Guest guest Posted April 2, 2002 Report Share Posted April 2, 2002 Dear Mr.Sudhir, The doubt which has arised in your mind is quite normal for a person who reads gita for the first time.But never mind, you will understand it and practice in due course. Meanwhile, what you could do is to do meditation or Japa on your favourite god.Practice this everyday without fail.Then you see the effect.You will definetly see some change in your mind after several months.That implies your mind becomes quiescent.If you read Gita or whatever spiritual book of your choice, you will understand it better and you will be able put into pricatice. In nut shell: Where there is expectation; there is misery Where there is attachment;there is misery Where there is desire; there is misery Where there is body;there is misery Don't you want to get rid of misery and be free. With best regards, Karthikeyan >Vivekananda Centre London >~~~~~~~~~~~~ copy email ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Monday, April 01, 2002 04:03 > how to practise non-attachment to our work. > > > Dear sir /madam > iam 26 years old & iam a dentist.I read gita printed >by ISKON. It is difficult for me to apply the principles of gita >[like non-attachment to our work] because i feel for a grihasta >he needs money in this materialistic world & hence he aims fruits >of his work while doing work. > Please let me know how to apply this principle of >non-attachment to our work in one's daily life. > Thanking you. > yours >sincerely > sudhir reddy > [ email i.d -] sudhirreddy2000 > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 2, 2002 Report Share Posted April 2, 2002 Namaste, Here is how Thakur Himself spoke: Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita: " Worship, oblations, rites and sacrifices are of no use whatever. If one develops love for him, then there is not much use of these activities. A fan is necessary so long as there is no breeze; if the southern breeze blows of itself, the fan may be laid aside. What's the need for a fan anymore? The activities you are engaged in are good. If you can do them selflessly, giving up the egoistic feeling, I am the doer, it is very good. Devotion and love of God develop from doing such selfless work. And God is realized as one goes on performing such selfless work. But your activities will lessen the more you develop love and devotion for God. The mother-in-law lessens the chores of the daughter-in-law when she is with child. The mother-inlaw lessens them the more the months advance. At ten months she is not allowed to do any work at all lest the baby be harmed and the delivery be in jeopardy (laughter). The activities you are engaged in are of benefit to yourself. If you can do them selflessly your mind will be purified and you will develop love of God. And you will realize Him as soon as you will have love. Man does not help the world; it is He alone who does it -- He who has made the moon and the sun; He who has given parents love; He who has given compassion to the great; He who has given devotion to holy men and devotees. The man who will work without selfish desire will do good to himself. " Volume III, Part I Regards, Sunder Ramakrishna, " Karthikeyan C S " <metcsk@r...> wrote: > Don't you want to get rid of misery and be free. > > With best regards, > Karthikeyan > > > >Vivekananda Centre London > >~~~~~~~~~~~~ copy email ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >Monday, April 01, 2002 04:03 > > how to practise non-attachment to our work. > > Please let me know how to apply this principle of > >non-attachment to our work in one's daily life. > > Thanking you. > > yours > >sincerely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 3, 2002 Report Share Posted April 3, 2002 Reg. Practicising non-attachment to our work : From my understanding Gita does not suggest non-attachment to your work. If you see the world which has many successful people, one common denominator seems to be the passion those people bring to their work. Without this passion, one will not have the motivation to work. being passionate about what you do increases the chances that you will make a success out of it - you will put your heart and soul into it What Gita suggests however is that you have no right to expect results in your favor just because you have put in the work. Your right is to work and it is in your control. The results of your work which is a consequence is not in your control. By expecting results you get attached to the world and hence that begets misery. What is required is " detached attachement " - attach yourself to the process which is a great way you can improve your chances of success in what you do in this earthly life. (Krishna himself says in the Gita that action is the governing principle of all living beings. By your very nature you cannot be inactive - every breath you take is an action for instance). Detach yourself from the results - Gita offers a practical way to detach - Offer the fruits of all your actions to the Lord. Thakurji talks about it in a few instances among many others : 1) He likens living in this world in a detached manner as follows ; The world is a jack fruit. Apply oil on your palms (renunciation) before you start peeling it and begin enjoying the fruit within. That way you will not be disturbed by the icky exterior of the fruit in your endeavors. 