Hindus believe that every thought and every action is weighed on the scales of eternal justice. The Law of Karma is one of cause and effect. Nobody can get away from its clutches. Even if you are sitting, your thoughts are subjected to cause and effect. It is believed that the soul passes through a cycle of successive lives and its next incarnation is always dependent on how the previous life was lived. It is the aim of every Hindu to release the soul from this cycle and attain Nirvana. (1).
Ancient Hindu yogis, in psychically studying the time line of cause and effect, assigned three categories to karma. The first level is the level of the past actions that are waiting to produce a reaction. This is called, sanchita the latent karma, the sum total of past karma yet to be resolved. The second level is the level of the past actions whose reactions are fully manifesting, being responsible for our present life and creating its circumstances. This is called, prarabdha active or mature karma. The third level is the level of the actions, which will be triggered in the future by our present actions. This is called kriyamana. However, it must be understood that your past negative karma can be altered into a smoother, easier state through the loving, heart-chakra nature, through dharma, the law of moral order. That is the key of karmic wisdom. Live religiously well and you will create positive karma for the future and soften negative karma of the past. (2).
In Hindu belief, the body itself dies, but the soul lives for eternity. The life causes of the body are attached to the soul. Therefore, the law of karma has predetermined the effects of reincarnation. If you lived your last life as a cruel person, you are guaranteed that your soul will take you to a new life into a home of mean and cruel parents.
Every thought, however insignificant is counted. Your thoughts never die though they may fade with time, but they are never forgotten.
