Duty in the workplace - 3

[Guest guest]

Hi Sankar!<br><br>Thanks for bringing up a very

relevant topic in the field of sadhna, which is applicable

no matter what path one is on. We have covered some

ground (not specific to workplace) on this topic earlier

which is listed under "Right Action" in our Subject

Index. One of our members anand_prabodh also used to

present incidents how he was using his practice and

understanding at workplace and in relationships. <br><br>(btw..

Where ARE you these days anand_prabodh?)

<br><br>>>We can only pray that our principles should not be

put to test and if they are put to test we have the

mental courage to come out successful. Remember that the

test will come ...... It will not come in the cozy

environment of a club.>><br><br>All lessons are

taken to the lab, for practicals. I don't believe we

can take any course without that part of the

training. I also feel that we are given practical training

only when we are ready to take on the challenge, at

the level we are ready. So while many may not be

facing board directors, they may have to face family

crisis, or bosses or peers, all of which often bring them

face to face with duty vs sadhna dilemmas. As for

clubs, those of us who have become sensitive to

spiritual energies have felt the challenges right here in

the comfort of our satsangh home; whether it is the

love of dear soulfriends or the wrath of a sad

individual, we feel it all. Each, gives us opportunity to act

on the basis of our sadhana. <br><br>To a large

extent I see people facing challenges according to the

issues they need to "work out" or learn, which is often

the basis of the path to which they are attracted. A

Karma yogi, may have to understand the role of duties,

following the dharma of an occupation, take whatever stand

one needs to do so to defend that. So a warrior kills

because "he" knows the deathknell has already been struck

by the Universal Laws, and "he" is only playing the

role of the instrument. There is danger in that in

todays world, different from the senario of Mahabharata.

Bin Laden too, acted with total faith in his cause;

he has been able to bring under his wing thousands

of people, many of whom very, very intelligent. His

and his groups faith remains strong, as he sees few

of his faith publicly and consistently denounce his

actions and his use of their religion. But as we know, no

faith has a monopoly on fanatics who use religious

tools to further their own cause; only the magnitude

differs, sometimes drastically. <br><br>A Gyani who is

studying the idea that the world is maya, or a simple

reflection of their own selves, may have different

challenges. A pure Gyani, (who doesn't really exist), will

have to decide, that if he doesn't like what he sees,

he needs to change himself. If he is a karma yogi

too, he may be able to reconcile the external world by

taking whatever actions he needs while working on

changing himself internally. A Bhakta on the other hand

see the world as a manfestation of God. All are

reflections of Devi, Krishna, Shiva or Christ. A pure Bhakta

can't hurt anyone. A Raja yogi sees all an aspect of

his Self. Who is he killing anyway? A part of

himSelf!! Those who take the path of taking control of

energy and the basic elements of nature, (Tantrics) have

the choice of directing it in any way they wish,

willingly remaining in the wheel of cause and effect.

<br><br>Perhaps that is the role of the occupations as prescribed

in Hindu shastras. If we had all Bhaktas or Raja

yoga students, we would be hard pressed to find

warriors and rulers (governing body). Perhaps the journey

is about finding that balance. Ultimately all the

paths merge, the essence becomes evident and a

Self-Realized soul knows no categories. <br><br>Meanwhile we

journey on, making choices on the basis of what we are

ready for, finding that place of ultimate

balance.<br><br>Just some musings.. <br><br>_/\_ Tat twam

asi<br><br>Uma

[Guest guest]

One small thought on this...<br><br>The first

chat session we had here included the concept of group

karma. Understanding and accepting this concept has

really changed my way of thinking about a lot of things.

I am an employee, and by continuing my employment

with this company, I am "agreeing" to its business.

<br><br>However, with the recent Enron debacle, I have begun to

question some of this idea. If I, as an employee, am

unaware of my company's practices, how does this affect

the resulting group karma?<br><br>With love,<br>Erica

[Guest guest]

That was a good question Erica ! What happens to

group karma when one is involved in a company like

Enron ? Well, there are 2 possibilities:<br>Case 1 :

you know that you are involved<br>Case 2 : you do NOT

know that you are involved.<br><br>Everyone might have

guessed the result of group karma in case 1, wherein the

concerned person incurs a lot of sin for doing illegal

stuffs.<br><br>What about Case 2, when the person is unaware ? Let's

consider a case where the food is infected with some

bacteria X, and is served to 10 ppl who are unaware of the

infected food. What happens ? Do they remain unaffected

just b'cos they are unaware ? No. They do get affected

though they are unware.<br><br>Let's take another case

wherein a patient takes the medicines prescribed by his

Doctor for a particular disease. Here the patient is

unaware of the drug's name, it's prototype, the

pharmacological actions, the adverse reactions, the dose, the

drug interactions etc. Still the drug has its effects

on the patient. Similarly, the group karma also

affects us, though we are unaware of it.<br><br>Well,

now, we think this is unfair, 'cos we didn't know that

we were involved. If only we knew, then we wouldn't

be in it , right ? Is there no way out then ?

