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108 Inspirational Lectures by Charles F. Lutes
Editor's Notes
Dedication
Background Information
Introduction
Lectures 1 to 6
Editor's Notes:
The book, "Charlie F. Lutes 108 Inspirational Lectures" was originally published as a limited
edition and printed in memory of Charlie Lutes. Edited and compiled by Mr. Vincent J.
Daczynski directly from Charlie's own original lecture notes, it was published, printed and
distributed by Friends of Charlie Lutes and Mr. Daczynski for free distribution to those who
loved him.
These 108 lectures are presented here to serve as both a reservoir of knowledge and a
source of continual inspiration from our teacher, mentor and friend Charlie Lutes.
This web edition is presented in 18 sections of 6 lectures each and has been specifically
formatted and edited for ISS and is re-published here by permission of the author.
~RJR
Dedication
In loving memory of my dear friend Charlie,
And to all those who loved him.
Vincent J. Daczynski
Background Information
In 1959 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi founded the Spiritual Regeneration Movement to enable
everyone to experience God through the practice of Transcendental Meditation.
Maharishi appointed Charles Lutes as president of this organization. Charlie was a man of God
and he spoke about God. Charlie described Transcendental Meditation as the highest teaching
because it is through the continued practice of this technique that one is able to infuse the
Being (God) into ones mind and body and thereby become united with God.
Charlie often stated that humans are spiritual beings with a spiritual destiny, and through his
own spiritual development he illustrated the efficacy of the practice of the Transcendental
Meditation technique as a means to awaken to this destiny. Charlie was a living example
about that which he spoke. Charlie was a spiritual Master in his own right.
The 108 lectures in this book were gleaned from over one-thousand inspirational lectures
which Charlie had delivered spanning over twenty years, from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Although Charlie’s lectures were written for and delivered to an audience of practitioners of
the Transcendental Meditation technique, the knowledge contained in these lectures are
universal truths and contain universal appeal; therefore they serve as an inspiration for all
seekers of truth regardless of the spiritual path they may travel. This book could have been
titled “A Handbook for God Realization” because everything one needs to know to realize
God is contained in this collection of lectures.
On December 7, 2001, Charlie ascended this worldly plane. Charlie left behind an extended
family of thousands of friends who adored him. Beyond his circle of admirers Charlie never
received the credit, acclaim and respect he deserved; not that he ever sought it. Charlie was
a spiritual genius and a giant among men. He is sorely missed.
I am sure you will find Charlie’s lectures as aspiring as I still do every time I read them.
May Charlie’s words continue to nurture and guide us.
Introduction
Charles F. Lutes was the first person to be taught Transcendental Meditation in the
continental United States by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Impressed with the
meditation technique he had received, Mr. Lutes joined Maharishi and became a founding
pillar of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement which later expanded into the many branches
of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation organization. Maharishi appointed Mr. Lutes as the
Director-General of these organizational branches in the Americas. Mr. Lutes took five world
tours with Maharishi to open hundreds of meditation centers around the world. In 1969 he
became a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation program.
Mr. Lutes realized God Consciousness enlightenment after two years of practicing the
Transcendental Meditation technique. He was one of the most advanced of Maharishi’s
teachers of Transcendental Meditation. Mr. Lutes was clairvoyant, a healer and a lecturer.
He was also accomplished in many yogic siddhi powers.
Mr. Lutes preferred to keep a low public profile. Instead, he traveled extensively to meet with
his extended family of thousands of meditating friends. He used his spiritual gifts to help all
those with the consciousness to receive him. He gave inspirational lectures on a wide variety
of spiritual matters, discretely performed numerous healings and assisted many of his friends
with their personal problems. Charlie Lutes maintained a 24/7 telephone hot line for anyone
who wanted to reach him. For over forty years Charlie dedicated his life to helping people
stay on the spiritual path.
Although he had a strong executive presence whose light filled the room when he entered,
and he held several titles of distinction in both the corporate business world and within the
Transcendental Meditation Organizations, he always wanted to be known simply as ‘Charlie.’
His compassion, warmth and understanding, and jovial and casual demeanor immediately
made anyone feel comfortable to be in his presence.
Charlie was my best friend as he was for many others. Everybody loved Charlie.