2) Another analogy given by Thakurji is that God is like the pillar in the center of a house. Hold on to the pillar and revolve around just like what a kid does while playing without the fear of falling. That way you always know what to focus on as the support in your life while playing (conducting your actions in this world). 3) Someone asked about the essence of GITA to Thakurji - He told the questioner to repeat Gita quickly 10 times without taking a breath. If you do that you find that Gita morphs into Tyagi (renounciate) - So Thakurji explained that the essence of Gita is renounciation. love, Sreedhar > Message: 4 > Mon, 1 Apr 2002 16:56:45 +0100 > " Vivekananda Centre " <vivekananda > Re: how to practise non-attachment to our work. > > The following interesting email from Sudhir asks: > How to practise non-attachment? > May I request the list to offer some suggestions. > The response can go directly to Sudhir or via the list.......... > > jay > Vivekananda Centre London > ~~~~~~~~~~~~ copy email ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Monday, April 01, 2002 04:03 > how to practise non-attachment to our work. > > Dear sir /madam > iam 26 years old & iam a dentist.I read gita printed by ISKON. It is difficult for me to apply the principles of gita [like non-attachment to our work] because i feel for a grihasta he needs money in this materialistic world & hence he aims fruits of his work while doing work. > Please let me know how to apply this principle of non-attachment to our work in one's daily life. > Thanking you. > yours sincerely > sudhir reddy > [ email i.d -] sudhirreddy2000 > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 3, 2002 Report Share Posted April 3, 2002 I think Sunder has reproduced a lovely quote by Sri Thakur relevant to selfless work. Just want to add a few words of my experience. We all have such a deeply ingrained mindset that selfless work is equivalent to having no purpose in life and amounts to taking the juice out of living. It takes some Sadhana to cross this hump of illusion. My personal experience is that work becomes fun if you remove the wretched selfish motives out of it. When you surrender your actions to God you are in effect directly working for God. God adopts you. He is the Boss and you are reporting to the Boss of all Bosses and not some helpless CEO of a corporation. Then you are part of a grand universal purpose where you align your goals with the goals that God has for the universe. Imagine the tremendous glory of being part of a universal design. It needs faith to belive this. But it is worth cultivating the faith. You need to experience the confidence that you acquire, the stream of peace that starts running inside you once you drop the " I " . And where you are working as part of the Universal design life is a success every moment. God knows no failure. Even the so called failures start acquiring a purpose and you do not feel the pain.....or at least the pain reduces considerably. Just try surrender and self less work. It is worth it. You can have the cake and eat it too.....almost. Pranams. Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 3, 2002 Report Share Posted April 3, 2002 I would like to second the opinion expressed so nicely by Devinder Ahuja. And add that no one plants an orchard without the hope of getting mangoes, peaches or whatever. What Sri Krishna surely means is not that we work without expectation of ANY fruits, but without expectation of ego gratification. It is the ego-investment in work that vitiates its spiritual value, not the law of sow-and-reap. If the crop fails, is the orchardist undone and depressed? If it brings bumper crop, is he/she elated and proud? To me, that is what is meant by not claiming the fruits of action. Yogeshananda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 3, 2002 Report Share Posted April 3, 2002 Sreedhar wrote: > Reg. Practicising non-attachment to our work : > 3) Someone asked about the essence of GITA to Thakurji - He told the questioner to repeat Gita quickly 10 >times without taking a breath. If you do that you find that Gita morphs into Tyagi (renounciate) - So Thakurji >explained that the essence of Gita is renounciation. Sreedhar's post is a good reply to the question of detachment. It would also be helpful to have some comments about what constitutes renunciation. My understanding is that it is best for renunciation to be internal from the start. That is, one does not try to give up activities or possessions (though at some point these may fall away of their own accord) but rather withdraws the sense of oneself as the agent of actions or the owner of possessions. By means of discrimination, one discerns the true from the false and renounces attachment to or identification with the false. _______ Get your free @ address at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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