It is always better, said Vimalananda, the Aghori Master, "to live with reality, because otherwise, without fail, reality will come to live with you." This is effectively what the law of Karma means: it is the Law of Cause and Effect, very similar to Isaac Newton's third law of motion which states that for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction.

As Vimalananda expressed it: "Cause is effect concealed and effect is cause revealed." The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, for example, declares: "Verily, one becomes good by good action and bad by bad action." Or, as Lord Krishna succinctly proclaimed in the Srimad Bhagavatam: "Karma is the Guru; nay, it is the Supreme Lord."

The collective actions of each individual constitute that individual's experience. This perhaps explains why Mata Amritanandamayi, the Divine Mother, describes "experience" as the primary Guru because it is experience that causes us to learn from our mistakes. Mistakes we commit make us appreciate the meaning of shraddha (faith), viveka (discrimination) and vairagya (dispassion).

Accordingly, we can rest assured that whatever happens, happens for the good because the law of karma is not a punishment for our actions but it is a punishment by our actions. This means that the Supreme Being does not interfere in worldly engagements as the latter is an exclusive result of our actions in the past. None can escape the effect of actions committed in the past. They return to us compounded with the same intensity.

It is from the thinking mind that the ten senses (of perception and action) are developed including hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell on the one hand and speech, creative action, locomotion, reproduction and elimination on the other. While sattva represents the internalizing "I" or  subjective consciousness, rajas represents  the externalizing "I" searching for an entity to self identify and tamas is the objectifying "I" which eventually produce the pancha mahabhutas or the five elements including space, fire, water, air and earth.

While the effect of past actions will have to borne by us, their consequences can be considerably reduced by living in the presence of living master. It is therefore critical to search for guidance from such a master. Coming under the influence of such a master is the most precious gift of grace that can accrue to an individual in his or her lifetime.

As Satguru Murali Krishna expresses it: "Life is slippery. A grip from God is essential. God should be with us in everything we do. Yearn to do that. Spiritual energy is never lost. To create it, surrender to God. All material pleasures - wealth, luxury, prosperity, power - results in pain because they are finite. So never pray for material pleasures. Use all your possessions with a feeling that it ought to be returned."