108 Inspirational Lectures by Charles F. Lutes
Lectures 1 to 6
1. Truth, a Continuous Unfoldment
2. The Coming of the New World
3. The Search for God
4. Responsibility in Life
5. A New Heaven and a New Earth
6. Karma in Life
Lecture 1
Truth, a Continuous Unfoldment
Some people feel that truth is something to
be observed above all else. Others feel truth is
something to be observed when all else fails.
Truth has many meanings for different people. Some people feel that truth is something to be
observed above all else. Others feel truth is something to be observed when all else fails.
And, some people resort to truth only in an emergency. The truth is that truth is a continual
unfoldment in life as one grows. It is a natural part of growth. A child can only understand
what he has learned, and in many cases he may have learned something, but certainly he
does not know the truth of what he has learned. There is always the truth of the object and
the truth of the subject and we may know one and never know the other.
There is a continuous mystery regarding relative truth, because in relative truth what is true
today may not be true tomorrow. Life should be a daily unfoldment of truth. As we work out
the lessons of life, each lesson well-learned brings forth many new truths to be absorbed into
the mind and this is real growth. Truth is both the servant and the master. Truth not only
commands obedience, it also serves in a very humble way. No one should ever use truth as a
weapon, nor should one use truth as an instrument of control because truth is really and truly
an instrument of love.
Knowledge gained in truth is of eternal value, while knowledge gained in falsity leads to great
confusion and disillusionment. We should always ask God to show us that which is the truth
and deliver us from the evil of that which is not truth. A teaching of truth frees us and a false
teaching binds us. As seekers of truth on the path of light we should be wary of those with
glib tongues and with great promises who try to lure us away as they would willingly lead us
astray of the truth in order to gain their own personal and often demonic ends.
One of the sad facts of life is that too often fiction is accepted as truth. In many cases the lie
is concocted and the people are taught that this is truth and they believe this for many ages
until the truth finally surfaces. Discrediting reincarnation is one prime example. Another is
that heaven is the goal of human life. Another is that God is a God of wrath and personally
punishes us for our sins.
Truth is both relative and absolute. Relative truth is constantly changing because of the
transient nature of relativity. So, what may be the truth today does not necessarily mean
it is the truth tomorrow. The absolute truth is that which never changes. It is truth always.
It always was and always will be.
As humans we are mainly concerned with the relative, yet the absolute truth underlies all that
exists in creation and is the basis for all the laws of creation. As adults, like children, we must
grow into truth. Truth could not be poured out on us indiscriminately because we would
drown in truth rather than gradually grow into, or absorb, the truth. As we grow into truth we
become more responsible and as a result more and more truth is added unto us.
For many ages the inner truths were closely guarded lest they got into the hands of
irresponsible people and were misused. Hence, the forming of secret brotherhoods and
mystery schools where only the most responsible and trustworthy were initiated into truth
under great vows of secrecy. However, now is the time when great truths are being given
out around the world for those who have the good karma or inner desire for these revelations.
One such truth is that there is a shortcut, the Transcendental Meditation technique, whereby
we may construct a clear channel from ourselves to the Almighty, and thereby quickly gain
absolute truth without going through a long drawn out process of evolution over ages of
births and rebirths. Other great truths are also now being given out, such as: that we are
never punished for our sins, but by them; that we are responsible for our actions and that
we judge ourselves when we get to the other side; that we are eternal and we have
everlasting life; that ultimately all souls gain mastery and that 97% of them are not lost; that
love is the motivating force of creation; that we are all one; that destruction is not the wrath
of God being visited upon the people, rather it is nature restoring the balance thrown out by
human ignorance. There are so many truths to be given out and absorbed by so many people
throughout the world.
Finding the truth which is now widely available is like finding a gold mine in your backyard.
It is all there just for the seeking. In the close of the Piscean Age and the beginning of the
Aquarian Age we are aware of so much evil and violence in the world, but we should be
aware that there is also the opposite being offered. And having free will we can, as always,
choose the way we wish to go. Truth is the solid foundation we should build our lives on and
in so doing we will build a structure that will withstand the ravages of time. If we build our
lives on a foundation of lies or half-truths the first storm to assail us will carry us down the
path of destruction and ruin. While we should always accept and appreciate relative truth we
should strive to move toward the absolute truth as much as we are able.
We cannot demand truth, because truth is purity on an ascending scale. So, to be aware of
higher truths we must gain equal purity. Although humanity is completely surrounded by
truth, most of humanity is completely unaware of this. To realize the higher truths, they must
grow into the higher truths.
