Very often people misunderstand the concept of detachment. When people face reversals or any bad experiences in the world, they think they have become detached from the world. You can see hundreds and thousands of people wanting to take up spirituality simply because they can’t bear adversities. There...
Souls on the path of spiritual development practice Sadhana of various kinds. Depending on the exact path chosen, aspirants follow many procedures, rituals, actions and thought processes. Bhakti, devotion to God with loving sentiments is the sweetest path towards God realization. It has been repeated declared...
In the opening chapters of the Bhagavad Gita, Shree Krishna listens patiently to Arjun's lamentations and educates him about the immortal soul. The Lord then reminds Arjun of his duties and the nature of the soul. He then begins to focus his advise on the path of action, Karm Yog.
Shree Krishna explains that all beings are compelled to work by their intrinsic modes of nature, and nobody can remain without action for even a moment. Those who display external renunciation by donning the ochre robes, but internally dwell upon sense objects, are hypocrites. Superior to them are those who practice karm yog, and continue to engage in action externally, but give up attachment from within. Shree Krishna then stresses that all living beings have responsibilities to fulfill as integral parts of the system of God’s creation. When we execute our prescribed duties as an obligation to God, such work becomes yajña (sacrifice). Those who do not accept their responsibility in this cycle are sinful; they live only for the delight of their senses, and their lives are in vain.
In our previous discussion about Karm-Yog and working without desires, we learnt how to work without worrying much about the fruit of action. This forms the essence of Karm-Yog. There is another path known as Karm Sanyas, and many intellectuals debate hard on which path is the best one to take.
Is Karm-Yog is best one or is it Karm Sanyas? Some people think that Karm Sanyas is superior and hence the best and only way towards Krishna consciousness. What is Karm Sanyas?Renouncing your profession and family to practice sadhana is the path of Karm Sanyas. The word 'Sanyas' means renounce or give up. The life of a renunciate is not cakewalk as it may seem from far. Many difficulties, obstacles and issues need to be resolved, just as in any worldly vocation. At the moment, you may find that along with practicing your profession and family life, you are unable to remember God and Guru, and you wish to take Sanyas. If you were to tread the path of a Sanyasi, and then realize that you are still unable to remember God and Guru as intensely as required, what would be the situation? You would neither be a true Sanyasi nor a Karm Yogi.
Karm Yog requires detachment from the fruits of actions. Such detachment comes by practicing discrimination with the intellect. Hence, Shree Krishna has interestingly called it buddhi yog, or “Yog of the Intellect.”
Having motivated Arjun from the mundane level, Shree Krishna now moves deeper into the science of work. Arjun had expressed his fear that by killing his enemies he would incur sin. Shree Krishna addresses this apprehension. He advises Arjun to do his duty, without attachment to the fruits of his actions. Such an attitude to work will release him from any sinful reactions. When we work with selfish motives, we create karmas, which bring about their subsequent karmic reactions.
The Māṭhar Śhruti states,
“If you do good deeds, you will go to the celestial abodes; if you do bad deeds, you will go to the nether regions; if you do a mixture of both, you will come back to the planet Earth.”
In our previous article on Karm Yog, we discussed the importance of working or serving without attachment. Extending our learning of how to implement the principles of Karm Yog, how do we learn to de-stress ourselves?
When we are in satsang, we feel relaxed, de-stressed and at peace with everything. But as we leave the satsang and continue with our daily chores, the stress level increases. How do we relieve stress permanently?
There are two ways of remembering God and Guru. The first way is to sit down and meditate on Them. The second way is to work in the consciousness “I am doing this work for Their pleasure.” The second way may be more difficult, but it takes us to a higher level of Divine love. This is because it develops the spirit of seva, or service.
Even though your present job may be burdensome, you can easily do the second kind of remembrance. Whatever you earn from your job, use a portion of it to serve the mission of your Spiritual Master. In this way, by offering the fruits of your work to God, you will develop the consciousness that you are working for His pleasure. You will then not look at your work as separate from your devotion, but as an integral part of it.