Struggles Shape Your Path

 

Karma : The Relentless Inward Witness

 

Have you ever paused to wonder about the emotions we experience in our daily lives? At times we feel joy, peace, and fulfillment, while at other times we experience sadness, frustration, or suffering. Sometimes these emotions pass quickly, and sometimes they remain with us for long phases of our life.

Looking beyond these internal tides, please also reflect on the architecture of your life: the family you were born into, the parents who raised you, and the culture, religion, and language that shaped your world. Consider, too, the people who cross your path. Some remain for a lifetime, while others drift by like clouds. Some leave deep wounds, while others lift us when we are broken. Is this all a roll of the dice? Or are we walking a path paved by the echoes of our own past actions?"

Science observes that causes produce effects, in chemistry, in biology, in human behavior. Karma extends this same logic into the domain of the soul. What if this principle also applies to our emotional experiences? What if the emotions we experience today are actually the effects of actions we performed earlier? And what if those actions are not limited to this present life, but also include actions from previous births?

Let us examine this idea through a simple example.

Suppose a thief steals an item from a shop and later goes home and changes his clothes. Will the police stop searching for him simply because he changed a part of his appearance? Of course not. Changing clothes does not erase the fact that he committed the theft. The person responsible for the action remains the same.

In a similar way, according to Sanatan Dharma, the actions performed by a soul across many births continue to follow it. These actions, whether good or bad, eventually return to the individual in the form of experiences, just as we saw with the thief. 

This principle is known as Karma. Today the word “karma” is widely used, and it is often understood as the results or consequences of one’s prior actions. 

Who Keeps Track of Our Karma?

An interesting question arises here: How are all these actions recorded? Who maintains the balance sheet of our good and bad deeds?

In the traditional explanation of Sanatan Dharma, this responsibility belongs to Chithraguptha, who keeps a detailed account of every individual’s actions. This account is then presented to Yama, the deity of death, who determines the soul’s journey after death, whether it proceeds toward heaven or hell depending on its karmic balance. At first glance, this explanation may sound mythical to some people. But let us consider another perspective.

Imagine a high-performance computer. Everything the computer does, its programs, files, browsing history, and activities, is automatically stored within the system itself. There is no need for an external person to maintain a separate record of its actions because the computer itself keeps track of everything internally. What if the human soul functions in a similar way? (Of course, the soul is far more than a machine. Unlike a computer, the soul carries not just data but consciousness, intention, and the capacity for liberation. The analogy simply helps us visualize the idea of self-contained record-keeping)

What if every thought, intention, and action we perform is automatically recorded within the soul itself? The soul may act as an infinite storage unit that carries the impressions of our actions. Since the soul is eternal while the body changes from birth to birth, these imprints could continue to travel with the soul across lifetimes. In this way, the results of our past actions imprinted within the soul, may manifest at specific times in our life as pleasant or unpleasant experiences.

These experiences then appear in our lives as phases of happiness, suffering, opportunities, challenges, and the wide spectrum of emotions that every human being encounters.

The Karma Balance Sheet

What happens if a person has accumulated more good karma than bad karma? In such a case, it can be compared to having a positive balance in a karmic account. As long as this positive balance exists, the person is likely to experience pleasant emotions, favorable circumstances, and phases of happiness in life.

However, this does not mean that life will remain permanently pleasant. Just as financial accounts contain both credits and debits, the karmic account also contains both good and bad actions. Over time, the results of negative karma may also begin to manifest, mixing with the positive experiences. This is why life often moves through alternating phases of joy and difficulty.

On the other hand, if a person has accumulated more negative karma than positive karma, the overall experience of life may include greater suffering, challenges, or unpleasant emotions. Yet even in such situations, the results of good karma will still appear from time to time, bringing temporary relief, opportunities, or moments of happiness, almost like a sort of "silver lining".

This mixture of positive and negative karmic results is what creates the changing phases of human experience, periods of joy, followed by hardship, but later cycling back to moments of peace and relief.

If the karmic balance sheet is completely nullified, the soul attains Moksha, the ultimate liberation. At this stage, the soul is freed from the cycle of birth and death and merges with the divine. Such a liberated soul is no longer required to take another birth.

But this raises an important question: Is it even possible for the karmic balance sheet to become completely empty?

For that to happen, there must be no remaining effects of good or bad deeds. In other words, there should be no karmic credits and no karmic debits left to be experienced. This naturally leads us to wonder whether such a state is truly achievable for a human being.

According to the wisdom of Sanatan Dharma, this state can indeed be achieved through the practice of Nishkamya Karma. Nishkamya Karma refers to performing actions without attachment to the idea that “I am the doer” and without expectation of the results of those actions. When a person acts without ego, without personal claim over the action, and without desire for its outcome, the action no longer binds the soul with new karma. some examples include a doctor who treats patients without attachment to recognition or reward, acting purely out of compassion, and a teacher motivating and uplifting a student without expecting anything in return. But Nishkamya Karma is not limited to any profession or role, it can be practiced by anyone, in any walk of life, in any moment of genuine selfless action."