The purity of one thing attracts the purity of another thing. Also, the setting for an object
must be compatible with the object itself. You would not display a flawless diamond in a
shoddy surrounding. You would display it in a beautiful salon on a velvet covered table.
The ultimate truth is total purity and that is God. So, God and truth are one and the same.
Destiny on the path of truth is the same thing; it leads to oneness with truth which is our
oneness with God.
Coming up through evolution we have come up through a sea of deceit, lies, selfishness,
vanity, ego, cruelty, separateness and all forms of sin. We have lived untruth while oblivious
to the purity of life, which is truth. Now we find that in awakening to the spirit of truth, which
is spirituality, we are covered with contamination of the ages encrusted on us and now we
are going through the process of cleansing which we call unstressing. The solvent or
cleansing agent we use is a very high vibration that acts against the contamination and
breaks it up and washes it away through the mind because that is how we acquired it in the
first place. It is like washing away a heavy clay coating on a diamond and then when this is
accomplished, the diamond begins to sparkle in its own pure light. The human nervous
system is like the diamond and Transcendental Meditation is the cleanser we use.
Truth in life has many facets and all are very important parts contributing to the whole,
such as true love, true beauty, true devotion, true integrity, true mercy, true kindness and
consideration, and many others. All of these facets are lived in relative purity by humanity;
but the path of the initiate is to bring all of these facets up to total purity, and that then is
truth unfolded. When we have at last reached the pure light of enlightenment and discover
that we are the light, then that is truth resplendent in its full meaning. We are then one with
the truth and truth is one with us - we are one with God.
Lecture 2
The Coming of the New World
Just remember, when the
weeding process takes place,
you are the flowers.
It can be said that our world is really many worlds containing people at various levels of
consciousness and behavior patterns, living within different geographical environments. So
what may be truth for one level of consciousness and for one environment is probably not
true for another.
Some parts of the world reflect more negativity than other parts. Some parts are so negative
that they are unable to embody constructive energy of expression. Also, some parts of the
world will experience disastrous impacts either from human causes such as wars, and so
forth, or from natural causes, such as earthquakes, tidal waves, fires, and so forth.
The earth at the present time is undergoing a cleansing of excess negativity. So, disasters of
one nature or another will occur unless there are forces of creativity emerging in a strong
fashion to neutralize the destructive forces. If we are in tune with God then a protective
shield will surround us and keep us safe.
In this world we experience just what we attract to ourselves, and this is determined by our
attitude and by our devotion to God. Those who are in the process of expressing a more
enlightened and positive awareness in life, are attracting to themselves only creative and
positive experiences. Their world holds no suffering or disaster for them - such is the nature
of the world and the nature of nature itself.
At the present time we live in a dual world; one open to experiencing negativity and
destruction, the other open to manifesting positive creativity and peace in the world. The
coming of the New Age heralds many changes; some radical and some not so severe. These
changes, though resisted by many, will come. They will be destructive to many, yet uplifting
to others. It will be the end of the world for many, yet the beginning of a new world for
many more. If we live the law, the law will support us. If we do not support the law, we will
be abandoned by the same law. The first law of creation is the law of love.
In the future there will be many souls who will not be able to incarnate on this planet, for to
do so would be to expose themselves to vibrations beyond their ability to withstand. On the
other hand, there are numerous higher beings who would like to incarnate upon this earth,
only the vibrations at present are too low and too gross for them, because the earth of
today has very intense material vibrations of a low nature. The earth of tomorrow will,
however, be a vastly different heavenly earth. That is why it will be called, Heaven on Earth.
Many people feel that destruction is a fast way into the New Age, but it is not. It only creates
new burdens and in many cases retards our progress. The object is not to destroy the old,
but rather to superimpose the new over the old. The earth did not create the low vibrations.
The humans did this.
The earth is now in the process of raising its own vibrations so that truly there will be a new
heaven and a new earth, and there will come a flood of love that will cover the earth from
pole to pole. Those coming into this earth will be high souls, and the path to liberation will be
made much easier. Because, then we will have mastered our own human nature and we will
be on our way to become masters of nature and ultimately masters of the entire universe.
