Credit Cards

We may recall receiving our first credit card and how easy it was to get carried away and spend too much. The shock of our big debt when we got the first monthly statement made us take matters to hand. Some people even cut-up their cards when they realized that their spending was out of control.

Imagine if instead of a monthly statement, the card statement did not come for twenty years? To make the danger of overspending even greater, imagine that the card had no credit limit! When that statement finally arrived after twenty years, we would have run up a debt that could not be paid in lifetimes. But even worse, imagine that none of the goods bought had any price tag so we could not even tell how much was being spent!

This is precisely the kind of credit card that has been issued to every human being to allow them to incur karmic debt. This karmic credit card is even more dangerous because the card statement only comes at the time of death, when we ultimately reach the check-out counter for this life. It is no wonder we incur a huge debt that cannot be repaid in many lifetimes.

The Master gives us the first vital help we need in order to take control of this karmic debt. He tells us the price of everything. He knows the price of meat and eggs. He says don’t shop in that section – shop in the fruit and vegetable section only. He knows the price of drinking alcohol and of immoral conduct and of every other kind of indulgence. By warning us to obey the first three principles of Sant Mat, the Master helps us to spend wisely and incur the least amount of debt on the karmic credit card.

The second favour he does is this: till now we could only pay off karmic debt by enjoying and suffering; now he gives us a new form of currency – meditation!

Actually, all this meditation – 99.9 percent of it – is meant for the store of karmas, our sinchit karmas.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I}

So meditation is a pain-free way of reducing karmic debt. What’s more, Hazur says that what can be achieved in this region takes centuries to achieve on the inner planes – so that is a marvellous exchange rate of more than 100 to one. We need to deposit as much as possible of this currency into our karmic bank account.

You always make better progress in the physical body than in other regions. That’s because there is so much misery around you that you always want to escape. And there’s more grace and help because you always have guidance. There is somebody on your physical level to guide you, and that same guidance is also always within. So you always make better progress in the body than in the inner regions.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. II}

The third thing the Master does for us is that he agrees to act as our karmic debt manager. Usually when the debt collector knocks at our door, we run and hide but when the divine debt collector comes to us, we can boldly say: “My good man, I have appointed the Master as my debt manager – you please deal with him!” The debt collector is very disappointed to hear this because he knows that negotiating with the Satguru is going to be painful and tricky and the Master is going to drive a very hard bargain. He is going to force him to accept a reduction in the debt – he will never pay him in full so most of the debt will have to be forgiven!

Perhaps initiation is the best MasterCard anyone could ever be issued.