Article sent from The Hindu on indiaserver.com

[Guest guest]

For those who follow the current discussions on Gita Satsang (Chapter 5 Vesrse

1-15), this article is quite relevant. Thre are some excellent additional points

in support of the message of Gita,

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

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This article is emailed to you by Ram Chandran ( rchandran )

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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Dedicate all actions to the Almighty

 

CHENNAI, JAN. 24. All actions performed by a person who has

oriented his life towards the spiritual goal are acts of worship

and not just the rituals performed during the act of prayer. For

the performance of the daily ritualistic worship several

preparatory acts conducive to creating a congenial atmosphere for

it are necessary. For instance, if we consider the simple act of

offering food (Naivedya) to God, it involves procuring the

necessary food grains, earning the money to buy these condiments,

then preparing the food and finally offering it to God with

devotion. All these acts then become intrinsic to the worship of

the Almighty.

 

This is the reason why in the case of a householder all his

actions right from his profession to his duties become

transformed into worship if he has devotion and dedicates all his

actions to God. The householder has to lead an active life to

discharge his duties towards his family and society and hence

spiritual quest at this stage involves developing devotion to God

and orienting all his actions towards the spiritual goal.

 

This active stage in life will automatically lead to the next

stage of total contemplation on God after all the worldly duties

have been discharged. When a spiritual aspirant reaches this

level worldly attachments will drop away on their own accord if

he has evolved spiritually. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to

give the example of the housefly which flits here and there in

search of food to the life of a householder and compares the

recluse to the honeybee which seeks only the nectar in the

flowers.

 

In his lecture, Swami Gautamananda said that renunciation of

worldly life was only an attitude of mind ultimately. Even while

leading an active life in the world it is possible to evolve

spiritually if one has the right orientation. Saint Ramakrishna

advised his devotees to hold onto God with one hand while engaged

in worldly life and after the discharge of all the duties develop

total detachment by holding onto Him with both the hands. This

symbolically conveys the truth that spiritual evolution has to

follow a natural course.

 

When one's thoughts are always centred on God then the mind will

develop concentration. Once the mind gets a taste of the peace

that results, it will seek this quietude instinctively. Initially

this requires effort by allotting a specific time everyday to

prayer and contemplation but with practice the mind will get

attuned to God effortlessly. This is similar to the comfort one

feels in one's own home and the instinct to return to it.

 

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