The prophesies of the scriptures will be fulfilled and there will be a new heaven and a new
earth, and a new Jerusalem (meaning spirituality) will descend upon the earth. A new earth
of heavenly vibrations will create a new heaven and a new Jerusalem; this means spirituality
will descend upon the earth and the devil (meaning negativity and destructive forces) will be
chained and cast into the bottomless pit; meaning that where love and spirituality reign
negativity and hate cannot co-exist. It is the human who expresses one or the other. In the
New Age now upon us, only our God nature will be expressed, and heaven will be on earth
for all to love and enjoy. From day to day we will now see the breakups of old patterns and
the coming forth of new age patterns that will endure for two-thousand years. It will be very
interesting for some and a disaster for others.
Lecture 3
The Search for God
In the state of bondage,
the “I” is experienced as the agent,
while in the state of liberation,
it is experienced as the witness.
The basic cause of all troubles, confusion, suffering and problems in life is either a
misunderstanding or ignorance of the truth of our own existence. To understand this, we
must realize our own creative powers; because the creative powers in ourselves cannot be
other than the creative powers of the universe.
If we can have the true and direct experience of the creative spirit in ourselves, we will then
have the experience of the creative force behind all that exists in this universe. There cannot
be two creative spirits, one for us and one for the universe. So, it is useless to run in search
of God somewhere far off in the universe. We should seek out God here on earth in ourselves.
God is not, nor has he ever been, missing; only misunderstood, or even so, not understood
at all.
The role of the human is to ultimately come into harmony and unity with nature, and this
starts with our own human nature. To find God, we must find our Self, and in unfolding our
Self through Transcendental Meditation, we then discover and learn how to experience God.
In doing this, we discover it is all one and the same thing; I am one with God and the
universe is one with God. I now see the unity in the multiplicity and the multiplicity in the
unity. What we also discover is that God has always had greater plans for us than we have
ever had for ourselves.
The keynote of life is work. The universe is the work of God, so the work of the human must
be in keeping with God's work. That is done by performing our work selflessly. By doing this,
we liberate ourselves. Working in a selfish manner, we create bondage for ourselves. Work
is worship and without work we cannot experience the Creator. If God did not work, no one
could realize the spirit. When work is performed without selfish motivation, then the real
worker is experienced.
The real and automatic worker in this universe is creative energy and this is personified as
the mother of the universe; Mother Divine. By experiencing creative energy, the creative
consciousness is experienced as the witnessing spirit, and when we experience this
witnessing spirit we experience liberation.
In the state of bondage, the “I” is experienced as the agent, while in the state of liberation it
is experienced as the witness. Constructive work is the human's contribution to society and
it is our preparation for liberation. The quality of the work is based on the motivation of the
work. If the motivation is pure, then the quality of the work is good. Work that we do under
pressure does not give any satisfaction to us or anyone else. Work is not meant to gain
money alone, or just to make ourselves tired and to fill ourselves with tension. Real work is
the basis for physical, mental and spiritual development. The human should always maintain
law and order in the inner forces of the energy in himself; first and always. To learn this is the
experience we gain in life.
The human desires to know everything in a moment. However, you will know everything in
its own good time and in your own good growth. If you desire peace and happiness for
others, then work to maintain peace and happiness in yourself. Anyone who maintains peace,
harmony and love in himself automatically radiates this to all those around him.
What humanity has to learn is that in order to eliminate wars and strife in the world, we
must first eliminate the war and strife in ourselves. What we have to ask ourselves is: Am I
working to remove my ignorance in order to obtain liberation? Do I have an intense desire for
freedom from bondage? Do I understand the causes of my past and/or present suffering?
Do I realize that I am the sole cause and not someone else? Do I realize that I punish
myself and that God is not punishing me? If I can answer these questions in the positive,
then I am a light in this world on the way to enlightenment.
Wars may be different in nature and in time, but there is the continuity of the same cause
behind all wars and that is selfishness and the lack of peace, happiness and calmness in the
human mind. We have failed to realize the true nature of the mind. The glamour of matter is
that it creates temporary happiness in the mind and we begin to believe that this is truth.
Thus the mind is deluded. When this false truth is shattered we are plunged into misery and
suffering. As long as we remain deluded, this goes on and on, time after time. Only when we
awaken to the understanding of our true nature do we awaken from the maya of human life.
Only then do we awaken from the waking dream.
Lecture 4
Responsibility in Life
First and always this is a lesson
world and lessons and responsibilities
become one and the same thing.
