Swami Venkatesananda

Swami Venkatesananda
Swami Venkatesananda

Venkatesa Karma
Look within immediately!

I am convinced that karma is “action” and not “fate”, that we do not suffer because of some unknown sin we committed in the distant past, but because of the state of our being just now, and the most dreadful sequel of the past is the repetitive tendency which past action leaves in our mind.

This is the reason why our life runs round in circles. We blame our present conditions on a remote past, ignoring the immediate cause (which may be the same as the remote cause). The problem is inside me, the problem is me, not what I did years ago. It is more profitable therefore that we should look within immediately, now, and discover the present cause of the present conflict or unhappiness, without relating it to past karma or commitment.

Relating it to past karma may dilute the observation and make it ineffective and incapable of bringing about an immediate change. Immediate change can only be the result of a direct observation. Direct observation can only be of what is there now, though undefinable. It is what is there now that is throwing up all this sorrow and conflict. If we become intensely aware of what is now, the change can also be immediate and radical. This is what the yogis implied when they said that self-realisation immediately puts an end to all karma.

An extract from
Venkatesa Daily Readings
By Yogeshwari Muhl
Published by the Chiltern Yoga Trust