THE SCIENCE OF ACTION official source: Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 8 cross-references: also published in Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell Part 9, Ananda Marga Karma Sannya'sa in a Nutshell this version: is the printed Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell Part 9, 1st edition, version (spelling mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition. What is action? Action is the relative change of position or place of an object. When an object is transferred from one place to another, or when an object acquires a new position temporarily or permanently leaving its former position, we call it an action. When an overweight person loses weight after strenuous physical exercise, it can also be called an action because he or she now occupies less space than before. No action can be performed in the absence of the will. Will the initial stage of each action, and is thus called the primary action. One may think that actions such as the beating of the heart, sleeping and awakening occur independently of the will, but this is not so. In these actions, too, the will plays a dominant role. In the mundane sphere some actions depend on the unit will and some on the Cosmic Will. Human beings move according to their individual wills but the wind blows according to the Cosmic Will. Actually, most of the actions which human beings supposedly perform by their own will are directly guided by the Cosmic Will. Some actions are performed by the indirect human will, such as the beating of the heart. When the indirect will ceases to function it should be understood that one's individual sam'ska'ras (reactions in potentiality) have been fully exhausted. Under such circumstances a person is sure to die. This death is called the final glorious death (maha'mrtyu). Most people who commit suicide do not have the direct will to survive. However, their indirect will remains partially active, sustained by the desire to be free of the untold sorrows, miseries, and humiliations of this life. Deep within they cherish an indirect desire to acquire a new, dignified life in another world after death. This desire is the work of the indirect will. Their indirect will seeks a way to escape the ignominy of humiliation and build a new and better life in the future. Their will did something in the past for which they must undergo their present humiliation. The Macrocosmic Will is eternally active behind the creation of this universe. This Supreme Will of Parama Purus'a is termed Shambhuliunga in philosophy. An action which is done independently is called pratyayam'ulaka karma (original action). Suppose one has a desire to go to Calcutta and then actually goes there. This is an original action because to go or not to go to Calcutta depends entirely on one's will. But an action which one is obliged to perform mechanically under pressure of circumstances is called sam'ska'ram'ulaka karma (reaction to the original action). In these actions it is the indirect will and not the direct will which functions. The original deed which was performed by the direct will is later expressed as a reaction by the indirect will. Your indirect will forces you to become a tool to restore the equilibrium in the universe which was lost due to your original action. In sa'mska'ram'ulaka karma individuals have no free will, but are slaves to the dictates of the indirect will. Suppose a person commits a theft by his free will. As long as the reaction of the original action of theft is unexpressed, his indirect will remains in seed form as reactive momenta. But the moment the indirect will finds a congenial environment it expresses itself, resulting in the thief either being arrested by the police, or having to undergo some punishment or humiliation. This is how the thief reaps the consequences of his previous action of theft. Good reactions to good actions are experienced in a similar way. One will have to reap the consequences of one's past actions until one's sam'ska'ras are exhausted. If one's previous deeds were virtuous, life will be blessed, but if they were wicked, one will be branded as a sinner. Only when all good and bad reactions have been expressed do the bondages of vice and virtue snap open. All actions, whether introversial or extroversial, crude or subtle certainly lie latent in individuals in seed form as potential reactions. One day, with the help of the indirect will, they will be expressed in the external world. Suppose one harms someone. The reaction of one's action will lie in potential form until the proper time and place arrives for its expression. Even if one does not harm anyone physically, but simply thinks of harming someone, sam'ska'ras will still be created. Whatever feelings one may have for a person, good or bad, will certainly cause a reaction. That reaction will remain in potential form in the subtle mental sphere until the opportune time arrives for its expression. This is why wise people look upon this universe with an attitude of equanimity and pray for the welfare of all. Sarvesa'm maungalam ka'unks'e. People who fail to do this will have to suffer endlessly for their mean-mindedness. Action is of various types. When the mind, under the domination of avidy'ama'ya', is tossed by the waves of worldly desires, that is, when it associates itself with crude psychic pabulum, it is called abhila'sa (desire). When abhila'sa becomes firmly rooted it is called sam'kalpa (resolve) for attaining psychic pabulum. When the mind functions in collaboration with pra'nendriya and karmendriya (motor organs), it is called krti (physical action); and when it associates itself with pra'nendriya and the jinanendriya (sensory organs), the mental expansion is called avadha'na (advertence). Abhila'sa, krti and avadha'na are all actions. Avadha'na