Question: Dear brother, When playing the role, does the intention comes before action in terms of karmic accounts? ie. At work, I might have to fire somebody due to certain situation (role requiring that action) nothing at a personal level (at personal level the intention is good wishes and pure feelings), does this create a karmic accounts for myself?

December 11, 2012

Thank you for your great question! 🙂

First the background information about the law of karma.
According to gyan, at this time we can perform “sinful” actions or plain “actions,” meaning activities which have a return which are considered to be “good” or “proper” in the surface. i.e: opening a hospital, have a good return in your health in your next birth if the intention was to help others. These types of karma are pretty much “mixed,” at this time: i.e: you bought a new car to go to work. That gives you happiness. Then, you get into a car accident and something else happened because you have a car.

As we can see our intentions are before the actions. However, those intentions could be driven by ignorance alone as well: i.e: I want to “help” a person by giving him money. This person will use that money in a sinful way later. There is a negative karmic return on that.

Therefore, spiritual knowledge is before intentions. 🙂

Since we have gyan, we have the advantage of knowing that we are playing roles and as you mentioned, you have a role, a duty at work to fulfill. If you have been fair in following the procedures for disciplining the employee and have given the opportunities for that employee to change his/her behavior, it is your “duty” to terminate the employee. There should not be any feelings of remorse at that point.

There will be some karmic return, because the employee will be unhappy with you. Therefore, your good intentions manifested as good wishes should be there always to protect you. If you do not take any action, that is action in itself, for this employee may undermine the working relationships and become a “bad example” extending unnecessary problems.

Many times, souls rather not to “act” for fear of karmic consequences. These souls do not realize that choosing not to act is an action, and there will be consequences on that “negligence.”

Performing your duty is before anything else but knowledge allow us to be careful about this for if we accept a position in society that comes with an expected duty, we will need to fulfill it for others depend on that.(As Krishna told Arjuna in the battlefield, when Arjuna asked about his friends and relatives on the other side, for Arjuna was a warrior.)

Therefore, perform your duty oh soul! and keep your good wishes and pure feelings as a detached observer.

Best wishes!

Written by avyakt7- New Generation Posted in Questions