Are there people in the world who wish themselves something bad? Every living being strives for wellness, at least in the form of survival. People are no exception. Therefore, to some extent, every person thinks positively and every person wishes himself well. Even people who commit suicide think that they are doing something that is better for them. Everyone has all kinds of dreams and hopes. Everyone strives for something in their lives, even when they are just lying on the couch – they hope to be left in peace, if not more. Is that not a wish?! Then why do most wishes not come true? Why do dreams fall apart and why do hopes die?

Tell me why is it that wishes should come true? Just because you want them to or because you were told by the instructor on yet another psychological training class that all it takes for a wish to come true is really wanting it? Who does not have this desire? Everyone does. But only a few make it happen – the ones whose wishes match their Karma. It seems to me that this gigantic delusion is rooted in an excessive and unreasonable confidence in our own opportunities and capabilities. This can be observed in everyday life when people take upon themselves projects requiring skills and knowledge that these people lack. As a result, there is an enormous amount of amateurs in all walks of life, from plumbers to government leaders. Hence, the idea of “positive thinking” is founded on the aspiration of achieving results fast and without effort. Because it is said that all it takes is wanting something.
In fact, there is something that stands in the way between people’s wishes and making them come true – Karma. The thing is, our life is a reflection of our consciousness and our consciousness is formed by Sanskaaras or matrixes of Karmic imprints. This means that, in life, people will see a reflection of their Karma not their desires and, most of the time, the Karma is very different from the desires. It is like putting a disc of the movie “Avatar” into the player and expecting to see “Titanic” instead. It is a joke, is it not? Delirious! Sadly however, that is what almost everyone does in their lives. A simple example: who wants to be sick, old, poor, unhappy, lonely and so on? And what is actually happening?

We live in the Kali Yuga or, to be more precise, in the Kali Yuga Sandha, the final and ending part of Kali Yuga. One the characteristics of this period in the human history is that the minimum amount of negative Karma everyone has is 75%. Try fulfilling your desires when the counterforce is that strong. It takes supernatural abilities and a gigantic willpower, known in Yoga as Sankaalpa Shakti. The vast majority of people simply do not have this willpower. But even that is not enough – what matters most is being able to change one’s Karma, and that requires special knowledge. I always mention the following example: everyone knows that special know-how is needed to repair a computer. Yet, everyone thinks that they can change their life for the better just because they want to. But the life of a simple man is trillions of times more complicated than all of the computers together. Moreover, special knowledge is required to achieve such changes – knowledge of a completely different kind. People learn all sorts of sciences – chemistry, physics, mathematics – but no one studies the most important science, the science of living this life. After all, the simplest electric teapot has a manual, whereas such a manual for people’s lives is nowhere to be found. So, everyone does whatever they can, guessing and shooting in the dark. The results of these efforts are just as they should be. Fortunately, such a science does exist and has been around for millions of years. It is called Sanaatana Dharma. It contains all the sacred and divine knowledge of life, including knowledge of changing Karma.

Having Karma stand between our desires and their fulfillment is very good. Why? Imagine for a second what would happen if all people’s wishes came true. No one would be left on this Earth. Every time someone wished someone else to die it would come true. What would the world look like then – it is terrifying to imagine. Besides, after a day, people are often no longer interested in what they wanted yesterday. That is another reason why people’s wishes do not come true. Karma is a general safety fuse and regulator.

Real positive change in life is possible only with Divine help, as this is the only way  a person’s Karma can be changed. If God is with you, what are you afraid of? If God is not with you, what are you hoping for? That is what Sanaatana Dharma is there for. Efforts of changing life without invoking God are doomed, and, even if changes do come about, either one problem will replace the other or a scenario of “we tried our best – you know the rest” will unfold. It is for a reason that the Bible says this: “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.