(Random notes: It is a pity that certain Sanskrit words acquire English equivalents and then, the Indian who acquires his knowledge of Sanskrit works through his English handbooks enjoys, suffers or colours his whole outlook on the roots of his culture with paralysing patronage. An example is the word faith, a word whose meaning has no relation to the word ‘sraddha’ to which it is popularly equated. Sraddha means perseverance, dedication and effort and so on: Never faith with its connotation of trust in something above and beyond.The same misfortune applies to the word, Karma, in the manner that suits his impressions of the Indian he meets; and even if that man happens to be a pundit, the weight of the patronage ensures the pundit a happy appreciation - the sahib is very perceptive and very wise. And this junk gets into the very bloodstream of the native reader.)
“Verily, a man is his faith”, Krishna says in the Gita; utter nonsense, when he says in fact: “Verily a man is his sraddha” and all that it connotes. May the Gods help us! Why do Krishna and Buddha speak of disinterested work; action without expectation of or interest in result; and of joy in action. Only personal experiment of some kind or other can give a clue and not verbal dissertations.
My experience is thus: in as much as words can convey a whole bodily experience.
Anyway, the trouble with this computation is that it presumes that for fitting in with your beautiful plan, the whole world of circumstances around you will remain frozen at that point. Of course one can never argue with a deluded person; he will reply, “oh, but I have made time projections of this and that; and anyway you have not got a degree in higher algebra!”
I admire them. But for me it is a matter of experience to know 1. that I move myself with some goal in view, 2. I have faith in the reasonably advantageous consequences of such an act. If I am a soldier, I take pride in moving to the firing line, for fear of getting shot by my own side for certainty as against the chance of a narrow escape from the enemy's artillery; or pleasure of doing my duty and so on. Even here, I shall not put my foot forward if I know there is a mine beneath my feet. Anyway, this is not the point at issue here.
What are the consequences for me and my body of the above points. The reasons or goals that set me in motion rarely respond to the results obtained. This discrepancy almost constant, between my objective and the actual reached point instantaneously produce a frustration reaction, or one of its numerous variations, anger, depression and so on. All these lead to distortion of further perception and greatly reduce the capacity to make the best of the situation actually reached. Perhaps, there are constitutional variations in these responses, but the direction of response in the ego-based culture is essentially the same. This constant, minor or major discrepancy between the set-goal and reached-result, leads to a constant avoidable wear and tear of the body mechanisms, and diminish enjoyment.
It is at this point Krishna’s observations become relevant for action.
“Verily, a man is his faith”, Krishna says in the Gita; utter nonsense, when he says in fact: “Verily a man is his sraddha” and all that it connotes. May the Gods help us! Why do Krishna and Buddha speak of disinterested work; action without expectation of or interest in result; and of joy in action. Only personal experiment of some kind or other can give a clue and not verbal dissertations.
My experience is thus: in as much as words can convey a whole bodily experience.
- I do not undertake even the smallest of actions without some goal, distant or close, in the time and space. a. To reach out my hand to take the cup of tea from the table; b. to go to an office to be at an interview for a job.
- Faith is involved in that some pleasing possibility, as against so many thousand unpleasant consequences of my action, is the promoter of my action.
Anyway, the trouble with this computation is that it presumes that for fitting in with your beautiful plan, the whole world of circumstances around you will remain frozen at that point. Of course one can never argue with a deluded person; he will reply, “oh, but I have made time projections of this and that; and anyway you have not got a degree in higher algebra!”
I admire them. But for me it is a matter of experience to know 1. that I move myself with some goal in view, 2. I have faith in the reasonably advantageous consequences of such an act. If I am a soldier, I take pride in moving to the firing line, for fear of getting shot by my own side for certainty as against the chance of a narrow escape from the enemy's artillery; or pleasure of doing my duty and so on. Even here, I shall not put my foot forward if I know there is a mine beneath my feet. Anyway, this is not the point at issue here.
What are the consequences for me and my body of the above points. The reasons or goals that set me in motion rarely respond to the results obtained. This discrepancy almost constant, between my objective and the actual reached point instantaneously produce a frustration reaction, or one of its numerous variations, anger, depression and so on. All these lead to distortion of further perception and greatly reduce the capacity to make the best of the situation actually reached. Perhaps, there are constitutional variations in these responses, but the direction of response in the ego-based culture is essentially the same. This constant, minor or major discrepancy between the set-goal and reached-result, leads to a constant avoidable wear and tear of the body mechanisms, and diminish enjoyment.
It is at this point Krishna’s observations become relevant for action.
- Action is an inescapable law of the universe. The universe is an action continuum.
- Your personal goals have nothing to do with it. Even if you do nothing, action is continuously going on within you and outside of you. You are not the starter or master of action - called the universe.