is of three types. When the sensory organs connect themselves to certain objects, but the mind does not accept them, that mental state is called anavadha'nata' (inadvertence). For example, a student's eyes may be reading the pages of a book while his or her mind is diverted elsewhere. Many students cannot learn their lessons due to this sort of inadvertence in study. When the mind perceives an object through the medium of the sensory organs, but does not have any deep knowledge about that object, then that special state of anavadha'na is known as a'locana jina'na (sensation). Here the word a'locana does not mean serious reflection. The firmly established sensation which occurs when knowledge is acquired from various sources of an object is called perception (caettik pratyaks'a). Perception may also be called coordinated sensation. Suppose three blind people feel an elephant to find out what it is like. The one who feels the legs might think that the elephant resembles the trunks of banana trees, the one who feels the trunk may think that the elephant is like a pipe, and the one who feels the ears may think that the elephant is like bamboo trays. Each one experiences a different kind of sensation. Only when the totality of the legs, trunks and ears is produced as an image in the mind can one acquire a true image of an elephant. The temporary idea acquired about an elephant is called perception. When perception becomes meaningful, that is, when a particular name is given which corresponds to the nature of things already perceived, it is called conception. The perception of an elephant is only possible when all the parts of its body -- legs, trunk, ears, etc. -- produce an image of an elephant. When one sees the elephant a second time one thinks, "It looks just like the animal I saw previously. Yes, it must be an elephant." When this confirmation occurs one can say that one has a concept about something. When a past perception is re-created in the mind with the help of memory, it is called tattva-jina'na. Tattvajina'na can be of various types. In the process of meditation, the crude mind merges into the subtle mind, and the subtle mind loses its identity in the causal mind. When the newly awakened subtle and crude minds return to their active states, they perceive things in a completely different way. This new set of perceptions is also called tattva jina'na or siddha jina'na. In fact tattva jina'na is also a type of action, though it is not included in avadha'na. It was explained earlier that krti occurs when the mind is associated with the motor organs and the pra'n'endriya, and avadha'na occurs when the mind is associated with the sensory organs and the pra'n'endriya. But prior to reaching the stages of krti and avadha'na the will must be converted into sam'kalpa (determination) or abhila'sa (desire). Sam'kalpa is more likely to be successful than abhila'sa. What is sam'kalpa ? When the mind is firmly associated with its objects in a relationship of iron-determination it is called sam'kalpa. This vast universe has originated from the sam'kalpa of the Cosmic Mind. Action depends on desire. The nature of an action is determined by the nature of the desire. Feelings of pain and pleasure occur in the mental sphere only because the vibrations of mental feelings are stored there. Reactive momenta are created out of these feelings of pain and pleasure. Desire originates from the sum total of one's pain or pleasure. Put in another way, it can be said that desire (va'sana') is one's total reactive momenta in potential form of all feelings of pleasure and pain. People determine their own course of action according to their inherent desire. It is desire which puts a bridle on people and drives them according to its whims. People rarely attain the results they seek. What they actually attain is determined by the nature of their original actions. Human beings strive to acquire objects which satisfy their desires and avoid those objects which displease them. They only pursue those things which give them pleasure. Because of this psychology, human beings do not want to listen to bad news, see horrifying images. When they cannot avoid a painful situation they immediately close their eyes. This behaviour is a good example of how action depends on desire. To separate action from desire is impossible. If desire is compared to an earthen pot, then the water inside the pot is comparable to pratyayamu'laka karma. The water inside the pot assumes the form of the pot, that is, the action representing the water takes the same form as the desire representing the pot. The process of withdrawing the water-like karma from the pot-like desire is termed sa'dhana' (the process of attaining liberation). The action which assumes the shape of the pot-like desires is called karma'shaya (bundle of sam'ska'ras ). The course of human life is determined by the nature of one's bundle of sam'ska'ras. The bundle of sam'skaras gets lighter due to non-original actions. After death this bundle loses its connection with the sensory organs, motor organs, pra'n'endriya and mind. It becomes compact after imbibing a new set of sam'ska'ras of pain and pleasure. During a prolonged period of unconsciousness or at the time of death, the bundle of sam'ska'ras becomes even more compact. It can be created in one life or in many lives. Disease, grief and other deep sorrows are merely the reactions of self-created sam'ska'ras. After reaping such tremendous reactions as a result of the temporary disconnection of the sensory organs, motor organs, pra'n'endriya and mind, a new bundle of sam'ska'ras is created which brings tremendous change to the fortunes of human beings. According to one's desires, original or non-original actions produce pleasurable or painful experiences, or both, or neither. Pleasure occurs