At death, there are ultimately two possibilities: liberation or reincarnation. We normally assume that bad karma binds us while good karma liberates us. Therefore, the spiritual strategy appears simple: avoid bad actions, accumulate good karma, and eventually attain liberation. But as AiR’s philosophy says, good karma can become a “golden handcuff.” A handcuff made of gold may be valuable, but it is still a handcuff.
The question during today’s Ask AiR session revealed an important distinction: karma is not a balance sheet that can simply be brought to zero. We cannot keep doing good deeds to cancel bad deeds and hope that one day the account will be closed. As long as we remain the doer, new karma continues to be created.
Karma belongs to the BME — Body, Mind and Ego. As long as I believe, “I am this body, I am this mind, I am this ego,” I remain the owner of my actions and their consequences. AiR gave a powerful analogy: as long as our name remains on the baggage, the baggage belongs to us. Liberation is not about emptying the baggage one item at a time, because new items keep getting added through Agami Karma.
A Karma Yogi performs actions according to His will and surrenders the fruits of those actions to SIP. But the “I” is still there. So, while the Karma Yogi does not create new karma, he remains bound by Prarabdha Karma. And as long as one is bound by karma, one cannot attain liberation.
The only way to achieve liberation is to realize that the baggage was never truly ours. This realization comes through overcoming Avidya — ignorance — and transcending the Body, Mind and Ego. When we realize that we are the Atma, the Divine Soul, the sense of personal doership begins to dissolve. Thereafter, we live as a Dedicated Divine Instrument, doing what SIP wills. At this point, we become free from karma.
The principle is simple: Do not try to settle the karmic account. Transcend the Body, Mind and Ego that owns the account.
Liberation does not come when karma reaches zero. It comes when the false “I” that claims the karma disappears.