What is it that binds us to certain people, place or occasions? Why do accidents happen despite all precautions? Why is it that twins born to same parents, living in same house, eating same food and receiving same education are different from each other physically, mentally and socially? How can long-lived love in a relation transform into envy, jealousy and unbearable hatred? Sometimes there are no direct answers to our seemingly rational questions.
Yogic spiritual philosophy can be a great tool in situations where our practical rationality ceases to function. Nothing happens by chance, everything is backed by a reason. This universe follows a complex concept of Cause and Effect. We may not be proficient enough to look back at the cause of situations we are undergoing today but the mere understanding of such universal principles is undoubtedly beneficial. Our present is the output of both our past actions and inactions. This past is not only bound to our current lifespan but also to multiple birth cycles we have undergone and their respective karmic connections.
In our lifetime we interact with millions of beings and each interaction creates a karmic connection. Karmic connections are not between individuals but among souls. The game of souls which was left unfinished must be completed. The long-pending karmic accounts must be cleared. If it is not cleared today or in this lifetime, the game will be paused till the time these souls meet again and whenever they meet again the game will simply resume. Remember the time when you suddenly felt uncomfortable with someone you met for the first time or love at first sight or sudden compassion and anguish for a stranger. We may have prejudices for people we know based on our limited memory but our reactions to unknown people are also results of karmic accounts.
It is relative to the hunger games or the game of chess where once started there is no escape. If one wins it’s a loss for the other and the feeling of revenge continues to exist leading to next game. The body may perish but soul continues to travel. This way karmic account never settles. However, the game of souls has a middle path for the spiritual seekers. The seekers of moksha (spiritual liberation from the cycles of birth and death) use the art of forgiveness and compassion as an effective tool in such situations.
Forgiving others for their actions helps avoid creating further karmic accounts with them. Compassion towards others for their wrongdoings is a way of clearing the unsettled karmic accounts as if taking the responsibility of our past actions. When the cause of our past actions is consciously settled in the present, the resultant effect changes the future. This simple equation of timeless cause and effect cycle gives us the power to accelerate beyond the ongoing Game of Souls.
The soul always knows what to do to heal itself, the challenge is to silence the mind.