The moment this attachment to doership disappears, the karmic impressions of past actions, both good and bad, begin to dissolve gradually. As these karmic imprints shed themselves one by one, the karmic balance sheet slowly empties.

When nothing remains to be experienced, the soul becomes free from all karmic obligations. In that state of complete freedom, the soul transcends the cycle of birth and death and ultimately attains liberation.

A perspective for the common man

But let us now look at this from the perspective of a common person, an average human being who cannot easily renounce the feeling that “I am the doer.” In reality, letting go of the ego is extremely difficult. For most people, completely detaching themselves from the sense of doership is not an easy task.

So the question arises: How can such a person still perform good karma and reduce bad karma, so that their karmic balance sheet contains more abundance than suffering?

To understand this, imagine that every thought you think is like a seed. The moment a thought arises in your mind, a seed is planted. If you continue to think that same thought repeatedly, it is as though you are watering the seed again and again, allowing it to grow.

However, if the thought is not entertained a second time, the seed simply dries up and dies.

In this way, negative thoughts should never be watered, while positive thoughts should be carefully nurtured and allowed to grow.

The same principle applies to our actions as well. Whenever you hurt another person, through words, actions, or intentions, it is as though a bad karma signal is activated, leaving a negative imprint in your karmic account. On the other hand, when you help someone, show kindness, or act with compassion, a good karma signal is activated, creating a positive imprint.

Over time, these imprints accumulate and shape the experiences that manifest in our lives.

In this sense, every individual is continuously participating in the creation of their own destiny. If you want more positivity and harmony to manifest in your life, nurture good thoughts and perform good actions. If negative thoughts and harmful actions dominate, the resulting experiences will naturally reflect that imbalance.

The choice, in many ways, rests within us. The results of our thoughts and actions may not manifest instantly, but they inevitably unfold in their own time. Just as a seed does not become a tree overnight, the effects of karma also take time to mature.

Imagine you are growing a garden, planting one tree at a time. You will not receive immediate shade or enjoy juicy fruits the very next day. But with patience and care, the garden slowly begins to flourish. Over time, the very trees you nurtured will provide cool shade, sweet fruits, and fragrant flowers that enrich and sustain your life. 

Happy reflecting. Stay tuned for more.

Intuitions, Dreams and Visions - Seeing from within!

 

I’m back today with something truly fascinating, something each of us has experienced at least once in our lives: intuitions, dreams, and visions. They aren’t scheduled. They aren’t consciously designed. They simply arrive. We don’t know when, where, or how they will appear. A thought slips into the mind without warning. A dream unfolds with unusual clarity, sometimes so vivid that it feels real in the moment, almost as if we are aware within the dream itself. A subtle inner knowing rises quietly within us. Some impressions come and go like passing clouds, barely noticed, quickly forgotten. Others surface in the stillness of sleep or in the middle of an ordinary day, then fade without explanation.

Most of the time, we pause for a moment, feel a flicker of curiosity, and move on. But every now and then, a thought lingers. A dream stays vivid long after waking. An intuition refuses to be brushed aside. And in those moments, we find ourselves wondering: Was it just coincidence? Or was something deeper trying to speak to us?

Instincts that surprise us

There are moments in the middle of a conversation when a sentence leaves my mouth, and almost instantly, I’m struck by a strange familiarity. A quiet but undeniable feeling arises: I have said these exact words before… somewhere, sometime, to someone. It’s not just that the topic feels familiar. It’s the phrasing, the tone, even the timing of it. For a brief second, time seems to overlap with itself.

Is this simply a random trick of the mind? A subtle replay of memory we cannot consciously trace? Or is it something more; something that hints at layers of awareness beyond our ordinary perception? I’m certain many of you have  felt this too. That fleeting pause. That inner whisper of “this has happened before.” We refer to this as Deja-vu. And just as quickly, the moment passes, leaving behind curiosity… and a quiet question that lingers.

There is another subtle experience most of us are familiar with, though we rarely question it deeply. Sometimes, we meet a person for the very first time, and even before a single word is exchanged, we feel an immediate sense of comfort or liking toward them. With others, the reaction is just the opposite, an unexplainable resistance, discomfort or even dislike arises instantly. What causes this spontaneous judgement, formed without conversation or conscious reasoning? It may be tempting to dismiss it as mere coincidence or mood, but the consistency of such experiences makes one wonder! Is the mind responding to something it has encountered before, perhaps familiar facial expressions, tone, posture or energy that subtly resembles past experiences? or could it be that certain impressions are already etched somewhere deep within us, carried forward from earlier interactions, memories or conditioning that we no longer consciously recall?

The conscious mind often believes it is making decisions in the present moment, but the subconscious may be drawing from a vast storehouse of past impressions, or even future visions. It may be connecting invisible dots in an instant, presenting its conclusion as a gut feeling, intuition or a vision.

