________________ 112 Shrimad Rajchandra Letter 530 (2) In the state of self-realisation, the soul having attained through true teaching, true knowledge, becomes the doer of its own perception, knowledge, and effortless equanimity. While the soul is in a state of ignorance, it becomes the doer of emotions such as anger, greed, ego, and deceit, and thus becomes the bearer of the fruits of its own actions, and at the same time a creator of the objects we see in the world such as a pot or a piece of cloth. However, in reality, it is not the creator of the fundamental substances making up these objects, but merely a causal factor in the manifestation of these fundamental substances in the form of a pot or a cloth. This state of ignorance that leads to the quality of "doing" is defined as karma in Jain philosophy, in Vedanta it is called delusion. By deep contemplation, one realises that the soul cannot be the doer of passions such as anger, neither that of objects in the material world, it can only ever be the doer of its own true nature which is consciousness. (3) Karma that is incurred by the soul in a state of ignorance is like a seed which at the appropriate time bears fruit, and the soul must then bear the consequences of that karma. Just as the action of touching fire, leads to the sensation of burning in one's fingers, so also the karma that is incurred by the soul's acts of anger, deceit etc. lead to the consequences of birth, old age, disease, death, etc. I urge you to deeply contemplate upon this concept and should any question arise in your mind, then let me know. For liberation can only be attained by preventing all those acts that lead to bondage. Question 2 (1) What is God? (2) Is He really the creator of this universe?