- Therefore, to assign the significance of pleasant and unpleasant can only apply to goals and not the actions. (In this you are making no special concession as a sort of benediction to the world. It is a fact.) The source of misery is not in action but in the attachment to the goal, whose realisation is not in your hand, and which perpetually leaves you in an anticipation-frustration complex, leading to perceptual distortion and delusion formation.
- This investment in the very narrow personal-goal oriented behaviour is characteristic of the ego in constant cannibalistic discord with the world around. The body becomes its rapacious instrument, and suffers the consequences.
b)A dharmic or harmonious interaction with the universe is possible.
c) A body liberated from the prison of narrow personal goal is capable of expressing unconditional joy.
d) Effort is necessary for the seeker of harmony.
e) A systematic and methodical inquiry into the mechanism of one’s own perception of disharmony will enable the person to liberate himself from the bondage of narrow goal-oriented action; liberate him into wider enjoyment of the many possibilities of universal action.
f) The inquiry will lead to the discovery of the basis of compassion with all - the capacity to vibrate with; and such a person is truly a master of himself.
g) Such a person’s perceptions and actions, liberated from the narrow personal goal, acquire and express the increasing power of conscious compassion in mutually sustaining harmony with the world around, all the world, not just another man only.
h) Compassion is the law of the universe of action; action is compassion in expression and manifestation; all action is joy; and our bodies are but one item in this flux.
i) The particular ‘I’ which is personally bothered about these questions is responsible to find the solutions.
j) Such an inquiring person personally taking the line of inquiry into the personal roots of reality of his behaviour might be riled revered for being spiritual; mystic or unrealistic; by collective founded on the delusion of separation from and domination of the world.
k) Disinterested action does not mean indifferent action. Skill in action is Yoga. Said Krishna. He and Buddha and successors lived and spoke of the how of the matter.
Additional note on goal of action with reference to the phrase Nishkama Karma - action with detachment to the result:
We have seen how the evaluation of the goal or result as advantageous is a most important element in the average man’s action and how illusory such evaluation is and damaging the consequences. It is also unrealistic to include a factor, in this case, the result, which is not yet a fact into the process of present action. This corrupts the purity of present action. Much of the world’s misfortunes might be due to the fact that almost everyone seems to act in the interests of long-term goals, high principles and so on, and hereby one who is bothered about the appropriateness or correctness of the immediate action. No wonder people kill one another to preserve peace! More than that, there are thousands who do extremely sloppy work in the name of detachment towards the result.
No wonder Krishna asks Arjuna not to confuse the average man by preaching his Nishkama Karma Sloka!
https://archive.org/details/bhagavadgt00besagoog
c) A body liberated from the prison of narrow personal goal is capable of expressing unconditional joy.
d) Effort is necessary for the seeker of harmony.
e) A systematic and methodical inquiry into the mechanism of one’s own perception of disharmony will enable the person to liberate himself from the bondage of narrow goal-oriented action; liberate him into wider enjoyment of the many possibilities of universal action.
f) The inquiry will lead to the discovery of the basis of compassion with all - the capacity to vibrate with; and such a person is truly a master of himself.
g) Such a person’s perceptions and actions, liberated from the narrow personal goal, acquire and express the increasing power of conscious compassion in mutually sustaining harmony with the world around, all the world, not just another man only.
h) Compassion is the law of the universe of action; action is compassion in expression and manifestation; all action is joy; and our bodies are but one item in this flux.
i) The particular ‘I’ which is personally bothered about these questions is responsible to find the solutions.
j) Such an inquiring person personally taking the line of inquiry into the personal roots of reality of his behaviour might be riled revered for being spiritual; mystic or unrealistic; by collective founded on the delusion of separation from and domination of the world.
k) Disinterested action does not mean indifferent action. Skill in action is Yoga. Said Krishna. He and Buddha and successors lived and spoke of the how of the matter.
Additional note on goal of action with reference to the phrase Nishkama Karma - action with detachment to the result:
We have seen how the evaluation of the goal or result as advantageous is a most important element in the average man’s action and how illusory such evaluation is and damaging the consequences. It is also unrealistic to include a factor, in this case, the result, which is not yet a fact into the process of present action. This corrupts the purity of present action. Much of the world’s misfortunes might be due to the fact that almost everyone seems to act in the interests of long-term goals, high principles and so on, and hereby one who is bothered about the appropriateness or correctness of the immediate action. No wonder people kill one another to preserve peace! More than that, there are thousands who do extremely sloppy work in the name of detachment towards the result.
No wonder Krishna asks Arjuna not to confuse the average man by preaching his Nishkama Karma Sloka!
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