I Would Never Read This Book… But Here We Are...
So, my friend broke his leg. In Thailand. Alone. Stuck in a room with way too much free time, he was feeling pretty miserable, so I did what any good friend would do—I offered to keep him company from afar.
"Let’s read a book together or watch a movie," I said...
And then he suggested this book.
A book I would never pick up on my own.
But friendship is about sacrifices, right? So here I am. reading something that would normally never make it onto my bookshelf...
okay, I’ll admit it—the beginning is actually kind of catchy:
" It happened.
On a certain day, Shankaran Pillai purchased a boat—a forty-foot ultra-luxurious yacht—for ten million dollars. He decided to take his new Puerto Rican bride out on the ocean for a romantic cruise.
On the way, misfortune struck. e yacht hit a rock and was wrecked.
As the brand-new boat sank into the ocean, Shankaran Pillai and his wife managed to extricate themselves. they swam for their lives and finally made their way to the shores of a nearby islet—a sandy sliver of land floating in the middle of nowhere, completely devoid of vegetation.
Shankaran Pillai and his wife had a few tins of canned food. They knew these would last them only a couple of days. They were in a fix.
Unperturbed, Shankaran Pillai settled down in a yogic posture and assumed a serenely spiritual expression. His wife, however, was of a more volatile disposition.
“We’re marooned!” she wept. “there’s no human habitation in sight, no sign of any life here—no animals, no plants, nothing. What will we live on? How will we get out? What a terrible end to our dreams of marital bliss! What a terrible end to our lives!”
Shankaran Pillai continued to sit in his yogic posture, unruffled.
His wife was bewildered. “How can you sit like this? Don’t you realize we’re doomed? Can’t you see we’re going to die?”
Shankaran Pillai looked at her with calm compassion. “My dear, don’t distress yourself,” he said. “What I did not tell you before our wedding is that I have a history. I had previously availed myself of a student loan when I was studying in Tennessee. After my studies, I went to New York without repaying the loan. I was caught by my creditors three months later.
“But I managed to elude them and went away to California. ere I got myself a car. Since I got myself a car loan, I said, why settle for a small car? I decided to get myself a Rolls-Royce with pure-gold trimmings, and I took a two-million-dollar loan to purchase the vehicle. Since I thought life would be somewhat difficult for me there, I took the car to Oregon.
“But they followed me there, too. After that episode, I took a home loan for five million dollars. I then happened to go to Mexico. But they followed me there six months later.
“After that, as you know, I married you and bought this yacht in Texas for ten million dollars. I haven’t paid the first installment yet. So don’t worry. Stay calm. Don’t panic. They’ll nd us. They always do.” Shankaran Pillai’s faith that he would be “found” (or more accurately, his realization that he could never escape his creditors!) is a phenomenon that the rest of the world knows by another name.
Karma."
And now I’m curious.
Unraveling Karma: An Introduction
According to Sadhguru, karma can be the answer to humanity’s biggest question: Why? Why is life unfair?
But let’s be real—do we actually want to know? Is it even possible to know? Or maybe the bigger question is: what do we do with the karma we’ve got? Do we try to build up some good karma for the future, distance ourselves from our past mess, or just try to get rid of it completely? Either way, it’s a choice we’ve gotta make. So, let this book be our guide in figuring out the answer. Who knows? Maybe it’ll give us the clarity we’ve been missing—or maybe it’ll just leave us with more questions. Either way, I’m ready, cause I want to sit where I belong- in the driver's seat.
Demystifying Karma
I do believe that if we want to find a proper answers to all the questions we have, we should break down the myths first and that's what Sadghuru does: he gives us a different definition of Karma and tells us that saying 'this is my karma' doesn't mean that we are in the hands of some mythical creature who rewards or punishes us, it means that we are responsible for our own life and to be honest I like this explanation a lot more (being a maker of my own destiny sounds fun) :))
I guess it means that I am ready for Karma and if you are not, it's not a problem, but remember that "Karma is not a creed, a scripture, an ideology, a philosophy, or a theory. It is simply the way things are. It is an existential mechanism. Like the sun, it operates whether you acknowledge it or not, whether you pay obeisance to it or ignore it. It is not looking for a fan club.
It simply turns you from a white-knuckled, terror-struck passenger in the backseat into a condent driver, in charge of the wheel, joyfully navigating the course of your own destiny."
