The essence of karma is universal harmony, not judgmental morality Gita 15.07

Transcript

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The essence of karma is universal harmony not judgmental morality some people oppose the idea of karma they say that this is just one among many systems of morality that exist across the world and it is used by its followers to become judgmental towards those who don’t follow it to say that we are good and others who don’t follow it are bad such critics of karma misconceive its essential principle the principle is not morality but harmony and harmony is essential for existence itself for we all are parts of something bigger than ourselves to understand let’s consider the example of driving, while driving we need to follow the rules because we are participating in something bigger than ourselves that is the road transport system if we are not in harmony then we endanger ourselves and we endanger others some rules of traffic can vary some may even oppose each other Indians may drive on the left side of the road Americans may drive on the right side but despite such opposing rules the essential principle remains the same that is harmony by which smooth and safe travel is facilitated if we don’t follow evaluating who is following the rules and who is not following the rules that is not being judgmental it is simply doing what is essential for keeping the system functional similarly during our life journey we are parts of several holes bigger than ourselves we are parts of society we are parts of nature we are ultimately parts of the divine the Bhagavad Gita says that mamai vamsho jeeva loke jeeva bhutah sanatanah manah shishthani dhriyan prakriti sthani karshate so the rules of karma are ultimately meant to help us live in harmony with the various holes that we are part of to live harmoniously with our body, with our society with nature and ultimately with God and taking into account different time, place and circumstance there can be differences in the specifics of how these rules play out but beyond the specifics there is a universal principle of harmony some people may obsess over those specifics and if they are the followers then they may become judgmental and if they are detractors then they may become skeptical and even cynical however without getting caught in the technicalities of the specifics we focus on the essential principle of harmony then understanding karma can help all of us to live more harmoniously within our bodies within our societies, within nature and grow spiritually in our inner happiness making our life and our world better thank you