TALK 21 by Prabhuji (11 APR 2016)
WHY FORGETFULNESS OF PAST ACTIONS?
Let us continue our contemplation on karma.
If I am experiencing my past karma then why is it that I don’t remember it? Is it not good if I remember it?
So, this is also a part of the divine law. If you remember what happened in your past life, your life will be miserable. Forget about past life, if you remember what happened in this life itself, you will feel life is so miserable. After sometime you forget things, ok otherwise you can’t even live your life. Somebody told something to you and it keeps hurting, again and again and you can’t continue your current life. So forgetfulness is part of the divine law so that you can continue with your life.
If you have read some of the stories of near death experience which appears in many of the magazines, articles, scientific papers, you will understand little bit more about how this works. There were many hospitals all over the world where doctors have recorded something called near death experience. Near death experience means a patient dies of heart attack or something and clinically he will be dead for couple of minutes or may be half an hour and doctors try to revive him through shock treatment or other mechanisms and in some rare cases the patient comes back to life. Patients who came back to life, some of the time, they have a vivid memory, clear memory of what happened when he died. He is able to see the doctors, he is able to see the operation theatre, and he is able to see everything going around. So many of the patients narrate what they call as review of their life. Many of them go through complete review of their current events of their life and what lessons they have to learn from that life. This is called review at the time of death.
In Indian tradition, it is said after death the soul has taken in front of Yama dharmaraya, the lord of death. He has two assistants called Chitraguptas who will read out what mistakes have been done and based on that they decide what punishment should be given or what learning has to be given to the soul will be determined, that is what is said. So this is the interesting parallel or similarity between what modern near death experiences tell and what Indian folklore tells.
If you look at the word Chitragupta, ‘chitra’ means ‘picture’, ‘gupta’ means ‘hidden’, hidden picture from subconscious is being read out. And after reading out the mistakes that has been done that life, the soul which is divine itself will decide what are the commissions or omissions, mistakes done in life and what are the lessons or punishment it has to go through and based on this review, the soul on its own understanding (not by somebody else) decides its next birth and where it will be taken. And in preparation of next birth the memory of the painful events or the memory of the past life is erased, but soul has already decided what lesson it has to learn and that is why it is taking birth in that particular place and right time.
So nobody is imposing on this soul the punishment or law of karma, soul itself has reviewed its life and comes to conclusion this is what I have to learn and that’s why it takes birth in some place. So don’t blame others for your misfortune, don’t blame others for your suffering. Your life is in your hands. It’s for you to correct what you want to do in life. It’s for you to learn lessons based on situations and move ahead in life. This is what law of Karma is.
Transcription by Atmajyothi Satyavathi
Light of The Self Foundation 