Responsibilities are something we are born with and they will follow us all of our lives. To start
with we are all charged with two responsibilities we can never ignore; one is to improve
ourselves and the other is to strive for balance in life. Also, we are responsible for what we
take on in life; for the responsibilities we accept as we go along. Whatever we set in motion,
we are responsible for the scope and nature of the activity that ensues; cause and effect.
Cause and effect is one of the laws of creation that no human can evade.
The thing we learn as children is how to handle the responsibilities that we will incur as we
go along in life. We are taught to be responsible to the degree that we understand the
meaning of the word. Then again, there are times when we choose, of our own free will, to
take on certain responsibilities and then later on we are sorry we did so. And we then begin
to shirk our responsibility and that is not good. Then again, we may shoulder a responsibility
that later on we can drop without any serious consequence, if we so desire. However, it is
the fixed responsibilities that we can not get away from that we must learn to live with.
Oftentimes we are saddled with responsibilities that we did not ask for and in most cases this
is our karma coming into play. Because there was no desire on our part to take on the
responsibilities in the first place we often rebel not knowing that this is our karma.
First and always this is a lesson world and lessons and responsibilities become one and the
same thing.
Many times when we are on the other side, and we are planning our next life here, we do
take on a greater load than we should, and oftentimes we can not carry the load, so we leave
this life at an early age unless we are very strong. Sometimes we take on the responsibility of
caring for an elderly parent which at the time seems like a heavy burden, yet later on after
the parent is gone we are very happy we did what we could do to help them and make them
happy in their last days.
Quite often a child will say to a parent, I did not ask to be born, which is a very incorrect
statement because they very much asked to be born. It was their greatest desire to be born
or they wouldn't be here. To help make a parent happy and comfortable in their old age is
indeed good karma. They cared for us when we were helpless and oftentimes sick and now it
is our time to help them.
When a couple decides to have children they accept an eighteen year responsibility that they
should never renege on. They have taken on the responsibility of giving that child the best
care and guidance possible while they are growing up.
Responsibilities come in many forms and in many degrees such as sole responsibilities, joint
responsibilities and group responsibilities, and one person can be involved in all three at the
same time. Some people, however, take to and accept responsibility while others run when
the word is mentioned. This in turn depends on whether or not they have a strong nervous
system. If they have a weak nervous system they cannot face hard responsibilities no matter
how hard they may try. So, their responsibility in life is to gain a stronger nervous system and
not to weaken it still more in this life. Transcendental Meditation, however, will greatly
strengthen the nervous system as one continues the practice.
The mistake in life is in asking one with a weak nervous system to shoulder too heavy a
responsibility because they simply are not equipped to do so. Even if they are willing to do so,
they cannot handle the load, and when you most need them they are nowhere to be found.
Sometimes we expect too much out of people and when we do we are often in for a big
disappointment. Generally speaking, a strong person believes others are, or should be, just as
strong as he is and in reality this is simply not the case. Strength gravitates to strength and
weakness to weakness. It is, however, the strong that should help the weak to become
stronger and not make them weaker by forcing them beyond their capacity.
The Bible says the meek shall inherit the earth, but the weak will never inherit the earth or
much else. The projection should be to become stronger and the way to do this is to take on
certain responsibilities, but not too much at any one time, as one will grow stronger with time,
consideration and effort. A weak person being around strong persons tends to become
stronger by association and admiration. Another thing, strong people who take on given
responsibilities have a way of being successful in what they do, while the weak deal mostly in
failure. It has been said that there are no great men. They are simply men who, thrust into a
given situation at a time of great need, lived up to the responsibility placed on them and they carried through to success.
Generally, those in the mode of ignorance neither feel nor have a sense of responsibility.
They merely roll along in life looking for help from any source available and do so with very
little sense of pride or self maintenance. Those in the mode of passion very often desire to
take on the responsibilities of the world. They are very active and very intense in regards to
what they do and that is usually too much, and many depart this world in their middle age
years. That is why there are so many wealthy women in the world. Then there are those in
the mode of goodness who are usually on the path of spirituality. They have a deep concern
for humanity, but they also understand reincarnation and karma. They lend their help where
they are able to help and leave alone that which they have no control over. They thoroughly
understand their responsibilities and they live up to them, realizing that their principle
responsibility is to gain as much spiritual development as possible in this life, and by their light
be a guide to those who ask for guidance. They do not rush out and try to save the world
because they are only too aware that many people haven't the consciousness to be saved.