The Karmic Cycle
Cycles exist so we can break them. That’s the whole point, right? To recognize the patterns, learn what we need to learn, and then finally step out of the loop.
Sadghuru says that Karma is like an old software - we wrote it for ourselves unconsciously and which needs updating.. The key word here is "unconsciously." Most of the time, we don’t even realize we’re stuck in these repetitive patterns, let alone understand why they keep showing up in our lives and "as time goes on, you turn into a puppet of your accumulated past."
"The unconscious mind is therefore a tremendous library of karmic memory. You would find this information very useful if you were approaching it consciously. The problem is that it manifests all the time,
without your permission! You feel like one big mess because you are punching your psychological keyboard randomly all the time."
It can last forever, if we won't understand that being puppet is not a best option for the human being, that this "software' is not a fate and if we have a desire, we are capable of rewriting it.
The Tedium and Tyranny of Karma
On our way to breaking a karma cycle, one of the first things we need to understand is that " karma is not some external system of crime and punishment. It is an internal cycle generated by you. These patterns are not oppressing you from without, but from within" and even if we completely change our outer world—new job, new city, new people—nothing will actually change inside us. Because the real issue isn’t the environment, it’s our karma. If we don’t figure out how to shift that, we’ll just end up repeating the same patterns, no matter where we go. The deadly tedium and tyranny of Karma is that if we won't loosen the grip of it, there is no way out and maybe it is time to end it's dictatorship.
The smell of Bondage
The next step is realizing that we all have our own vasanas—our unique “scent” that attracts certain life situations to us. Whether we’re aware of it or not, this invisible pattern shapes our experiences, pulling in the same kinds of people, challenges, and emotions over and over again (For example, I always seem to attract adventurous situations—because, well, that’s what I’m drawn to. It’s like my vasana is wired for unpredictability, excitement, and a little bit of chaos. And as long as that’s the energy I put out, life keeps delivering exactly that.). If we want real change, we have to recognize the scent we’re carrying—and decide if it’s time for a new one.
The Consequence of Calculation
The second thing to remember? You can lie to anyone— you can even lie to yourself—but you can’t lie to karma. It catches the truth in your actions, thoughts, and energy, no matter how much you try to hide it. According to Sadghuru karma is about volition: "Your intention makes all the difference. If you say something prompted by love, and another person gets hurt, that is his karma, not yours. But if you say something out of hatred and another person has no problem with it, it is good karma for them and not for you! You still acquire negative karma. How the recipient of your hatred reacts is not the point. The accumulation of karma is determined by your intention, not merely by its impact on someone else." Karma doesn’t play favorites, it cares about your intentions/ motives and I’d say it’s a pretty fair deal. :)
Seeds of Volition
As a hedonist, I definitely had mixed feelings about this chapter, because the idea of dis-identifying with my desires just doesn’t sound all that appealing to me. It’s almost impossible for me to believe that individuality is a myth, I know that we are all linked, but I also have a very strong feeling of ego (feeling very much like an individual with my own thoughts, desires, and boundaries) and I can't give it up (Maybe that is my karma and if I want to upgrade it, I should step by step give up on this strong feeling of individualism, I don't know, let's see) :)
Avoidance Accelerates Karmic Accumulation
Hiding from trauma is never the answer—it’ll always find you, and when it does, it’ll be way stronger than when you tried to "leave" it behind. Your avoidance just gave it more power, like feeding it while it waits to come back. The same is with karma: "the more you try to avoid karma, the more it multiplies!".
So the third thing to remember: Don't experience your life half-heartedly, Don't avoid any experience and feel your emotions fully. Remember: "The very process of life is the dissolution of karma."
(I really liked this chapter :) )
Why Do Some People Suffer More Than Others?
"Why didn’t the universe create everyone equal? Why are some disabled, and others able-bodied? Why are some poor, and others rich? If there is a God, why didn’t he create everyone equal? Why couldn’t everyone carry positive karma? Why couldn’t everyone have the same software? What is the point of all this terrible inequality?
These are questions that have plagued human beings since the dawn of time"
Well, according to Sadghuru the cause of human suffering is oneself ("your karma cannot turn into suffering without your cooperation") , cause while we don't have a choice about being a pain (cause pain is a physical thing), we can always choose not to suffer.
