Life-Hack#2 from Bhagavad Geeta

Life-Hack#2 from Bhagavad Geeta:

Very often we give millions of excuses to our grief. There is a constant illusion that each of us is blessed with unique problems. To each, his own sorrows seem to have sufficient validity so as to render all sane advise irrelevant. We philosophize our sorrows and talk of lofty ideals while brooding in nasty miseries. 

Strange isn't it that everyone of us says that Happiness is within and still cries for worldly losses? 

Krishna now decides to shake Arjuna out of this hypocritical double standard living, and says: The wise do no keep grieving. 

This is a far reaching statement because it hits straight on Arjuna's self-image. Each of us somewhere believes that we are wiser. Krishna says, well, then don't grieve!

This also leaves us with a yardstick for measuring our own spiritual progress. How does one know if one is becoming spiritually wiser? Watch how often, how quickly and for how long you succumb to sorrow. 

Our ignorance and attachment are directly proportional to our sorrows. 

Our wisdom is directly proportional to our happiness. 

So, this week, let us all decide to just be wise. How? Refuse to be unhappy. Be staunch, stubborn and fanatic about this! Just refuse to be unhappy no matter what! Let's be wise for a week. Let's just be happy!

THINK!

Quote for Today: "If you only feel for life, life is a complete tragedy. If you think about life, life is a comedy." - Swami Chinmayananda

#lifehacksfrombhagawadgeeta

Life-Hack#1 from Bhagavad Geeta

Bhagawad Geeta is a textbook of life.

Several Masters, leaders, scientists, thinkers and authors have reflected on the Geeta and shared rare and precious insights with all of us.

Our purpose here is not to dive deep into the Geeta because study of the Geeta needs a different mental availability which cannot be assured in this forum at the moment.

But the idea is to cull out a few practical everyday tips from the Geeta. So we are going to call this "Life-hacks from Bhagavad Geeta"!

Life-Hack#1 from Bhagavad Geeta:

Arjuna was an ordinary intelligent young man - bright, noble, weak, jealous, angry, attached, caring, daring, talented, sharp, and most-importantly confused! He stood in the face of one of his life's biggest ever challenges and broke down within minutes into a feat of utter despondency and daze - wondering what to do and what not to be, lamenting over life's ironical paradoxes, complaining about the increasingly blurring lines between what feels right and what is right.

At such a time, Geeta came to his aid. Krishna said something simple at the very outset : Give up your weakness of heart! 

There was no assurance given, no sympathy extended, no motivation meted out. Krishna slammed a hard whip on Arjuna's excuses, dependencies and blame-games. Krishna clarified that Arjuna's suffering, sorrow, confusion was all because of his own weakness of heart. That there was none else to blame - not God, not man, not destiny, not life.

What that means is even more empowering: It means that the onus of our entire life rests on us. I have the remote-control to my happiness or sorrow. And interestingly, i do not need to attain anything to be happy. Happiness already is. I just have to give up being weak.

THINK!

Quote for Today: "To laugh is wisdom, to weep is folly. Refuse to be unhappy." - Swami Chinmayananda

#lifehacksfrombhagawadgeeta

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL READERS / SUBSCRIBERS / FOLLOWERS

DUE TO UNAVOIDABLE REASONS, THE REFLECTIONS ON UPADESA SAARA HAVE BEEN KEPT ON HOLD FOR THE TIME-BEING.

WE WILL BE REFLECTING ON THE BHAGAVAD GEETA IN FORTHCOMING POSTS.

INCONVENIENCE DEEPLY REGRETTED.

What's wrong with Karma?

If we do right Karmas, we will get right results. That’s all it takes. 

As long as I keep acting dynamically in this world, why do i need to believe in the Supremacy of God at all? What’s wrong with Karma? 

In life, we constantly indulge in different types of actions. 

Whenenver an action is performed, it produces some kind of a result. 

When we experience the result, we are either happy or unhappy. 

If we are happy, we want something more. 

And if we are unhappy, we  want something other or better. 

To experience more, other or better results, we are compelled into action again, which leads to new results, which again create in us the urge for more, other or better, which again prompts us to act. 

Further, even after constantly doing actions for the last so many decades of our lives, we don’t seem to have got enough of the more, other and better that we are seeking. We still seem to be unfulfilled. What an irony indeed! 

Karma being limited by itself, can produce only limited results. Hence, no matter how much of refinement we bring into the actions we perform, they are not going to be able to fulfill us. 

Thus to live ever addicted to Karma is going to leave us exhausted, unfulfilled and limited. 

This degenerative attachment to Karma which leads to the downfall of an individual into a realm of helpless slavery to compulsive action, is called “Bondage of Karma”. 