They know that humans are like children; they must grow into responsibility and into
awareness of the goal of life.
Most people in the world wish to be happy, but they do not yet realize that a direct pursuit
of happiness does not produce happiness. Happiness comes as a by-product of selfless service
and not from selfish motivation for personal gain and personal happiness at the expense of
others.
The final great responsibility we all have is to find the path of liberation and once initiated
onto the path to stay faithful to the practice and reach the goal of life as soon as we are able.
So, ages ago we took on the responsibility for human evolution; the responsibility for our
actions, our speech and our thoughts. And now we are coming to the close of human life on
this earth where we may lay down our responsibilities and hear the Father say in all love,
“Well done you may now come home and go no more out; you have faced your
responsibilities and you have fully matured and you are now one with me for eternity.”
Lecture 5
A New Heaven and a New Earth
It is not what you declare yourself to be;
it is what you really are that counts..
Man is a God to the animal kingdom and when man started to kill animals he also started
killing each other. In the coming of a new age on this earth man must abandon his old way of
life and adopt an entirely new way of love and peace on earth. Killing always calls for more
killing because that is the inevitable working of karma. Also, as you think, so you are and so
you do. Wars serve no purpose of a constructive nature. They only set a pattern for more
destruction. There is what is called the universal chain and the earth is a very weak link in
that chain, and the link must be strengthened. The strength or weakness lies with the
humans on this earth. It is the humans that have free will and by their will they can be
what they desire to be. Anyone who has no real love for animals has no real love for God, or
for his fellow humans. It is not what you declare yourself to be, it is what you really are that
counts. Actions always speak louder than words.
What humans must now develop is a new way of life, a new quality of the soul. This is very
necessary due to the changes in the world that are upon us and still to come. If we are to be
a part of the New Age, then we also must be made new. We must put aside our old ways and
develop a quality of love that will keep us in stride with the New Age of peace and harmony.
So much knowledge will be released onto the world that unless there is harmony it will be a
pure disaster. It is the human who, created in the image of God, must now start to portray
that image. We must have a greater understanding of cause and effect, so we will become
fully responsible for what we cause. The law of reincarnation is such that every thought and
deed returns to its original source. We must harvest our mistakes by the experiences we
create for ourselves. We must raise ourselves spiritually so that a full understanding of right
and wrong, and living the laws of life, is fully in our daily consciousness. It is by our own free
will that we allow ourselves to be directed and guided to higher spirituality.
There will come a time in the near future when nature will not allow anyone to inhabit the
earth who does not measure up to the quality necessary to live in the New Age. None of this
is impossible, and when we desire to travel the high road we can instantly start to do so.
God is far more merciful than we can ever imagine. If we truly believe in God, then we also
believe in ourselves. If we wish to live the law of God, which is the law of nature, then God or
nature will surely support us. If we choose not to do this, then we must be willing to accept
the effects of the karma we have created.
In the near future an enormous amount of higher knowledge will be released to mankind, and
if we are not fully indoctrinated into peace and harmony we could unleash terrible things
upon each other, the world and the universe. What we release here has a far reaching effect,
even way beyond this earth. So, nature or the hierarchy, in self-protection, will not allow this
to happen.
We are now coming into a time of quickening where in the next one-thousand years humanity
will make more progress than occurred in the last fifty-thousand years. The thing that will
happen is that humanity will come up to a higher vibration, a stage of life where life will be
truly spiritual. When we reach this, we will be living a life of beauty and an ever increasing
spiritual development. The days of selfish interests of humans, where humans destroy others
to obtain what others have striven to acquire, is fast drawing to a conclusion. The law of the
universe is that the strong shall help the weak. Those who exploit the weak, overrun them
and destroy them will shortly be removed from causation on this earth. The evil will be
separated from the good and that which is good will even so become better.
Lecture 6
Karma in Life
To be free of karma one must
transcend all limitations of time, for
time is the field that karma operates in.
Lord Gautama Buddha stated that the First Great Noble Truth is that there is more suffering in
life than there are moments of happiness. Not only did Lord Buddha say that there is suffering
in life, he also stated that there is a cause or reason for that suffering.
Lord Buddha said that the Second Noble Truth is that craving is the cause of all suffering.
