HARMONY BY ACTION - SWAMI TATWANANDA

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The message of our scriptural teaching is "That thou art." This already

accomplished fact that one is the ever fulfilled Self remains unknown due to

ignorance. An ignorance that has no beginning . This beginningless ignorance

is dispelled by "Knowledge of the Self." How to regain the natural but

seemingly lost joy is the essence of all scriptural teachings. Lord Krishna

unfolds two lifestyles for the seeker in Gita, later to be resolved as one,

as the means for the pursuit of Knowledge.

 

One is Sankhya yoga, which is exercising the methods of discrimination and

assertion of the Real and not-real, and the other is Karma yoga, which is the

art of preserving equanimity of the mind while accepting the inevitability of

actions and relations.

 

The lifestyle is to be determined in accordance with the seeker's disposition

of mind, as the mind is the instrument to gain any knowledge. In this pursuit

to gain knowledge of Self, the mind has to be free from the stranglehold of

likes and dislikes, which makes it restless and distracted. Only a serene,

receptive and responsive mind is capable of understanding that subtler

knowledge, which is an answer to the confusion. Lord Krishna exhorts Arjuna,

the man of action, in chapter two of Gita as follows:

 

·" Act - you must. As an individual, you have the right for action only. You

do not, however, have the right to determine the result of action though you

perform them. With the freedom of will which is yours, choose actions with

discretion, and pursue them guided by right values and enthusiasm.

· Remain unrelated and undisturbed by the probable success or failure of your

actions, which are not wholly determined by you. What has to be done, perform

with perfection, yet for fulfillment, do not depend upon the outcome of

actions. Evenness of mind thus gained leads the way for the mind to be

receptive to knowledge of Self. He who has realized his real nature hates not

action. Be alert and aware of your goal and may you strive for it by Karma

Yoga - Harmony by Action."

 

(Excerpted from Swamiji's talks on Karma Yoga- published as Harmony by

Action-1989)