Regulating Karma

Wisdom, temperament, courage, commitment and all such qualities are expected to be used to regulate karma. All the practical steps to be practised by the individual, designed by the Advaita system, are meant to regulate karma. Advaita believes that karma can be regulated, when one is able to understand the centre of every karmic unit. Since the centre of a karmic unit is within itself, the moment one realises that the centre is the constant entity in oneself then one must be able to regulate the whole momentum in tune with the unmoving centre. If the centre cannot hold, ‘things will fall apart’. If one is not able to realise the centre that which regulates one’s own existence, the whole light will shatter away like a crumbling glass tower. So, what Advaita says is that the duty of every person is to regulate one’s own karma. Karma can be regulated conquering and controlling the sense organs and mind. The point to be noted here is that the sense organs and mind are to be regulated not for the sake of regulation alone but for the sake of one’s own life. Life regulation must be able to concentrate one’s energy on a particular point of action. When we are able to concentrate the whole energy on a particular point of action, then such an action can be performed with more commitment and perfection. The focus of attention in such a state must be on the karma itself, not in the result to be achieved. Result is the essential part of karma and the effect is part and parcel of the cause. Whatever is seen in the cause can be seen in the effect; whatever is not seen in the cause cannot be seen in the result. Naturally, an action performed with more concentration must be able to produce better results. Therefore, no intelligent person be bothered of the results of one’s action but he is expected to concentrate only on the performance of such an action. This is what is known as nishkama karma.