Sorry Friends ! It's been a long time since I have posted anything. As things stand, I have not even visited the Island to view the posts of others till recently. And my Inbox is overflowing with mails about posts. But due to a heavy schedule and some depressing days alongwith a backache had turned me away from the drive to post something. But I think it's high time I have started all over again as my backache seems to be getting better and the depessing days seem to be my constant companion. I have always wondered during my bad phases whether what you go through in this life is a resultant of your deeds or not. Conflicting opinions are there in the sense that, while some attribute the bad times to the deeds done in this life, others take it as the result of deeds of both this life and past lives also. A third category say that whatever you experience in this life results from your deeds of earlier lives only, and your doings of this life will show result in your later lives. I never understood the logic of whatever force that brings about these retributions as if he or she is keeping a record of all and calculating/realloting retribution in a mega scale of cosmic dimensions. Let us consider the retributing entity as God. If God wanted to punish someone for his doings in one birth, he should do so in the same birth and not postpone it to future ones, as in the future births, the person is a totally different one without any link to his previous deeds as far as his knowledge or character goes. So it sounds like punishing Hari for the misdeeds of Ram, which is totally illogical. So it is difficult to believe in the theory that you get punished or rewarded for your deeds/misdeeds of earlier lives. Now, consider that you get the result of your deeds of this life in this life only. Then how are you going to explain the misfortunes of extremely pious men or the lavish lives of evil men who never face any problems in their lives? We may call them the so called lucky and unlucky people, but is that all the explanation we can offer, especially when luck is considered nothing beyond the gift of God ? If that is so, then we can safely deduce that there is simply no relation of your deeds with your experiences, and all this concept of Karma is bogus, and it is very practical to do whatever you like for your selfish ends without worrying about any retributions! Sounds enticing. Isn't it? Believe me, I am really confused about it.

For arguments' sake, let's presume that there actually is retribution as per your deeds. Then does the bad effects get reduced by your doing religious activities, like taking a dip in Ganga or performing Pujas? If that is so, then all evil men can go on committing any misdeeds they want and still wash them all off  by taking a Ganga dips !! That gives God the power of overriding one's Karma. But what we have read in the scriptures since childhood says that even God is bound by Karma, and there are numerous examples of it. Is that all wrong? Or is our doing Char-Dham and so on are all useless?

I think the answer to all this is your own belief. I still think, even during my bad phases, that whatever one have got in his or her life is good enough for him/her. It is wiser to never hope or aspire for anything better and experience despair/ bad times. This opinion may differ with the present trend of career/fortune builders whose philosophy is to rise high at whatever costs, but it seems one has to sacrifice a lot for the same. And sacrifices always seem to have  positive results. So whatever may be the truth about Karma or God and their distribution of power, there definitely is a logical link between our deeds and experiences, however erratic it may appear to be, that too maybe because our incomplete understanding of the process. I hope one day I will find the answer, even though I don't plan to be another Budhha !!