when one's actional vibrations create a congenial sensation which relaxes the nerve fibres, and pain occurs when one's actional vibrations create tension in the nerve fibres. By nature human beings long for pleasure and not pain. The action which creates a pleasurable sensation in the mind is called shukla karma (white action), and the vibration which creates a painful sensation is called kr's'n'a karma (black action). The action which creates both pleasurable and painful experiences is called shuklakr's'na karma (black and white action), and the action which creates neither pleasurable nor painful experiences is called ashuklakr's'na karma (neither black nor white). Worldly actions are either shukla, kr's'na, or shuklakrs'n'a. Only an action or reaction related to sama'dhi, that is, spiritual sa'dhana, can be called ashuklakr's'na, for spiritual actions take one beyond the state of pleasure and pain. When the actional vibrations become embedded in the domain of desire, that is called sam'ska'ra (reaction in potentiality). The sam'ska'ra is destroyed by those actional vibrations which are equally powerful and opposite to the original actional vibrations. Every living being which has a physical body has a mind. The a'tman or soul is the reflecting plate of the mind. As long as the existential feeling of human beings is reflected on the a'tman, human beings are considered alive. A videhii mana (bodiless mind) cannot function at all because existential feeling does not exist in its mind. The videhii mind only has a bundle of sam'ska'ras which rests on its spiritual base. This is why the videhii a'tman does not act as the witness to the functions or existential feeling of the bodiless mind. It remains only as the witness of its bundle of sam'ska'ras. Thus it is proper to call the a'tman, pratyak cetana (cognitive counterpart). Pratiipam vipariitam aincati vija'na'ti iti Pratyak. As a rule, the bundle of sam'ska'ras that is continually formed until the moment of one's death in this life, is exhausted through sam'skaramulaka karma (non-original actions) in one's next life. Generally, the bundle of sam'ska'ras does not fully ripen during a person's life unless there is a disconnection of the sensory organs, motor organs, pra'n'endriya and mind. Thus the actions performed in one life are not experienced as reactions in the same life. Generally, reactions start expressing themselves at the end of an actional flow. The moment a football loses its power to rise up in the air, it starts falling down to earth. Similarly the actional flow loses its momentum when it comes, in contact with the va'sana'bha'nd'a (the pot of desires), and from that moment takes the form of reactions. Because of this, one is unable to discern the actions of a previous life which cause the reactions in the present life. Ordinarily, one's accumulated reactive momenta ripen at the time of death as a result of the disassociation of the sensory organs, motor organs, pra'n'endriya and mind. These reactive momenta then take the form of reactions in the next life. Human beings fail to realise that it is quite natural for the reactions of past actions to be expressed in this life. Since they cannot see the original actions, they blame God for their fate. Some people who spend their whole lives engaged in virtuous deeds suffer tremendously as a result of previous original actions. For the same reason, some people who performed wicked actions in a past life enjoy abundant pleasure in this life. When people experience reactions without understanding the nature o their original actions in previous lives it is called adrastavedaniiyakarma, or in short, adrsta (fate). The mind may become temporarily detached from the sensory organs, motor organs and pra'n'endriya when one suffers from a serious disease, a bereavement, or a fainting fit, etc., or when one's kulaku'n'dalinii is awakened due to one's association with a great person. When this detachment occurs, the bundle of sam'ska'ras ripens and the reactions of one's present life start to express themselves. This kind of karma is known as drs't'a vedaniiya karma -- good or bad reactions are experienced in the same life as their original actions were performed. If a liar, a fraud, a bribe-taker, or a corrupt politician happen to reap the consequences of their bad actions in this life, whether they admit it or not, they will realise in their minds that they are being punished for their falsehood, fraudulence and political hypocrisy. These reactions are drs't'a vedaniiya karma. Likewise, people can also enjoy the fruits of their actions in this life. Generally we reap the fruits of actions we performed in the past life. To reap the consequences of actions of the present life is not quite natural, though it is also not unnatural. Generally one does not reap the consequences of the actions performed in this life itself. If the accumulated sam'ska'ras of this life are almost similar to the bundle of sam'ska'ras of past life, that is, if the actional vibrations of both lives are the same, then the reactions of both lives occur concurrently. But if the vibrations of the accumulated sam'ska'ras of this life are totally different from those of the past life, the two lives' reactions will not occur concurrently. In the latter case, one will reap the consequences of the actions of the previous life. The actions performed in this life will form a new bundle of sam'ska'ras. When this bundle is mixed with the bundle created in the previous life, an altogether new bundle of sam'ska'ras is formed. Hence the bundle of sam'ska'ras varies from person to person. The bundle of sam'ska'ras of a saint is not the same as the bundle of sam'ska'ras of a sinner. If a saintly person does something bad, there will be a clash between the vibration created by the evil deed and the