The
Bhagavad Gita, or 'Song of God', one of the sacred Hindu texts,
recounts the dialogue between Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu,
and Arjuna, His disciple.
Action,
knowledge and renunciation are very important. Action without
knowledge leads to bondage, but action with knowledge leads to
renunciation, and renunciation leads to liberation.
Because
we are all living in this world we have to take care of our body,
we have to perform action. But creative activities are done only
through knowledge, not through ignorance. Creative activities
are actions which lead to renunciation and not to attachment,
not to bondage. When such actions lead to renunciation they will
lead to liberation. The whole world is working, and some of us,
even, work night and day. But when we look at the world, we see
the state of confusion in which it still is.
If
activities by themselves brought liberation, we would not have
this confusion. Actions by themselves are not sinful, but problems
are created because people are doing things without knowledge.
Most people work in that way, creating conflicts all the time,
and getting nowhere.
The
philosophy of action means the philosophy of life, because in
life we are involved in action - there cannot be life without
action. Lord Krishna said it is necessary to discriminate between
action, forbidden action and inaction, for inscrutable is the
way of action.
Lord
Krishna said that there are three types of action: the thing we
do thinking it is action, the thing we do but should not, and
the thing we don't do - that is also action. We
have to understand deeply what action really is. The way of action,
of karma yoga, is not very simple for us to understand.
Action
and Inaction
He
who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is wise among
men, he is a yogi and he is the man who accomplishes everything.
We see that some people are acting all the time and others are
doing nothing, and we tend to think that maybe one is doing everything.
But Lord Krishna said that this is not true: that when a person
appears to be doing everything it does not mean that he, indeed,
does; the person who appears to be doing nothing might be the
person who is really doing everything.
When
we look at it in practical terms, we find there are people who
say: "I am doing this, I am doing that"; they seem very busy all
the time and never have time for anything, while others may not
say anything at all but have time for everything, and therefore
do something all the time.
When
we do not think we are doing something - just doing things for
the sake of doing - being unattached, the ego is not there. The
ego is at play when we think we are doing everything, as if the
world will not exist without us.
Lord Krishna said he is a yogi who does not boast, who works silently
without feeling he is doing anything or is not aware that he is
doing anything, who has time to do things. He is the one who is
creative, he is the one who lays a brick and that brick will grow.
But the other will always pull down the brick, or may put it somewhere
else, always in the wrong place, never getting anywhere. The yogi,
as Lord Krishna said, is the accomplisher of everything, the real
doer, even though one may not see what he is doing.
The
one who is attached to the fruits of action, thinking he is doing
everything, is just winding himself up. The one whose actions
are devoid of design and desire for results, and whose actions
are all burned by the fire of wisdom, the sages call a 'wise man.'
Fire
of knowledge
Lord
Krishna said that action with knowledge leads to renunciation
but action without knowledge leads to bondage. When, due to understanding,
actions are devoid of any selfish motives and desire for results,
the fire of knowledge burns away the taints of karma, breaks the
bondage of karma.
This
fire of knowledge - just like a fire - reduces all fuels that
are there, burning everything to ashes. It burns all our karma,
not only of today, last year or of this life, but of very many
lives. Therefore, knowledge will save us from bondage to this
world. Of all the things we pursue, the pursuit of knowledge is
very important. In the pursuit of knowledge we attain everything.
From one thing we strive towards another - there are different
stages in life and one thing is applicable at one time, another
thing may be desirable at another time. But in any case we need
guidance all the time and knowledge gives us that guidance.
Lord
Krishna said that it is really this knowledge that burns all the
chains that are there in this world through action. That, having
abandoned attachment to the fruits of action, ever content, depending
on nothing though engaged in karma, verily one does not do anything.
Contentment
When
we detach ourselves from the fruits of action, contentment - santosh
- comes. Contentment is the source through which we become free.
The greedy person is never free, always going after this and after
that. Lord Buddha said that everyone wants to possess something,
whether it is the fruit of action or something else, but the greatest
possession is contentment yet nobody seems to want it.
