Fwd: Maharshi, Karma Yoga - #5

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

I can really relate to this ................ONS..Tony.

 

 

MillionPaths, "viorica weissman"

<viorica@z...> wrote:

Question: Is the desire for Swaraj (political independence) right?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Such desire no doubt begins with self-interest.

Yet practical work for the goal gradually widens the outlook so that

the individual becomes merged in the country. Such merging of the

individuality is desirable and the related Karma is Nishkama

(unselfish).

 

Question: If Swaraj is gained after a long struggle and terrible

sacrifices, is not the person justified in being pleased with the

result and elated by it?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: He must have in the course of his work

surrendered himself to the higher power whose might must be kept in

mind and never lost sight of. How then can he be elated? He should

not even care for the result of his actions. Then alone the Karma

becomes unselfish.

 

Comments by David Godman: Practitioners of Karma Yoga, the Yoga of

action, aim to evolve spiritually by selflessly serving and

assisting others. Although it is spoken of highly in the Bhagavad

Gita, Sri Ramana Maharshi generally discouraged his devotees from

following this path since it presupposes the existence of an "I" who

is going to perform the good deeds and 'other people' who are in

need of assistance. He only encouraged it if he felt that particular

devotees were incapable of following the paths of Jnana (knowledge),

Bhakti (devotion) or Raja Yoga (meditation).

 

If an aspirant were unsuited temperamentally for the first two

methods (Jnana and Bhakti), and circumstantially on account of age

for the third method (Yoga), he must try the Karma marga (the path

of Karma Yoga). His nobler instincts become more evident and he

derives impersonal pleasure. The man also becomes duly equipped for

one of the three aforesaid paths.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi stressed that to be successful, the Karma Yogi

must be free of the notion that he himself is helping others, and

that he must also be unattached and indifferent to the consequences

of his actions. Although he rarely gave Karma Yoga more than a

lukewarm endorsement he did admit that both of these conditions

would be met if all actions were performed without the 'I am the

doer' idea.

_

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