This story was sent to me by my sister; I don’t know who wrote it, however, it has very important messages – so I am sharing it here, together with my thoughts.

The Sweet Paanwala

There was a paanwala in India who was known for his friendly and welcoming nature. His ability to converse on diverse topics was legendary, to the extent that often customers would excuse themselves from the dialog in the interest of time. One day the dialog turned to Karma (deeds) and Luck (bhagya).

The topic being of interest to me, I felt like pursuing the talk further and gaining insight into his philosophy on the subject. So I lobbed a question at him “Does a person progress more from his / her effort (Karama) or due to their luck?”

In his usual pleasing manner, he asked if I had a safe deposit bank locker? Since I had one, my response was in the affirmative. He continued “Every locker has 2 keys, you have one, the other is with the banker. The one you hold is the key of Karma; the one with the banker is that of Luck. Unless both keys are applied, the locker cannot be opened.”

“You need to continue doing your part (Karmas – applying the key to the locker). You never know when the almighty will apply his key, and if at that moment – you are absent, the opportunity to open the locker’s contents will be lost.”

Metaphors and Their Limits

The story above is a great metaphor and provides a simple yet powerful explanation on Karma and Luck. It also seems to suggest that your efforts might go in vain when the banker does not apply his / her key.  We need to understand that a metaphor is a “representation” and not the original truth or message. Thus – every metaphor has its limits.

My view is that our efforts are never in vain – how and when the results will manifest depends on many factors.  When your efforts are aligned with natural forces, the results come easier and in abundance.

I view our efforts as seeds we sow – also there are necessary conditions that have to be met for seeds to sprout and produce fruit. Another factor is the type of seed. You can reap the harvest from a coriander seed in a matter of months, however a mango tree will take years to bear fruit. A bamboo tree will take decades.

Having said all this – we need to bear in mind there is no assurance that “every” seed will deliver (every Karma will produce results). On the flip side, one thing is for sure – the chances of getting results with no effort are just about zero!

Cause and Effect – An Endless Cycle

Vedanta tells us the Karma principle (cause and effect) prevails and works over many lifetimes. Seeking tangible evidence to prove or validate this – in my view – is futile since we depend on our sensory system for detecting and making sense from evidence. Human detection systems have serious limitations and are therefore suspect (for example – they cannot detect X-rays at all, neither can we touch / feel everything we see…who has touched a rainbow?).

There is some emerging research on the topic of multiple lifetimes of existence, I am studying it as of now. Will share it over the next several months.