Why do we need to pray, fast, be vegetarian or do poojas etc when everything that happens is based on our karma?
Hi thanks for tagging me. In an spiritual aspect there is Karma and samskaras but let's not go deep into it. Pujas and other rituals are needed for "mental strength" and "positive energy".The entire world revolves around energy. A dirty, cluttered home or anything negative will dull the mind.We need to surround ourselves with as much positive energy and prayers are a great way. Fasting is awesome to remove the negative toxins from our body and clear the mind. Being a vegetarian..that is another deep topic but on a basic level, when we eat plants we are not doing any sin as such.the karmas are less though it has life.As for non veg, when the animal is killed it dies with a lot of pain.That pain is a negative energy and it is transferred to our body and mind and blood.So anger levels are also high.Vegetarianism regulates hormones and keeps the mind balanced. Also, What is going to happen will happen and we cannot control it.However,to not feel down and find strength we need place hope on something or someone. Be it support system,Almighty or on ourselves. all the fasting and prayers give us positive energy and hope.Helps us to fight whatever comes our way.To strengthen us and to fight the battles of life head on. There is no win or lose situation but "Hope" and "belief" are ways needed to swim the tides.
Well said. However, one cannot completely dismiss the powerful effects of some rituals like yagnas, havans etc (both good and bad!), else it would not have been described so elaborately in the Shastras and have records of so many people performing it albeit it has to be done correctly. Above all there is God, so one must do ones best to establish a good relationship with him, which would eventually lead to a deeper understanding of many things including this topic.
Let us speak metaphorically, say, you found a mango seed and you planted it, watered it, used manure and took care of it till it became a huge tree - these are your purva janma karmas - you will definitely get some mangoes from it. Now, the fruits could be sweet or sour based on so many other factors too! Similarly Karmaphala could be sweet or sour or bitter... But unless you eat it you would not know whether the mango is sweet or not. After you find that the mango is sour - you can make a tasty achar out of it, in case it is sweet - you could eat it as it is or make it into a mango milkshake or a cake... The milkshake itself could be sweet but one might get a stomach upset due to it based on other factors... So the action (cutting it, eating, making milkshake or achar etc) is your free will or your contribution (under your control) to enjoying the mango taste (over which you have not control - purvajanma karmas)... You are doing the pujas or fasting or other activities as a "Free Will" to reduce the sourness on your tongue from the karmaphalas and prevent yourself from creating more karmas. Everyone has their own methods - some may meditate or fast, others may go out and do some service. Most people think that positives and negatives cancel out and becomes zero - yes, it works with maths - but with karmas, you have to bear the results of negative karma - it will not get cancelled just because you did some positive karma - but the positive karma will give you the courage and the perseverance to continue through the bad times. Keep smiling HR