Craving is said to be the attempt to continue something that has ceased to be or has passed
away. The event or condition may have passed, but the memory clings to the event. And in
so doing, sets up a sense of anticipation which is but the seeking of a fulfillment of a past
event, or even so, condition in the future.
Also, one peculiar fact of life is that the more security one seeks, the more insecure he
becomes. The real security comes in living from moment to moment and not by attempting
to give the moment a continuity of time-sequence. For, by projecting continuity on that which
is basically discontinuous the human has injected life and death into the problem, as he has now separated death from the process of living. The human believes that living is a process of life and death is discontinuity.
The truth is that life and death are interwoven. The mystery is the fact of discontinuity in the
midst of continuity. Anyone who does not discuss moments of death in the process of living
does not know what it is to live. So, to understand why we have afflictions in life we must first
understand the conditions that give birth to afflictions. To discover this we must go back to
the what, how and why of life. Afflictions come from the ego, or I-ness, which sets up the
ignorance in life, the attraction and repulsion in life, the desire for continuity and finally the
fulfillment of life, and all this on the platform of desires. Hence, this is a desire world.
Also, when one discovers the cause of the afflictions in life one is not free from afflictions.
Although this may clear up the problem from an intellectual point of view this is only the
starting point in the total dissolution of the problem. It is only in meditation that a complete
cessation of afflictions is made possible.
To start with, meditation lessens the impact of numerous afflictions that came into one’s life,
and slowly takes one out of all afflictions. Slowly we rise above them through a process of
purification and lastly, by infusion, we are liberated from the wheel of birth and death itself.
It is only when one rises above the problem that one can look into the cause of the problem;
otherwise one is fully absorbed in the effect. In order for one to dissolve the affliction one has
to go beyond the intellectual process. So, afflictions can cease only as a result of the state of
meditation.
Also, it is only in meditation that the distance between cause and effect is completely
eliminated. It is also meditation that enables one to see the cause in the effect.
In afflictions lies the whole functioning base of karma that in turn expresses itself in the
present and in the future. So, the entire structure of karma lies in the field of afflictions, which
also takes in cause and effect. So, afflictions contain both the effect and the cause. Therefore,
the solution to a problem is in the problem itself. It is in suffering that one finds both the
cause and the effect. So, for its dissolution, one must focus on the suffering. Karma, which is
the cause-effect phenomenon, lies rooted in the affliction. So, to free one’s self from affliction,
the answer lies in affliction.
Another important fact is that the quality and duration of one’s life is determined by karmic
factors and these are restricting factors in one’s life; the fruits of karma must be reaped.
All changes in life arise from the play of opposites, from the play of the quality and duration
of time. So, to be free of karma one must transcend all limitations of time, for time is the field
in which karma operates. So, the human is tied to the operation of karma by being subjected
to the impacts of the ever-changing environment, be it subjective or objective.
Life is said to be of the three-fold misery; the obvious conditions of misery arise due to the
functioning of the three gunas. The problem lies in the conflict between the functioning
ttributes and the mind. It is the distortions in the mind that set up the conflict in the
functioning of the three gunas. The gunas are objective and the mind is subjective. So, all
suffering in life can be traced to the conflict between the gunas and the distorted mind. This
is the play of opposites, and from this comes all the afflictions in life.
The human is forever concerned with the problem of sorrow and suffering, as happiness
presents no problem in life. So, the main thrust in life is to avoid pain and suffering that
forever threatens to overtake one as life moves on relentlessly into an unknown future.
Therefore, many have a desire to consult astrologers and others to find out, if possible, what
the future holds for them. However, most of these predictions are far from being totally
reliable because life is not static, or that is to say, completely fixed. We may all have a destiny
and dharma, but that does not mean we follow them, mostly because of free choice or free will.
Many would like to know the future in order to prepare to meet the oncoming challenges,
but for most people knowing the future is not possible. To really know what the future holds
for you one must learn how to live in the present. The only one who really knows how to live
in the present is one who places his faith in God and meditates each and every day. For in
meditation God talks to us and we experience God each and every day. That is the real
meaning of living in the present, and if each day is lived in harmony with nature, then the
future will take care of itself.
Hence, we have no reason to fear the future, or to fight the windmills of life. The past
determines the present and how we handle the present determines the future.
All text © 2012 by Vincent J. Daczynski
All Rights Reserved
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