Life thus cannot be meant only for the performance of actions and enjoyment of results. If this was the purpose of life, considering the overwhelming amount of Karma we have been constantly doing from the day we were born, by now we would all be fulfilled and liberated and completely happy. But the fact that you and i still stand unfulfilled is a proof that Karma alone cannot be the purpose of life. 

Like a silkworm gets trapped in the cocoon formed out of its own saliva, we get trapped in the cocoon of our own Karma. We may attain wealth, fame, etc through Karma. But not freedom and fulfillment. 

In fact, Karma, when performed without any recognition of the Divine, becomes a source of bondage and downfall.

But we don’t really have a choice to not do any Karma. In fact, till we are alive, we must act. What to do then? 

The Answer will be provided in the next post!

TODAY'S REFLECTION IS BASED ON VERSE 2 OF UPADESA SAAR.  

The Dynamics of Karma

Hari Om. Namaskaar. 

Extremely sorry for disappearing and sincere gratitude to all of you who chose to patiently wait. For various reasons, I could not get back to continue the Satsang as planned. But, now we will move ahead. 

We had seen earlier the story of the Mendicants and certain thoughts were posted on the implications of the same. 

For a quick revision, visit http://www.seek-the-eternal.blogspot.in

Now we will actually enter the text Upadesa Saar…

Ramana Maharshi was one of those teachers who called a spade a spade. He wasn’t the types to garnish the truth with convenient interpretations. So, he states in the very beginning the nature of Karma, and it is worth being warned that this text will shatter many of our longstanding notions!  

Here it is very important to understand that the discussion is not yet about Karma Yoga. It is about Karma (actions). 

And it is extremely important that we understand this thoroughly because our entire lives we live addicted to Karma. There is a certain fascination, a kind of an irresistible temptation to indulge in action all the time. That is the reason sitting quietly is so difficult for most of us. 

Even when the scriptures tell us to sit quietly, we turn around and ask: Ok, but what to “do” after sitting quietly?

It is funny, but what we do not realize is that we are all human “beings” and not really human “doings”!!! 

So, because we are all such slaves of action, we need to understand action. 

For Karma to happen, 5 factors are essential: 

Karma (the action by itself) + Kartrtva (doership) + Karana (means of doing) + Karmaphala (Results of action) + Kartaa (doer of the action)

When all these 5 are there, then Karma is said to happen. 

The interesting thing is that we all want favorable results (karmaphala) in life. 

For the sake of better or other results, we keep on doing Karma, because we believe that Karma decides our results and that Karma therefore is supreme. 

But, Karma by itself is inert. And so is Kartrtva (doership), Karana (means) and Karmaphala (results). Due to lack of sentiency (life factor), by themselves, none of these can shape the karmaphala. 

The only one who can do so, is actually the single sentient factor in this complex mechanism of Karma - the Doer or the Kartaa. 

Now the question is: Who is the doer? 

The doer is not you and me as we commonly understand. In fact, if the Lord’s grace was not there, you and I could have not managed to do something as simple as breathing!!! So, the actual Doer in that sense is the Lord. 

So Ramana says that Karma being inert cannot be supreme and thus must not be given the exaggerated value we give it. Instead, we need to realize that results are gained by the will of the Supreme Doer - the Lord Himself, and none else.

It does not imply that the Lord decides our results. The Lord is like the Maths Teacher. When we are asked what is 2+3 and we write 6, the teacher gives us 0 marks. But it is not actually the teacher who is giving us the marks. The law of arithmetic is that 2+3 is not 6. The teacher just delivers the result in accordance to the laws of maths and as per the answer written. 

Similarly, God only gives us the results in accordance to the laws of karma as per the actions we perform. 

But, we have no say in the result. The law will decide it, the Lord will imply it. We can only do Karma by His grace. 

But no inert Karma in the world is more powerful than the Lord who is the doer of all Karma. Hence it is important to surrender to the Lord and not to Karma itself. 

Also, the entire mechanism of Karma is governed by the Laws of Karma. Whenever there are laws, any intelligent person would ask: Who made these laws? and Who makes them work? 

That Supreme Power which created the very laws of Karma and ensures that the laws continue to function, is the Lord Himself. We can call Him by any other name if we do not like the word “God”. But in that sense, the Lord, or whatever we choose to call it, is the supreme authority in the matter of Karma. And since Karmaphalas are the very fabric of our life’s experiences, the Lord is the supreme authority in our life too! 

THINK! 

But what is the harm if we don’t believe in the Lord? What’s wrong in being a Karma-holic? We will discuss in the next post! 

TODAY'S REFLECTION IS BASED ON VERSE 1 OF UPADESA SAAR. 

Points to Ponder

1) Actions give results which fulfill desires for power, pleasure, prestige and possession. But, none of this truly fulfill us or help us overcome our own ego.

