The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita - 11.6. Swami Krishnananda.

 

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Sunday, July 11, 2021. 6:52. PM. 
Chapter 11: The Yoga of Meditation - 6.
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Take for granted that there is a sincere student, honestly practicing Yoga throughout his life, yet does not realise the goal of Yoga, and his life is cut off by death, having not achieved the supreme purpose. 

What happens to that person? 

Imagine, we have endeavoured to our best in the practice of meditation, in taking to Yoga. Yes, wonderful. With all our efforts we have not succeeded, and we have been forced by the karmas that determine our life to leave this body. What happens, then? What is going to be the fate of that person in the future existence, is the question of Arjuna.

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The answer is very satisfying and solacing. 

Krishna says, “Whoever does good in this world, even in the least measure, cannot go to ruin.” 

That is the beautiful side of karma, or the law of action and reaction. 

While we are always afraid of the word karma, as if it is a binding chain, we are likely to forget the positive side of its being capable of giving credit also, when we follow it according to the system of its operation. Our efforts towards the practice of Yoga are praiseworthy attempts that we have undertaken in life; whether or not we succeed is a different matter. As a matter of fact, the Yoga of the Bhagavadgita is not concerned with success or failure; it is rooted in the attitude that we adopt throughout our life, the sincerity with which we have taken to it and the honesty of purpose that was backing us up. For, God values our honesty and sincerity and not the ulterior success that one may expect but should not expect. The whole of the conditions is in us, and not outside.

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A person who leaves the body before the achievement of the goal of Yoga will be reborn—but under favourable circumstances. 

He will be born under those conditions where the earlier practices can be accelerated. He will be born again in a condition where he will be finding conducive circumstances around him, not obstructing his practice. The memory of the past will work its own way. 

This memory may not always be a conscious operation of the mind. Many of us cannot have a memory of our previous lives, but every one of us feels an urge towards a particular end, though this urge is not intelligible on the conscious level of the mind. This deeper longing that we feel within ourselves is the propulsion of our previous practices and aspirations. The mind is not merely the conscious manifestation of it; it is deeper still in the subconscious, and further deeper in the unconscious, and so on. 

So a person reborn in this manner is impelled to move in the direction of the very same practice which was not completed in the earlier life, and everything that is necessary for the practice will be provided to him by the very law of things. And no pain will be felt on account of the blessedness that accrues from the merits of the earlier life.

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To be continued ...

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