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Gandhi's Teachers : Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta
binds it to do karmas, and 4) soul is bound to do karmas by God's inspiration, but is inherently free. Thus it appears that doing karmas, one way or the other, is ordained upon soul and their ceasing never occurs.
The true teacher asks the disciple that if soul is not the inspirer of karmas, then who inspires them, for non-living matter (being non-living) cannot be the inspirer of karmas. If soul's activity does not exist, then there would be no accumulation of karmas on soul's part (and no enjoying suffering of the consequences of karmas). Karmas do not occur through own natural tendency and nor because soul is duty-bound to do karmas. In the bonded state, soul is not completely independent of matter, but becomes independent when it gains knowledge of self. God is not the doer or creator of anything, but is situated in own pure nature. If God would inspire karmas, then He would also be associated with the defects in karmas (and would be no longer God). Lastly when soul acts according to own original nature, then there is positive impact on the karmas. When soul acts counter to own nature, then there is adverse impact on the karmas.
A summary view of the above statements is that karmas just don't happen by themselves, nor God is the inspirer of karmas, 28 nor doing karmas is soul's natural tendency, and nor soul is duty-bound to do karmas. In pure form, soul is situated in own consciousness, knowledge, and bliss and is free from doing karmas. Siddhas (liberated souls) may seem like doing karmas, but all their actions are without consequences and non-binding. In the bonded state, soul is under the influence of passions, desires, avarice, etc., seeks and does karmas with the aid of intelligence, mind, body, senses, and faculties as instruments, takes responsibility for the karmas, enjoys/ suffers good or bad consequences of the karmas,29 and gets wrapped with karmic matter. Matter alone is not the doer of karmas, but provides an auxiliary cause and serves as instrument for doing karmas.
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