I would like to write on the right attitude to work or Karma as per the Bhagavad Gita.
When I first read the Gita I was confused because I thought the Gita told us to not have desires. I thought it meant that we should not be motivated by desires when it comes to action. I could not see how anybody could act without a desire or a goal in mind.
The Gita itself says that understanding it and having the right attitude to action is difficult. Krishna says:
The path of action is difficult to understand … He who perceives inaction in action and action in inaction – such a man is wise amongst men.
There are some concepts that help us understand the right attitude that the Gita teaches. These are:
- We are not the body but are the unchanging Atman. The Atman is one with the Brahman.
- The Atman has the nature of being Sat-Chit-Ananda. That is the nature of the Atman is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss.
- This being the nature of the Atman (and we are one with the Atman) we do not need anything to be happy or blissful. We do not need anything from the external world nor do we need any of our desires to be fulfilled.
In other words, we do not need the results of our actions to be as per our goals or desires in order to be happy.
The Gita requires us to be Self-sufficient. It requires us to be centred in the bliss that is our nature. If we are feeling blissful there is no question of our having any desires. If we can act with such an attitude and without being attached to the results of our actions then our Karma (good or bad) will not bind us.
The above paragraph is as much as I have been able to understand or intuit about this subject. Any comments will be welcome.
Of course, the Bhagavad Gita assumes that we are engaged in seeking God. That may not be true for everybody. Worldly persons are free to seek guidance elsewhere as to how to get the results they are seeking.
But for such persons I have the following advice: According to Hindu philosophy the Universe is Vishnu’s dream. It is given to us (as individual Atmans) to experience or witness this dream. Vishnu can control this dream. We cannot. That being the case there is nothing we can do to ensure that the results of our actions are what we want them to be. We have to leave that to Vishnu or God Almighty.
As to how to evolve to that state of being required by the Bhagavad Gita, the book itself prescribes yoga. You have a wide array of teachings in the spiritual marketplace. Try any which appeal to you. I myself have done Vipassana (as taught by SN Goenka) and also Paul Brunton’s books. I can recommend these meditation practices to you.
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