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26
KARMA - THE MECHANISM
SUTRAS
SUTRA 1 कायवाङ्मनःकर्म योगः ॥ १ ॥ Kayavanmanah karma yogah (1) With the activities of our body, speech and mind we attract karma to our consciousness. (1)
All activities of our body, speech and mind establish a connection between our consciousness and karma.1
SUTRA 2
7 Birya: 1 2 11 Sa asravah (2) This attraction causes our consciousness and karma to interact (asrava). (2)
Our own activities are the very origin of the interaction between our consciousness2 and non-living karmic matter.
Karma is an essential part of our life in the state of embodiment. It connects our consciousness to the physical world. It is the very factor that allows us to experience these embodiments in all their permutations and variations. On our path to a more enlightened and liber
1 The Tattvarthasutra calls this connecting process 'yoga'. This is not
identical with the system of gentle Indian exercises, the West usually associates with 'Yoga'. The chapter 'yoga IN THE TATTVARTHASUTRA
describes the main differences between the two meanings. 2 The Tattvarthasutra calls the essence of consciousness jiva and defines
it as 'that what lives in a living being' - irrespective of the body it presently inhabits.
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