Is Law of Karma real?

Is the law of karma or cause and effect real? Is it always true? If everything is predestined, how can the law of karma be true? And if it is true, how can everything be predestined? How can both be true?

An exploration into these questions through self-inquiry:

Essential point is that the notion of doership — that I did, do and will do — rises up in the mind. Inquiring who is the doer removes the notion of the false self and therefore the doer. Thus only as long as ego exists, karma has life. If ego goes, karma also goes away. When the ignorance of doership goes, there is no entity called the ego. Because pure consciousness is beyond all action, there is nobody to experience the law of karma — except the imaginary doer. All actions are God’s alone. The imaginary doer suffers karma. Like a director and a character.

This is always the state during sadhana and after too. Duality is only imagined during sadhana, not real. To understand the birth and the deeds of a realized sage or God is to understand the perfect state. As Krishna says in the Gita, “Those who understand the divine nature of my birth and activities, they attain the Supreme. Know Me as non-doer and unchanging.”

A nice story narrated by Ramana Maharshi illustrates this truth. Once during Krishna’s pastimes, there was a still born child. The ladies cried and appealed to Sri Krishna to save the child. All the saints wondered how Krishna was going to save the child. Krishna said, “If the child be touched by one eternally celibate (nitya brahmachari) the child would be brought to life.” Finding no one among the reputed saints bold enough to touch the child, Krishna of 16000 wives went and touched it, saying, “If I am eternally celibate, may the child be brought to life.” The child began to breathe right away.

Because as Krishna says, “Activities do not taint me, nor do I desire the fruits of action. One who knows me in this way is never bound by the karmic reactions of work. Knowing this truth, perform your actions.”

Thus those who see inaction in action, i.e. perform actions with the true wisdom of non-doership are not tainted by karma or the law of cause and effect as it is burned in the fire of Self realization.