the gita
has been read in its entirety. it was a journey unlike any other, for i have learned much not just from the text on the pages, but also from the process of reading and digesting with persistence and in so many sittings. and yet, this is but the beginning of my sadhana. much remains to be understood, absorbed, assimilated and reflected in daily living. i will write more about my lessons from the gita in future, but today i leave you with the words of buddha:
I am of the nature to grow old.
There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill-health.
There is no way to escape having ill-health.
I am of the nature to die.
There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love
are of the nature to change.
There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground on which I stand.
8 comments:
hmm...the last stanza brought to mind a question: you know how the gita says that one should not be attached to the fruit of one's karma. well it's strange, but in defining one's karma itself, one takes into account the fruit of one's actions, no? then isn't it paradoxical to say one should not be attached to the fruit. and indeed in the last stanza of your latest post, the consequences of his action seem very dear to him.
Hmm, so here is my understanding:
Fist, we do control our actions, and whether they lead to good karma or bad karma depends on the desired results with which they are performed. E.g., when we open the door for an elderly person to walk through, do we do it with the desire to be of service for the person, or with the desire to 'look good'?
Second, we do not control the consequences of our actions, and so it is pointless to think or worry about these consequences. It is best to be detached from them completely.
The point however is that we do suffer the consequences of our actions. It does not mean we attach ourselves to these consequences, but it is valuable to realize that our karma will catch up with us.
Does this make better sense?
hmmm (again).
this sounds like your duties/goals have to be prescribed to you by an external body. e.g. it is one's duty to look after one's guru's needs.
and thereafter you have to formulate an algorithm that given your goals, prescribes a set of actions, which you then perform in a detached way. e.g. press guru's legs at the end of the day.
it seems that it can't be that your goals/duties stem from an inherent desire within you, because the minute there is desire on your part, e.g., desire to see your guru happy, there is attachment to the fruit of your action.
no?
confused. maybe i'm being too literal...
in other words, is there space for "desired results"?
Indeed, there is room for desired results, but one must not be attached to those results. What I mean is - it makes sense to desire the well-being of a guru, it is what gives one direction wrt what one should do to fulfill one's duty to their guru.
E.g. there is room for the sadhak to desire to attain moksha, yeah? That is his dharma, and it gives him direction and purpose. But he should not attach himself to that desired result, because then he will be disappointed everyday.
hmm...then desire and attachment need to be defined :) shyaaa!
i feel it's not possible to desire *something* without attachment, the same way it's not possible to be happy about *something* without being attached to it. The words 'desire' and 'happy' in the context of 'things' lose meaning if the absence of those 'things' cause no qualitative change to your state of being.
also with regards to your comment that inherent desire gives direction to your actions...this is not necessarily true. spiritual texts could just lay down a set of duties (take care of guru) and then you could come up with an algorithm to determine what actions would result in the fulfilment of those duties (press guru's legs), with no actual inherent desire.
or perhaps it is that the gita advocates a two-stage approach. in the first stage, desire and attachment is okay, and during this stage you can chalk out a set of desired results and course of action. then in the second stage, you set aside all desire and attachment and start doing the actions.
you are right, i still need to learn the right words and not abuse words so heavy with meaning.
by desire, i do not mean "want", i mean duty really.
by attachment, i refer to an implicit bond between cause and effect.
and happiness - i do not yet know what that means... i have been working on this definition for weeks now, but am not there yet.
i do not believe there is a 2-stage process that the gita advocates. i don't even think the gita advocates a process, we have to carve out our own.
thanks for posting your questions though, i have more to think about and learn to express.
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