<br><br>Let's consider the case when Prahladha was offered milk

that was contaminated by poison. He was forced to

drink it, but did anything happen to him. The answer is

NO. Prahladha was also thrown into a cage with

snakes, he was thrown from the top of a mountain, was

trampled upon by an elephant, etc, yet he escaped them all

unharmed. Mirabai too was given poisoned milk, but it

didn't affect her.Similarly there are many such

instances.<br><br>The above examples offer us a clue as to how the

karma however gross can just pass us by, without having

even a slight effect on us. Just as how the

environment can have affect us, we too can affect our

environment. <br><br>In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna said to

just concentrate on our duties, and to surrender the

fruits of the work unto Him. He also said, " Sarva

dharman parityajya......", That is, if we surrender

totally unto Him, leaving everything, then He will redeem

us of all our sins, and will grant us Liberation or

Moksha. <br><br>We can escape the karmic consequences, if

we have a clean mind and just concentrate on doing

our job well, and offer the fruits of it unto Him. If

one works with the attitude of 'work is worship',

then one's thoughts and mind get cleansed.

<br><br>Just like how fire remains pure no matter what filth

is thrown into it, (in fact fire purifies the filth

thrown into it), so too we remain pure and unaffected no

matter what filth exists around us. <br><br>Hence,

surrendering to the Lord, or at least trying to remember Him

at the beginning and the end of the day ( and also

whenever possible during the day), accompanied by

meditation and other means of sadhna that purifies the mind,

is the key to evade the karmic

consequences.<br><br>Hari Aum !!!

[Guest guest]

group karma is a very interesting topic. this is

called the ' adhvaram'. a place( say town), a group( say

family or community or even workplace), a country etc

will hv this adhvaram. Thus, we are responsible for

the sins committed by our relatives, our king and all

others. this is some thing like passive smoking.

<br><br>for eg., during the freedom struggle of india, lakhs

of people were jailed. u mean to say so many people

have done the same karma to get jailed? it is not

possible it is in the adhvaram of the desha ( the country)

to get jailed. similiary, during the harshad mehta's

scam, thousands of people hv lost money. again it is

the advara of the country that her people should lose

money. thus, it is the adhvara of the country which

effects the people to get stuck into famines, calamities

or war. it is not single individual karma that leads

to these adhvarams. here, vastu comes to one's

rescue to some extent. <br><br>similiary, with regard to

the sins commited unknowingly, it is called pancha

prasoona papa( the sins committed unknowingly in five ways

or even by five karmendriyas). The ancient rites

such as nityagni and gayatri are prescribed for

washing these sins done unknowingly and partake food as '

avasesha' - the remains after feeding the gods or

'prasadam' in the modern language. <br><br>needless to say,

ur thoghts and actions do indeed effect others

through vibrations and sometimes, affects weak minds a

lot. bad thoughts emanating from you , if they affect

another person( with a weak mind), his mind is polluted

and he is commiting papam or sin. Thus, you are

becoming the root cause of imposing sin into others and

this is a sin in itself and thus, your account of sin

is increasing double fold- one for hving a bad

thought and another , for imposing it on another

unsuspecting person.<br><br>hence,we should hv pure deeds,

pure thoughts and pure words.<br><br>why pure deeds?

what are pure deeds? <br><br>i will discuss this in

another message if i get reponse to this

message<br><br><br>kishore

[Guest guest]

That was a nice explanation !<br><br>>>bad

thoughts emanating from you , if they affect another

person( with a weak mind), his mind is polluted and he is

commiting papam or sin. <<<br><br>That is the reason

one must always be in the company of holy people, so

that their holy and pure thoughts affect us, and help

in cleansing our thoughts and consequently our words

and deed.<br><br>Hari Aum !!!

[Guest guest]

see good be good do good this is the way to god , said bhagawan sri satya sai

baba. if u see,do and behave good, then these things cannot affect

you<br><br>kishore