Contentment
is the greatest possession because when we become contented we
become independent, depending on nothing. People think that when
we are detached from the fruits of action, and when we are contented,
we do not do anything - that we are inactive and lazy. However,
Lord Krishna said that when we are always contented, independent
through knowledge, engaged in action though not wanting anything
for ourselves, we are not doing anything because we are not creating
any bondage, any chain for ourselves. Then we really act, accomplish
everything, and whatever we do will have value, will be creative.
For when knowledge comes, every other good thing will come with
it. But when there is no knowledge but only ignorance, everything
that we do becomes like a snake, like a cobra, which sooner or
later devours us. Lord Krishna, therefore, advises us to follow
the path of detachment.
Selfish
Desire
Lord
Krishna said that when we desire nothing for ourselves, have self-control,
have abandoned all possessiveness, performing karma, we incur
no sin. We will have a pure mind, and will only perform actions
for the good of the world. The basis of sin is selfish desire.
Every action binds us, except for those actions performed with
the spirit of yajna - restraint - and without selfish motive.
Absence of selfish motives comes through knowledge and understanding.
When we work with a selfish motive and look for personal rewards
and possessions because we are attached to that, we become bound
by our actions.
Lord
Krishna did not say we should not work but that we should work
with a contented mind. We are not bound by our actions when we
are content with what we obtain without effort, being balanced
in success or failure, free from envy and from the pairs of opposites.
Being free from the pairs of opposites means being without hate
or greed, without these types of negative things, or even thinking
that some actions are good for us and others not - we just do
what is there to be done, performing our duties without thinking
that one duty is difficult, the other easy, and so on. We just
perform our duties towards our family, our temple, our society
and our world, for their own sake.
Balance
Envy
is one of the biggest problems of man. The moment the sense of
possessiveness is there, there is the desire for the fruits of
action, and that is the cause of envy. Without these, there will
be no envy. When there is envy, knowledge disappears. And when
knowledge is absent, we work blindly.
Envy
disturbs our judgement. We become abnormal. Without envy we become
balanced in success and failure, we look at things very objectively
when we do not get the proper results for our work. We may worry
about it, but we maintain a balanced attitude; with a balanced
mind we will pull through the difficulty. So, that balanced attitude
is very, very important in life.
Lord
Krishna said that work done with such a balanced attitude of mind
brings harmony in this world because we will not be bound by our
actions. Competition only occurs when we seek the fruit of our
actions. Only when we do not look at everything from the measurement
of competitiveness do we remain objective and balanced all the
time about what we are doing; then we do not think about success
or failure but just about doing the right thing, which does not
lead to bondage. Thus unattached, with our mind absorbed in knowledge,
performing work with restraint, our entire karma will burn to
ashes.
Steadiness
of Mind
Attachment
makes our mind run after the things we are attached to, and so
instability develops within the mind. When we are attached, our
mind cannot be still, it is always flickering, is always in a
disturbed state. The receptivity of the mind to knowledge comes
only when the mind becomes detached.
In yogic terms this is called pratyahar, when the mind is withdrawn
from the world into concentration. Knowledge comes through concentration.
Without knowledge we become restless, but knowledge brings steadiness
of mind which leads to detachment.
Through
detachment, everything we do in this world will have value, will
only bear very good fruit; in time we will all receive its results
and the world will be better for that. But, as Lord Krishna said,
when we think about the results all the time, we are really 'doing
nothing', for whatever we are doing will create more problems
and in the end everything will be gone, will be destroyed; it
is only a matter of time. When, however, we work selflessly for
the sake of the world, we will bring peace from the moment we
start, for - having wisdom - we will be at peace in ourselves.
In
this way, little by little more and more peace develops, and when
there is peace we are happy; then we have everything. Devotion
and surrender Devotion and surrender mean that whatever we do
we offer to the Lotus Feet of God. When we always remember the
Lord, with our mind attached to God, thinking about Him all the
time, then that Godly quality develops within our hearts and minds.
Through the tools of devotion and knowledge we are able to overcome
the problems of our life. Our mind will become spiritually sublimated,
meaning that we come nearer and nearer to the Divine Source, the
Divine Vibration, the Lotus Feet of God.
And
when that happens we will experience peace, happiness and liberation.
Om Tat Sat Hari Om.
Reprinted
with the kind permission of Share International Magazine.