Is it really as easy as it sounds? Well, let’s find out.
Human beings are pretty much experts at creating their own suffering through comparison and one of the ways from escaping this misery is to understand that We can’t change what happens to us, but we can change how we react. I can’t change my mother—she’s always going to say exactly what’s on her mind, no filter. But what I can change is how much power her words have over me.
Also we should remember that Karma has nothing to do with moralistic categories, sometimes karma is an action, and sometimes inaction is. Our life is our responsibility, and if you’re not the kind of person who enjoys suffering (which, to my surprise, some people actually do—and yes, I even know a few), then it’s up to you to change the way you experience it.
The Mammoth Memory Bank
" Everything you consider to be yourself is a result of memory. What you call “me” is a product—in every sense of the term—of your past.
Everything that has ever come into contact with you through these five sense organs—whatever you saw, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched—is there in your memory, influencing your personality. Every bit of memory that you gathered in wakefulness and in sleep is in this bank."
While reading this chapter, I had a realization for the first time in my life—memory isn’t just in the mind; the body carries a whole volume of it too: Why am I the only one in my family who isn’t tall? Well, my great-grandma… and so on and so on. :) Isn't it cute? well, yeah, only in case your great-grandma was a cool woman.. I am lucky she was :)
Well, it’s a lovely discovery, but let’s not forget our responsibilities—AKA, be the driver of your own car. We shouldn’t get stuck in the image we’ve created of ourselves, like “This is just who I am, this is my personality.” That’s basically like locking yourself in a version of you that might not even fit anymore. You are choosing your own Karmic space, have guts to change it:
"In the year 2009, a lion in the forest ambled over to a pig and bragged, “Look at me! I’m the king of the jungle. If I roar, the entire jungle trembles in fear.”
The pig laughed and said, “that’s no big deal. If I sneeze, the entire world will tremble in fear right now.”
The business of identity (as the pig during the swine flu pandemic was clearly very aware of) definitely wields more power than ever before!
So if you have to break the tyranny of karmic memory, you have to crack the karmic substance. Otherwise, since you have come here as a human being, with this level of intelligence and awareness, it is tragic to forego the great human power of choice."
When the Dead Live Through You
"I often joke that only two types of ghosts exist: those without a body and those with one! Most human beings are simply ghosts with bodies. In short, they are phantoms of their past. their lives are simply programmed by their ancestral memory."
What could be a deeper suffering than losing freedom? And yet, there are different ways people experience that loss. The most obvious one is prison (but honestly, in Georgia right now, there are plenty of people behind bars who haven’t truly lost their freedom. Turns out, the understanding of freedom is a deeply personal thing), But there are many ways to lose our freedom—it’s not just about physical confinement. Sometimes, it’s as simple as letting others control us. And “others” don’t always have to be people in our present; they can be our ancestors. And the end is always the same: your life is a shadow, you are just an marionette in your own life.
you don't have to be radical and leave everything behind, just be smart and remember that "You need genetic memory for survival, continuity, and well-being, but you also need a distance from it to live a life of consciousness, joy, and freedom."
I am sure you have a question: How?
we can seek for help in special rituals and practices (not my cup of tea for sure) or certain yogic practices (not exactly my go-to hobby either). But let’s be real—if those aren’t our thing, there’s got to be another way, right? For me, the only thing that really resonates is the mind. (No surprise there—I’m a pretty grounded person.) I don’t connect with rituals or yogic practices, but understanding? That’s something I can work with. And one of the biggest things to understand is this: we’re just baton carriers: "We are simply handing over the baton from the earlier generation to the next. It is our responsibility to hand over a better planet. Ecologically, it is no longer possible to hand over a better planet, so we have, unfortunately, already failed at this duty. We may bring some improvement, but we cannot return things to the way they were."
From Being to Doing to Having
Human beings need labels—it’s how we make sense of ourselves and the world around us. sometimes our profession becomes that label. Doctor, teacher, artist— as if it’s not just what we do; it’s who we are. But we have to remember that very often we become the prisoners of our own labels or worse if we lose that label, we risk losing a piece of our identity: "If I’m not this… then who am I?"
One of my favorite books by Frisch is I'm Not Stiller, where the main character is exhausted from being a prisoner of labels—and chooses a pretty radical form of liberation. I think the whole story is a very good example of how identity can feel like a cage, and what it means to break free from the roles the society assigns us.