vibration of the original bundle of sam'ska'ras. This will cause a severe disturbance in the nerve fibres. The hand of a person accepting a bribe for the first time trembles. A man who commits armed-robbery for the first time becomes so mentally agitated that he cannot resist returning to the scene of the crime, and is thus caught by the police. However, when a confirmed criminal commits such an offense, the vibration of the evil deed is in perfect harmony with the vibration of the bundle of sam'ska'ras, causing no disturbance at all in his mind or body. For this reason, wicked people continue committing crimes without being caught by the police. If a good person persists in following a bad path, in that case, in the absence of internal conflict, the possibility of a violent tension in his or her nerves gradually decreases. There is yet another circumstance in which people may reap the consequences of their actions in the same life. If people continue to perform actions without interruption their karma becomes drsta vedaniiya. With the help of Vidya' a link is formed between the self and the mind. When the mind is influenced by the sentient principle, the self (soul or atman) reflects on the mind; when the mind is influenced by the static principle it gets embroiled in the mundane world; and when it is influenced by the mutative principle it reaps the consequences of its actions. When people are goaded by the propensity of mundane enjoyment they become desperate for uninterrupted pleasure, and end up drifting in the flow of the static force. As this unrestrained flow is not resisted by any opposing force, it directly hits the va'sana' bha'nda' (pot of desires) causing a mutative reaction. Human beings undergo reactions according to the nature of their original actions. If someone harms a sick person, a saint, a person who has taken shelter with someone, or a honest person, he or she will immediately undergo a reaction of the same intensity. This is because sick, infirm and saintly people never obstruct the original actions of wrongdoers. Whatever the original actions of a person may be, good or bad, reactive momenta are bound to be created Until all these potential reactions are expressed, liberation or salvation is impossible. Ya'vanna ksiiyata karma shubhainca'shubhameva ca, Ta'vanna ja'yate moks'onra'm kalpashataerapi. Yatha' laohamayaeh pa'shaeh pa'shaeh svarn'amayaerapi Tatha'baddho bhavejjiivo karma'bhishca' shubhae shubhaeh. "Until all the reactions of actions, good or bad, are exhausted a person cannot attain salvation in hundreds of lives. Just as people bound by golden or iron chains feel the pains of bondage, similarly people undergoing good or bad reactions will have to accept them." As long as one has a physical body, one cannot be free from action. Thus spiritual aspirants must be ever-vigilant to ensure that new reactive momenta do not enter their va'sana'bha'n'da. Through proper Cosmic ideation (Brahmacarya), sa'dhakas can keep their va'sana'bha'nd'a filled with the ideation of Consciousness. They may have to undergo their past sam'ska'ras, but because they constantly ideate on the Supreme, no new bundle of sam'ska'ras will be created. Moreover their old sam'ska'ras will be exhausted more quickly. We often notice that after initiation a sincere sa'dhaka suddenly experiences tremendous pain or pleasure. The initial stage of a spiritual aspirant's life is quite troublesome. Those who suddenly feel tremendous happiness become so absorbed in this blissful state that they completely forget their ideology, and those who suffer immense torture sometimes leave the path of sa'dhaka' due to their inability to face such difficulties. A true sadhaka must remain unaffected by both pain and pleasure. It should be understood that only through pain and pleasure can one's sa'mska'ras be destroyed and a new karma'shaya dominated by Consciousness be created. The way to fill the va'sana'bha'nd'a with Consciousness is to practice asta'unga yoga (the eight-limbed yoga). This has been divided into three stages. First, one should free one's mind from the influence of the pra'n'endriya and motor organs and lead it towards Consciousness. As a result of this, the karma'shaya becomes flooded with more and more Consciousness. And through the practice of a'sanas and pra'n'aya'ma, one should increase the degree of control of the mind over prana. During the first stage of sa'dhana' the human mind and body become increasingly pure. This is known as anubhava. After becoming pure in mind and less conscious of the body an awareness dawns in the mind that "I am not this body." This awareness is called pra'jina. Sentient pra'jina is known as prasam'khya'na. The effort to make pra'jina sentient is the second stage of sa'dhana'. In this stage, when the karma'shaya is filled with Consciousness, the possibility of a spiritual aspirant's rebirth is destroyed for good. Burnt seeds never sprout. However, even though it is burnt, the seed still exists. Even though karma'shaya is filled with Consciousness, the va'sana'bha'nd'a has to be offered at the feet of Parama Purus'a. Complete surrender is indispensable. The only way to merge the va'sana'bha'nd'a into Consciousness is to ideate on Parama Purus'a and forget everything else. To think of plurality is to stumble towards crudity, whereas to ideate on the Supreme One is to march towards Consciousness. This ideation on the Supreme Entity is called purus'akhya'ti (ensconcement in the Supreme Cognitive Faculty). This results in one's individual identity, one's va'sana'bha'nda', merging in Parama Purus'a. One will become Him. All one's actions and reactions will merge in Parama Purus'a. Parama Purus'a is the Supreme Shelter. Tamahue Parama' gatih. Shra'van'ii Pu'rn'ima' 1959, Bhagalpur Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 8