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Types of Karma

    Every action, either physical, emotional or mental, every movement occurring either on the plane of gross matter -sthoolam- or on the astral planes -sookshma-, causes an emission of energy, in other words, it produces a seed.

    Being a seed, karma fructifies or does not fructify immediately after it is sown. The innumerable seeds we produce by our actions -desire, aversion, love, hatred, good or bad words, etc. will undoubtedly produce, sooner or later, a positive or negative result according to the nature of the seed, if not in this life, then in some future one. As a man sows, so shall he reap.

    In some cases people develop some kind of illnesses when they arrive at certain age or we can see others born blind, deaf, in an extreme poverty, or with terrible illnesses, due to their previous wrong actions. The good or bad actions ingrained in a person's soul can fructify immediately or get accumulated, sprouting in the future, bringing up pain or a reward to him.

    Some karmas trigger a very quick reaction, others need a long or very long time to trigger a reaction. The time of ripening of the fruit of an action, has nothing to do with the time when that action was done. Only God has

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the knowledge for deciding what is the best moment for a karma to give fruit, so your soul can be purified.

    Karma is threefold: sanchita, prarabdha and kriyamana.

    Sanchita karma. ‘Accumulated actions.’ The sum of all past karmas, may it be from this or previous births, which is to bear fruit in the future.

    Prarabdha karma. ‘Actions began; set in motion.’ That portion of sanchita karma that is bearing fruit. Past actions whose reactions are manifesting in the present. It appears in the present life in the form of fate. A man might have performed many karmas in his previous births. Some of these karmas might be chosen by God's Will to bear fruit in this birth, having the individual to face their positive or negative effects in its life. For example, a man commited assasination in a previous birth -sanchita karma- and in this life he was born paraplegic, as a result of that wrongful action -prarabdha karma.

    Kriyamana karma. ‘Being made.’ The karma presently being created and added to sanchita in this life. Present karma being made. Kriyamana karma is also called agami, ‘coming, arriving,’ and vartamana, ‘living, set in motion.’ While some kriyamana karmas bear fruit in the current life, others are

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stored for future births. Each of these types can be divided into two categories: arabdha -literally, ‘begun, undertaken;’ karma that is ‘sprouting’- and anarabdha -‘not commenced; dormant.’ For example two persons committed an armed robbery and one of them got caught -arabdha karma- and the other one got away -anarabdha karma. The robber that got caught, immediately started to feel the effect of the cause; he got caught going to jail. The other robber that escaped, will have to experience, in this life or in a future one, the effect of this wrongful action.

Next Chapter: Majjhima Patipada (Middle Path)

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