Inspiration for Freedom 28-July-2007

“I was ecstatic when I saw the beauty of my beloved. Though my eyes were guilty, it was my heart that was punished.”
- Jalil Manikpuri
(translation by Satyanarayana Hegde)

Any new karma that we bind, is a consequence of reacting to our senses. If we sense something that we love, or that we hate, we bind karma. It doesn’t matter whether it’s something we see, something we hear, something we taste, smell or touch. Any reaction to something that we sense causes us to bind karma.

This bound karma of course then comes to fruition at it’s very own pre-determined time, which is when a new situation arises in our life.

So when looking at something that brings you a lot of pleasure, that feeling of attraction, of wanting more of it, this is known as raag. The eyes along with the passion for what we see are partners in crime for bound karma, but what really suffers is our inner being, our heart, our soul.

Ideally, when we see something that we like, or something that we don’t like, we’ll remain in a state of equanimity - remain in a state of balance, where we’re not moved towards it or away from it. We don’t crave more of it, or feel like we want to push it away. It just is what it is. By having no passion towards it, no extra vibrations are sent out, and so no further karma is attracted and therefore bound to the soul due to it. That would be the ideal state.