Why Bother to Pray As It Is My Prarabdha Karma to Suffer?
Question: One of my friends who has been in spiritual life for long enough to advise anyone said that Karma or fate has to be experienced---that everything has been foreordained, and therefore, we have no choice but to go through the experience ordained by birth. He said, everyone, including people who are devoted to God and committed to living spiritually, has to go through Karma (=fate) or the results of past actions. He said we should ask God for the strength to endure Fate rather than beseech Him to remove it altogether. If this postulate is right, why bother to pray, and where is the place for God's Grace?
Swami Turiyananda: "A devotee is NOT afraid of prarabdha [the results of past actions]. As we have heard from from (Sri Ramamkrishna Paramahamsa), 'Because of his karma, a man was supposed to be pierced by a pike; but by God's grace, his foot was pricked by a thorn instead.' " [Letter dated 22.1.1916, pg. 137, Spiritual Treasures)
Swami Sivananda: "Prarabdha can be OVERCOME by the Grace of the Lord. The Lord's Grace descend when there is sincere devotion and when Man does Purushartha (effort). Purushsharta is possible when the mind is pure... the laws of nature do not operate when there is the Grace of the Lord. His Grace is all-powerful. (pg. 38, May I Understand That?).
Yogananda Paramahansa: "Even the fate of DEATH can be changed. Jesus demonstrated in a most dramatic way that there is NO SUCH THING thing as an UNALTERABLE FATE." (pg. 50, The Divine Romance).
Yogananda Paramahansa: "...if we have faith in God, all things are possible..." (pg. 204, The Divine Romance).
Srila Prabhupada: "Prārabdha can be changed. [Lecture on BG 2.24 -- Hyderabad, November 28, 1972.]
Paramahansa Yogananda: "Fate means that a cause has operated to produce an effect. You can change it, if you know the way...:
1. You can MINIMIZE the effect of an action.
2. You can RESIST the effect.
3. You can COMPLETELY STOP it.
"...Why do people go to doctors? Because that is one way to MINIMIZE the effects of wrong actions. The physical way to lessen an illness or overcome it may be found in such remedies as proper diet, exercise, or medication....
"...To RESIST the effects of karma is to use commonsense remedies, but rely more on the power of the mind. Refuse to accept any limiting condition. affirm and believe in health, strength, success, even in the face of contradictory evidence...
"...The only way that you can PERMANENTLY STOP the undesirable effects of past wrong actions is by removing the cause of those effects. Harmful past-life seed-tendencies must be CAUTERIZED from the BRAIN; then there will be no recurrence of ANY type of illness or other troubles arising from them. Roast them in the fire of wisdom...seek the wisdom born of meditation, which removes forever from within you the darkness of ignorance. Krishna said: 'As fire reduces to ashes all wood, even so, O Arjuna, does the flame of wisdom consume ALL karma.' [Gita 4:37]" (pg. 49, The Divine Romance)
Swami Turiyananda: "A devotee is NOT afraid of prarabdha [the results of past actions]. As we have heard from from (Sri Ramamkrishna Paramahamsa), 'Because of his karma, a man was supposed to be pierced by a pike; but by God's grace, his foot was pricked by a thorn instead.' " [Letter dated 22.1.1916, pg. 137, Spiritual Treasures)Swami Sivananda: "Prarabdha can be OVERCOME by the Grace of the Lord. The Lord's Grace descend when there is sincere devotion and when Man does Purushartha (effort). Purushsharta is possible when the mind is pure... the laws of nature do not operate when there is the Grace of the Lord. His Grace is all-powerful. (pg. 38, May I Understand That?).
Yogananda Paramahansa: "...if we have faith in God, all things are possible..." (pg. 204, The Divine Romance).
Srila Prabhupada: "Prārabdha can be changed. [Lecture on BG 2.24 -- Hyderabad, November 28, 1972.]
Paramahansa Yogananda: "Fate means that a cause has operated to produce an effect. You can change it, if you know the way...:
1. You can MINIMIZE the effect of an action.
2. You can RESIST the effect.
3. You can COMPLETELY STOP it.
"...Why do people go to doctors? Because that is one way to MINIMIZE the effects of wrong actions. The physical way to lessen an illness or overcome it may be found in such remedies as proper diet, exercise, or medication....
"...To RESIST the effects of karma is to use commonsense remedies, but rely more on the power of the mind. Refuse to accept any limiting condition. affirm and believe in health, strength, success, even in the face of contradictory evidence...
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