Masters and Karmas

An Explanation by Maharaj Charan Singh

Whoever comes into this world must have karmas to live here. Without karma, nobody can exist in this world. Even a saint needs a mother. A saint needs a father. He will have siblings, friends and acquaintances. Without karmas, he would meet no one. We cannot take a step without karma in this world. But saints are not a slave of these karmas; karmas are not their masters. They have to take on karmas in order to come to our level in this world, but they are not slaves of karma. They can leave this body whenever they want to. They can avoid any karma they want to. They can take on anybody’s karma to help, to share that person’s karma. But we, who are slaves of our karmas, cannot do that. And we cannot get rid of our own karmas if we do not want to face any particular karma. But Masters are above karma. So whoever exists in the body, whoever comes into the flesh, has no option but to take on karma, because without karma nobody can exist in this world.

He shares people’s suffering, whether it is physical or mental. However happy you may be, if someone comes to you and starts telling his woeful story, won’t you feel for him? We may have no suffering of our own, but we are so moved by the suffering of another person that we mentally start suffering along with him after hearing his woeful story. So whether we help him or not, we definitely share his misery and his mental suffering. Though that suffering is not ours at all, out of sympathy, out of compassion and regard for another person you suffer along with him.

So Masters come on a mission of mercy. They have no load of their own, but they are so kind-hearted and merciful that they also suffer along with their disciples because they want to help them. They have to hear everybody’s woeful tale, everybody’s miserable story, everybody’s problem. Nobody will come and share his joy with him. Everybody has to share his tears with him. So naturally one is also affected to that extent….

Saints sometimes do take the karmas of their disciples, and being in the domain of Kal, they themselves have to account for those karmas on their bodies. That is why we feel that they are suffering physically, from a health point of view. Actually, they are above the cycle of karmas and can clear any karma. They do not like to break the law of nature, being in the domain of Kal. So we may think they are suffering. Really, the soul is not at all bothered with what the body is going through. There is never a deficiency of what they give. The more they give, the more it grows. It is just like love. The more we are helpful to others, the more we feel like helping others, and the more it grows every day. The question of deficiency does not arise. Being in this world, they do not like to break God’s law. So sometimes they help their disciples by taking their karmas on their own bodies. The soul does not suffer at all.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I}

The Shabd “lives and abides forever” in the Master, as he is born of incorruptible seed – he is one with the Shabd, without attachments. He takes on karmas in order to take life in the body, but he is not subject to those karmas – he is in control.
_{Concepts and Illusions}