According to Sadhguru, liberation doesn’t require anything extreme or radical. It’s actually much simpler: we just need to realize that who we are remains untouched by what we do. Let's be real in this modern world it's not an easy task, but not an impossible one: As karma is a habitat of the past (not only past events, but also the dreams we used to have..), we shouldn't let it be part of our future too ("If you base your future on your past, you are as good as dead!"). Sometimes, letting go of old dreams is the first step toward new ones; some dreams even can be karmic too (based on memory, inherited desires) and maybe it is time to go with the flow:
"May something you could never dream of happen to you."
One thing about me is that I’m not a radical person—and honestly, I’m not a big fan of people who jump into extreme decisions either, turns out Sadghuru is like me :)) He doesn't think that we should try to erase our karma totally; he suggests to remember that "while karma is your bondage, if you handle it right, karma can also be a stepping-stone to your liberation." in my words don't run, just try to understand.
Between a crippled fox and a generous lion which would you choose to be? be honest...
I hate victimizing myself so I think that I would be a generous lion (very humble I know :)) but I’ve met people who are really comfortable in the role of the victim, are you one of them? If yes, there is a big chance that you blame everything on your bad karma..
"In losing awareness of self is the trap of karma. e hunter becomes the hunted, the architect becomes the bonded laborer, the creator becomes the creation. A spider trapped in a web of its own making is a tragedy!"
"Is the man fishing the fish, or the fish manning the man?”
If we really want to answer this question—and, more importantly, change the fact that life is running us instead of the other way around—Sadhguru suggests trying karma yoga. There are tons of myths surrounding karma yoga, but the truth is, its description is actually pretty simple:
"If action creates bondage, it is karma. If action creates freedom, it is karma yoga. If you perform action miserably, it is karma. If you perform action joyfully and effortlessly, it is karma yoga." "It is not the content of your life that matters. It is the context of your life that does. So becoming a karma yogi does not mean you have to give up whatever you are doing right now. It means you do it with wholehearted involvement and, in the process, help create a more joyful world wherever you go."
Abandoning our own body? Yeah, that’s a little too familiar for me. To be honest, I only really feel my body when I’m in pain or when I’m dancing. I know exactly where that comes from, but let’s not turn this into a therapy session—back to the book, Khatia!
We often abandon our bodies because our entire existence—our present—is packed with memories and dreams; past and future is often more important for us than our present; we become obsessed with things which is not part of our everyday life (anymore or yet). If we try to be present, maybe we'll be able to care about our body too and not life only in our mind: "It is time to stop being ruled by a hallucination, to stop being tyrannized by a dream".
And what should we do, Again a very simple thing:
"All you need to do is to accept this moment in its entirety."
If you ask me, the second part of the book didn’t hit as hard as the first—so I won’t write much about it (selfish, I know). But I’ll still drop a few highlights because, well, some things are worth mentioning:
"If all of us live without any humanity in our hearts for all the atrocities going on around us, that is our karma. We get the society we deserve."
"Society needs to be mature enough to deal with those with disabilities. If they are treated as normal, their suffering will disappear because their suffering is not physical. Pain is physical, but suffering is entirely psychological. Now, you could sit at home right now and weep because you cannot play soccer like Ronaldinho! You could consider yourself disadvantaged and handicapped. But it is foolish to do this—either to yourself or to another person."
" Don’t worry about getting rid of karma. Just concern yourself with how not to acquire new karma. is anxiety—“I want to get rid of my karma”—will itself breed more karma. So don’t get caught up with how to burn it all up. Karma will melt down with the process of life itself; living is itself burning karma.
Karma is not some kind of punishment. It is just information. How you carry your information will determine whether it becomes burdensome, restrictive, painful, joyful, or liberating. It all depends on how you carry it. Nowadays, your phone alone doesn’t carry all your memory; an entire cloud follows you around everywhere. If you learn to carry your karma like this, it’s good. If your karma follows you but doesn’t sit on your head, what does it matter? You aren’t burdened, so the bigger the cloud, the better. Having more gigabytes is always better, isn’t it?"
If you are interested in this book, you can email me (kh.nebulishvili@gmail.com) and I'll send the PDF version of it :)
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