our current actions. There is a good proverb: “Today we are where our actions of yesterday led us. Tomorrow we will be where our actions today will take us.” The words “yesterday”, “today” and “tomorrow”should not be taken literally. It’s about us creating our present and creating our future. This is what Kriyamana-karma is all about. That is, what we do today creates our future. This is Kriyamana-karma. By creating karmic imprints through our actions, we create Kriyamana-karma, which first becomes Sanchita-karma, and then, when favorable conditions arise for the manifestation of this karma, it becomes prarabdha-karma.
Another important aspect should be considered here. It happens that a person, having learned about the law of karma, believed in it, or at least suggested that this concept is not completely delusional. And so he begins to do good deeds. Everyone has different reserves of patience, but after a while, not seeing the results of his good work, a person begins to doubt that the law of karma exists. By doing good deeds today, one creates Kriyamana-karma. But it is worth remembering: what thoughts and motivations a person lived before he learned about the law of karma? And it is important to understand that the consequences of all that he has done before, he will still get. It is a mistake to believe that good deeds neutralize bad ones.
The law of karma works a little differently: a person will receive retribution for good deeds and bad. However, it is worth noting that if the vector of human development is directed upwards to evolution, then negative karma can manifest itself in a softer way. But any karma will still be manifested. For example, a person has the karma to cut his finger, but you can cut it at home, slicing bread, and you can cut somewhere in the ocean, teeming with sharks, who are known to taste blood from afar. Karma can manifest itself the same, but in different conditions and consequences will be different. Thus, in making efforts now, it should be understood that the seeds of karma must “ripen” before we can receive karmic retribution for our actions. And Kriyamana-karma is, so to speak, an investment in the future. Just as in the case of a Bank Deposit, sending money to a Bank account, we understand that the profit will get only after a while. It is the same with Kriyamana-karma.
Agama karma is perhaps the most interesting type of karma. There is one well-known rule: “what you think, what you become.” This is almost said of Agama-karma. So Agama-karma is our intention. This is the karma of the future. The fact is that karma is created not only by our actions, but also by thoughts. To be more precise, karma is created by actions at the level of body, speech and mind. And it is Agama-karma-this is one of the tools (along with Kriyamana-karma), which, in fact, allows you to change your karma.
For example, we have brought ourselves (by our past actions) to a very deplorable situation, where we now and then manifest negative karma. We can no longer eliminate what is manifested at the moment. The causes have already been created — the consequences will be obtained. You can go to churches, fortune-tellers, hit the practice of magic, but as the first, so the second and third — is absolutely useless, but rather even aggravate the situation. Already created karmic imprints, for the manifestation of which the conditions are created, will still be manifested. The only thing we can do right now is to start creating causes for the manifestation of good karma, that is, to do good deeds, and, of course, not to do bad deeds, so as not to create causes for suffering. But it will be Kriyamana-karma. And what to do if there is no opportunity to do good deeds? Well, firstly, there is always such a possibility, and secondly, if we are talking about something global, about some projects or ideas that require impressive resources, it should be understood that even the very intention to do a good deed — already leads to the accumulation of good karma.
For example, if you want to spread knowledge about yoga and healthy lifestyle, but do not have the opportunity to do it right now, then even the very intention to do it will already create karma for the future. Here it is important to understand: you will not deceive yourself. And if your intention is just a dream or some fantasy, it is unlikely that you will get a result very quickly. But if the intention is really for you the task that you, at all costs, want to realize, then you will be surprised, but all the events around you will begin to change in the right direction. And soon there will be an opportunity to realize your idea.