Freedom from Karmic Bondage
Happy Independence Day.
India would be celebrating its 73rd Independence day on 15th August 2019. But have we truly achieved freedom? Let us understand this with the help of a short story.
There was a prison where several inmates were serving their sentences and were assigned rigorous jobs. Being in prison was a struggle, but they looked forward to the day when they would be released from their ordeal. They counted each passing day. In the absence of calendars and clocks, they kept track of the days by drawing lines on the walls with pieces of charcoal.
It was a common practice for the authorities to release some inmates on special occasions from the prison on grounds of good behavior. One such day was announced to the inmates. They were all excited and each of them hoped for their name to be included on the to-be-released list. The celebration day finally arrived and the inmates gathered in the courtyard awaiting further announcements.
The inmates held their breath as the warden announced, “I see that most of you have drawn lines on the walls to keep count of your days here. Each of you will have to stay in jail for as many weeks as the number of lines you have drawn.”
A shroud of gloom descended upon the inmates. Almost eighty percent of the inmates had drawn lines on the walls. These lines had become chains of bondage for them. The other twenty percent were happy because they had either not drawn any lines or had drawn very few.
Those who had drawn many lines were in deep despair. They thought, “I drew these lines to know when I would be free. How would I know that one day these lines would turn into chains of bondage? If only someone had informed me about this when I had arrived in prison! If I had known, I would have been free like these others.
Haven’t we had similar thoughts in our lives? “Had I known this before, situations would have been better.”Or “Had someone informed me earlier, I could have responded differently.”
This story is not about some other prisoner; it is our very own story! We are prisoners in our lives if we keep drawing lines knowingly or unknowingly on the wall of life.
We all have seen caged birds and felt, “Oh, this poor birds are caged and can’t fly.” We are no different. We too are bound in the cage of our own karma. We too draw lines through our mental and physical karma, and then get trapped in the resulting mesh. Birds are helpless; they can’t break their cages. But what about us? There is an invisible cage around us – the cages of our karmic bondage.
The good news is that we can break this cage of bondage because it is we who have unknowingly caged ourselves. The sad part is that we never take the effort to break free. We aren’t sensitive enough to know that we are bound.
You might think, “How can I break free when I don’t know how?”Let’s read about a simple technique that will help us lighten these lines so as to invite the joy of true freedom in our lives.
If we want to break free from karmic bondage and the resulting misery, we need to understand the mystery of these lines. What are they? How are they formed? How do they harm us? How do we eliminate them?
We draw karmic lines on the screen of life due to lowered awareness and ignorance. But the art of erasing them is less known, much less practiced. If you learn this art, your life will be like those prisoners who were free even though they were in prison, or who were likely to be freed soon. Unless we become aware of these karmic lines and eliminate them, and also stop drawing new ones, we will continue to lead a life of bondage.
The first step is to understand how we create these lines that have turned our lives into a game of joy and sorrow, of hope and despair. Every time you entertain impure and negative feelings for someone, a karmic line gets drawn on the screen of your life, linking the two of you in karmic bondage. Such negative feelings lower the level of consciousness and the screen of life gets stained with these impressions.
When we speaking rudely to someone or think ill of others, we create karmic bondages. Every thought and feeling that we entertain is karma and creates lines of bondage.
On the other hand, when you hold thoughts of prayer or blessings or forgiveness for others, your level of consciousness rises and your karmic lines begin to fade. The lighter the lines, the happier you are.
Since childhood, we have been taught to pray for others, think good about others. But we tend to forgot these noble intentions and get caught in the web of our karmic lines. This Independence Day, let’s take a step towards freedom from these lines of bondage. Let us start praying each day for the betterment of ourselves, for our close ones, for our society and the world at large. Every time we pray sincerely, we move closer to freedom, inviting love, peace and bliss.
This deep and profound subject of liberation from karmic bondage has been comprehensively explained in the book ‘Seek Forgiveness & Be Free’ authored by Sirshree. This book is a compilation of questions and answers that explain the art of seeking forgiveness, that can lead us to true freedom and invite love, peace and joy.
CLICK HERE to order your copy now and gain an in-depth understanding to lead a life free from karmic bondages.
Let us begin by closing our eyes right now and praying for at least one person in our life, taking that one step towards freedom and betterment.
Happy reading!
3 comments
Vijay
Very True,Hope Blessed
Sunita
Wonderful article that explains beautifully how karmic bondages are created and how to achieve liberation from them.
Mohan Naidu
Sirshree’s teachings are the most simple, clear, complete, universal and permanent. Sirshree is a blessing to mankind. Very grateful to have HIM in my life.