As a book reviewer, if someone asks me to speak about the book without wasting even a second, I would say, “An invitation to turn from reader to seeker.”
Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny by Sadhguru is an inner calling for every soul eagerly seeking answers to various dimensions and theories built around the role of ‘karma’ in scripting one's destiny.
The book is like a stream, continuously flowing down the mountains merging into a river only to become a part of the vast ocean. In an attempt to draw several real life pointers across to the readers, Sadhguru highlights the happenings in the life of one Shankaran Pillai (an imaginary character that does much more than just being a part of important events in life). As big a point as ‘Individuality is a myth’, it is an idea, not an existential reality.
According to Sadhguru, we have fragmented our world out of ignorance. Once you are in touch with the foundation of intelligence that underlies all of creation, you realise that you are not separate from anyone or anything else. Your mind, however, believes otherwise, it is convinced it is a limited entity.
Whether you are conscious of it or not, every cell in your body remembers and acts out of that memory every moment of your life. Life is telling you about your Karma at every instant. The problem is that you only listen to your thoughts. If you listened to the life process, no teaching, no scripture would ever be necessary.
There is a myth that Karma Yoga means social service; that a Karma Yogi is do-gooder. Karma Yoga has nothing to do with what type of action you perform, but rather how you do it.
The accumulation of Karma is determined by your intention, not merely by its impact on someone else. Thus, it is not simply doing a deed that accumulates karma, it is how you do it and with what motive it is performed, that makes all the difference.
The book opens up several windows on some of the most discussed topics such as ‘The Destiny Debate and the Astrology Argument’, ‘The Honey Trap of Physical Memory’, Is Karma a ‘dirty’ word? and so on.
Part one raises the questions about Karma, part two enlightens the readers with possible approaches towards the way out of the Karmic web.
Sadhguru goes on to stress upon the fact that happiness is not an occasion, a goal, a destination. Happiness is just your constant state of existence. Moreover, this is the end of suffering.
On the systems of energy healing, Sadhguru has a word of caution for those who do not realise that when you heal, you are only appeasing the Karmic effect. You do not have the capability to take away the cause. If you merely remove the effect, the cause will take effect in some other way.
Lastly, Sadhguru has kept a section in this book for those who have read the entire book but still have some doubts or questions. After all, in Sadhguru’s own words, the book seeks to whet your appetite, not satiate it for good.
Book: Karma — A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny
Author: Sadhguru
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 253
Price: Rs 299
