If there are two brothers who have the same goal of high success, wealth, health etc. and take exactly the same steps and live the same way and eat the same food. But 1 brother gets success in every step he takes while the other gets constant obstacles in everything including illness. What is the reason ?. If the answer is past Karma then is there any way for the brother to change his karma & get success & health like the other brother or is he doomed to suffer in this life ?.
—Jehangir, India
Dear Friend,
Yes indeed: as one sometimes hears the wailing cry….”It is all karma!” Well, nevermind that because what we ourselves have created we can uncreate. The slow, “bullock cart” approach is “brick by brick” by self-effort (ego) alone. The “airplane route” is to act in attunement with divine will, grace, and spiritual power.
But either way, the key to changing our magnetism lies in the quantity and quality of our effort which generates the magnetism to draw either success or failure. The soul may ask “Of what value is pursuing material success?” But the ego may push that question aside in its desire to achieve material success with the retort that “I’ll decide for myself its value when I achieve it!”
So you see, it all depends on the question one asks and the motivation behind the question. To be more direct, we are not doomed but to turn the ship of our karma around towards the opposite direction is going to take an output of intelligent energy. I won’t attempt to list the “laws of success” here. You can find dozens of books on the subject. Paramhansa Yogananda wrote a very popular one with that title. Swami Kriyananda wrote an entire course detailing success using yoga principles!
Ultimately however and the point I prefer to share is “To what end is this pursuit of health and success?” As the years go by will the successful brother become unhealthy and disillusioned? Will the unsuccessful brother turn to God-alone and find lasting joy within? These are the important questions to ask. And it need not be ‘either-or‘ as one’s outer circumstances (health, wealth, poverty, illness) are no indicator of soul-awakening. We can turn to God under any circumstance provided we are non-attached to all circumstances.
May the Light of Wisdom shine upon you!
Nayaswami Hriman
