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A Series of Lessons in Gnani Yoga878
the good Karma of Duty well performed, kindness well expressed, and
Good Deeds freely performed without hope of reward, then do we weave
for ourselves the beautiful garments which we are destined to wear upon
the occasion of our future lives.
The Yogi Teachings relating to the Law of Karma do not teach us that Sin
is an offense against the Power which brought us into being, so much as it is
an offense against ourselves. We cannot injure the Absolute, nor harm It in
any way. But we may harm each other, and in so doing harm ourselves. The
Yogis teach that Sin is largely a matter of ignorance and misunderstanding of
our true nature, and that the lesson must be well learned until we are able
to see the folly and error of our former course, and thus are able to remedy
our past errors and to avoid their recurrence. By Karma the effects arising
from our sins cling to us, until we become sick and weary of them, and seek
their cause in our hearts. When we have discovered the evil cause of these
effects, we learn to hate it and tear it from us as a foul thing, and are thence
evermore relieved of it.
The Yogis view the sinning soul as the parent does the child who will
persist in playing with forbidden things. The parent cautions the child
against playing with the stove, but still the child persists in its disobedience,
and sooner or later receives a burn for its meddling. The burn is not a
punishment for the disobedience (although it may seem so to it) but comes
in obedience to a natural law which is invariable. To child finds out that stoves
and burns are connected, and begins to see some sense and reason in the
admonitions of the parent. The love of the parent sought to save the child
the pain of the burn, and yet the child-nature persisted in experimenting,
and was taught the lesson. But the lesson once thoroughly learned, it is not
necessary to forbid the child the stove, for it has learned the danger for
itself and thereafter avoids it.
And thus it is with the human soul passing on from one life to another. It
learns new lessons, gathers new experiences, and learns to recognize the
pain that invariably comes from Wrong Action, and the Happiness that