I vividly remember one such instance from my own life. I was travelling by bus to write Master of Commerce examination. As I stood in the crowded bus, my mind unexpectedly drifted to a troubling thought, that my handbag might be pickpocketed. I began mentally running through scenarios. What would I do if that happened? How would I write the exam without the hall ticket? The thoughts felt oddly specific, yet I dismissed them as unnecessary anxiety. After a while, When I got down from the bus, I realized my handbag had been torn open and everything inside was gone. My hall ticket, my calculator, my belongings had vanished exactly as that thought.

Looking back, what lingers is not the loss itself (I managed to explain the situation to the examiners and wrote the exam), but the question it left behind. Was it merely coincidence? or does the mind, at times, register subtle cues long before the conscious self becomes aware of them? perhaps the subconscious notices patterns, movements or irregularities that the waking mind overlooks, and expresses them as sudden unease or intuition.

If that is so, why does such clarity arise only occasionally? why does the mind alert us in some moments and remain silent in others? These questions have no easy answers. Yet, experiences like these gently suggest that the human mind may be perceiving more than we consciously acknowledge. This pattern of selective awareness does not appear only in moments of danger or discomfort. It quietly shows up in other subtle ways too.

Repetitive patterns

A similar experience can be seen in the way some numbers seem to repeatedly catch our attention, patterns like 222,555 or 111. We do not notice these numbers all the time, nor do they appear meaningful in every phase of life. Yet, during certain periods, they seem to surface repeatedly, on clocks, receipts, phone screens, car number plates or random places, persisting for a while before fading away. This raises an interesting question! Is the mind selectively tuning itself to these numbers during particular phases of life? Or is there something deep, an interaction between awareness and circumstance that draws our attention to specific patterns at specific moments?

Perhaps the numbers themselves are not carrying a direct message. Instead, they may act as subtle prompts, encouraging us to pause, reflect or become more attentive to what is unfolding within and around us. The mind, after all, is highly skilled at recognizing patterns, especially when it is in a heightened emotional or reflective state.

Dreams that Recur

Sometimes, our dreams too seem to speak to us in symbols rather than sentences. Some dreams carry a quiet tension: standing at a great height with no clear way down, a tooth falling out, being chased by an animal, missing a train, bus, or flight. These may be subtle signals from the mind that we are entering a challenging phase, a period of uncertainty, transition, or the risk of missing something important.

Other dreams feel expansive and abundant : lush green grass, trees heavy with fruits and vegetables, flowing water, sacred spaces like temples or churches, or even seemingly unusual symbols such as repeatedly seeing “poop.” Across many traditions, such imagery is interpreted as a sign of prosperity, renewal, or a positive phase about to unfold in life.

In many ways, dreams can be thought of as practice runs for our waking awareness. They present challenges, opportunities, or subtle messages in symbolic form. If we cultivate the habit of observing and reflecting on them, could these nightly visions teach us to recognize patterns in waking life too? Could they be a bridge to “seeing from within”?

Once again, there are no straightforward answers. These experiences resist rigid interpretation. They invite curiosity rather than conclusions, and perhaps that is their true purpose. If we consider these patterns as cues arising from within, an important question gently surfaces: can heightened awareness help us recognize them earlier and respond more consciously? Can we learn to understand what the mind, or even life itself, is communicating by tuning ourselves to deeper perception? Can “seeing from within” truly guide us? And if so, how?

Each of us will have our own way of quieting and centering the mind. Speaking from personal experience, I have found meditation and breath awareness to be deeply transformative. They increase clarity, deepen reflection, and cultivate presence. When the mind becomes calm, perception sharpens. Scientific studies suggest that in states of relaxation and focused awareness, the brain transitions through different wave patterns, moving from more active states into calmer, deeper rhythms, allowing access to layers of awareness often masked by everyday mental noise.

Yet, it is important to remember that many of these insights arise spontaneously. Forcing or chasing them rarely yields meaningful results. Instead, we allow them to unfold naturally, and reflect upon them gently afterward. Perhaps this quiet observation leads to a richer understanding of the beautiful life we are already living. It makes me wonder: had I paused and reflected in that pickpocket intuition moment, could I have altered my course and avoided the incident? Or was the experience itself part of what I was meant to learn? who can say?

Pausing to notice subtle cues and reflecting on them deeply becomes easier as awareness matures. Cultivating that awareness may be the first step toward truly “seeing from within.” The method need not be rigid or uniform. It could be yoga, meditation, a long walk in silence, prayer, journaling, or even an intense workout that brings the mind into focused stillness. What matters is choosing a practice that resonates with your values and making space for it regularly.

Even in the midst of daily chaos, it is possible to return to your quiet center, using the tools you have patiently explored and understood for yourself. The key is not to seek something outside, but to connect with yourself more often to see from within.

Happy reading. Stay tuned for future reflections.