2) When we experience results of actions, we are somehow pushed to perform more actions for better or other results. Thus we continue to act compulsively rather than out of choice to act.

3) Even divine actions, seva work, or religious rituals can bind us if we are not focussed on knowledge and evolution. Just because the actions are pious does not mean they can assure moksha to the performer. Person bound by gold shackles is not more free than person bound by iron shackles. Think.

4) Actions are not useless. They purify the mind and invoke the grace of the Lord. Because the Rishis performed so many rituals, the Lord himself came to release them from their delusion. If they were worldly people, engaged in materialistic pursuits, even that would have been impossible.

5) Without the surrender to the Lord, even so-called divine actions will bind us. And with surrender, even worldly actions can free us. Bondage therefore is not because of actions, but because of the ego which doesn't allow us to surrender.

6) The Highest knowledge is taught by the Lord to the mendicants only after they surrender to Him. It doesn't mean God wants us to surrender. It means we NEED to surrender in order to evolve.

7) Both the charming mendicant and the enchanting Mohini was the Lord himself. Every weakness in us is also a manifestation of the Lord. When we are alert, open and ready-to-learn, even a weak moment can be a moment of transformation. Think.

8) Lord gives and forgives. Man gets and forgets. Even the results of actions are attained only by the will and grace of the Lord. He is the Law-maker and the Law-executer of the Universe and our lives. But, how easily we forget that every achievement of ours is actually a matter of His grace and not our greatness! The Rishis forgot that the success of every ritual also was by His will alone. The Lord however, having given us everything we have in life, still forgives our forgetfulness and ingratitude, and offers us opportunities to learn and grow.

With Salutations to That Compassionate Lord, we shall discuss the first verse of Upadesa Saar in our next post....

Some Practices:
1) Every time you say "Thank God", MEAN IT!
2) Tell yourself "This is a manifestation of His Grace" at least once in every 1 hour.
3) Start every action with a prayer.
4) End your day with silent prayer of gratitude.
5) Don't let action hijack your devotion to Knowledge

Hari Om. :)

The Story of the Mendicants

There is a story in the Puranas which must be narrated at the very outset of our reflections on Upadesa Saar. The story is about a team of mendicants, who were experts in rites and rituals. By performing extraordinary rituals with impeccable perfection, they had also attained several supernatural powers. Thus these great mendicants had come to believe that they had attained all that was to be attained in life. They felt that since actions brought them such glory and power, actions were enough to ensure any spiritual and material progress, and that God was non-essential in this process. These great men were terribly caught up in this misconception, and thus lived with a myopic vision of life, constantly trying to perfect their actions and attain better results, more power and greater possessions. At such a time, Lord Shiva felt extreme compassion for these seekers and their fallacious thinking, and decided to teach them a lesson. Thus he appeared in their Ashram as a young and handsome mendicant - charming in looks, glamorous in personality and enchanting in demeanor. The mendicants, focussed on their rituals, did not even bother about the presence of this young lad. However, their wives were totally enamored by him and spell-bound by his endearing personality, they followed him into the heart of the forest. Enraged by the audacity of the youth to dare to infatuate their wives, the mendicants left their rituals half-way and rushed into the forest. However, just then, Lord Vishnu appeared in his most enchanting female form of Mohini devi, and just one glimpse of this beautiful damsel was enough to infatuate the mendicants. Forgetting their wives and the young mendicant hero, these men of great action now began to follow Mohini. She, with her magical smile and charming gait, led them far into the forest, and then suddenly disappeared into thin air. 

This shocked the mendicants. They were also ashamed that they could not hold themselves back in spite of having done so many meritorious rituals and attained such great powers. This made them realize that the whole episode was probably a sport conducted by the young mendicant hero, perhaps to put them down. In fury, they invoked all their powers and celestial weapons, and began to attack the young mendicant. But the handsome young man, who was none other than the Lord Shiva himself, calmly subdued every attack. At this, the mendicants were utterly shocked, and then it dawned on them that this could not have been an ordinary person. A mere mortal would not have the powers to refute the results of such great rituals. Hence, they realized that the mendicant must be Lord Shiva himself. Their pride was humbled and they understood that all their actions are ineffective without the will and grace of the Lord. 

They had spent an entire lifetime seeking power and hoping that will fulfill them. But they saw that how easily they got enraged and distracted. It was clear that it is not lack of power but lack of self-knowledge that is the problem. However much power we gain, however much we do actions, we still remain limited and bound. 

At this point, Lord Shiva himself teaches the mendicants about the various paths - Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Gnana Yoga. This teaching was encapsulated by Sri Ramana Maharshi as the Upadesa Saar in Tamil, and later in Sanskrit. 

It is one of the most holistic and inspiring texts of Vedanta. We shall see more details and implications of this story in our next post...