Krishna & Karma Yoga

OM

Title : Krishna & Karma Yoga

Theme : Positive Transformation through Spirituality

Life is a journey & to make our journey fruitful & ever pleasing we need to understand Life, who we are & who is Lord. Let’s discuss some of the important aspects from our scriptures & see how we can transform & transcend our life in a very practical & optimistic way.

In Bhagavat Gita(Chapter 2-47,48) Lord Krishna has given ultimate definition on Karma Yoga – Achieving Perfection while performing Duty.

karmaṇy evādhikāras te

mā phaleṣu kadācana

mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr

mā te sańgo 'stv akarmaṇi. (BG.-2.47)

The common misconception that many of us have is, Here God is saying “Do your Karma & never expect the result”. It’s not true & not practical too.

The actual message by Krishna here is, “You have the right to do the action, but never be attached to the result, as it is the part of the Almighty to decide & that is exactly based on your perfection while performing the prescribed duties. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.”

If you are attached to the fruit of action, then incase you wont achieve, as per your preconceived notion, you might loose interest in performing your prescribed duties, which is self destructing. On the contrary if you can have firm faith on Lord’s decision, without any deviation while performing your tasks, then in near future you will get to know that the decision which seemed bitter to you is a boon in disguise.

Just to recollect the story of the “King & doctor”, When the king is in trouble, the doctor cut his toe, but in turn thrown in to jail. The next day unfortunately in a jungle king lost his path & caught by a tribal gang who took him to Goddess Kali for Sacrifices. Later when they discovered King without toe, they had to free him, as he was an imperfect sacrifices. Now the king had to realize that the decision to cut his toe has saved his neck!!! When he came back & felt sorry to Doctor, he said, even the jail was for his own goodness. If he was not in jail, mostly he would be with the king & became the perfect sacrifices.

This is just a story, but when we reflect on our past life & analyze deeply, we can also feel the similar bitter events of the past, transformed into a better future prospect. Sometimes it takes a shorter span, or else a prolonged period, all based on our purity in actions.

In the next verse Krishna again emphasizes on it by saying “samatvaḿ yoga ucyate” – Sameness in attitude while performing your duty is called perfect Yoga. You should not bewildered by the success or failure in the life, As success might invoke the ego & failure might eat your energy & enthusiasm. Thus it is advised to have “Arpana Vriti” while performing the action & “Prasada Vriti” while accepting the result. When we offer Lord, we give our best of love & effort in preparing the prasada; same should we follow while offering our work. But while accepting prasada, we don’t discriminate about the quality or quantity of it. Same should be followed while we are getting the fruit of our action. This is the real essence of “KARMA YOGA”.

Many of us heard of the word “TatwamAssi” (Tetraya Upanisad, Book 2, Stanza 1).

Tat is Lord, Twam means Jiva(Living Entity), & Asi means Equation or Equals. That means we all are God. That’s why we have no problem in giving respect to any one, be from any religion or society. When we understand that, we should also treat everyone with the same love & respect as we are expecting from others. This is a life changing attitude one can posses & see things changing from worst to best.

We can get knowledge from books, but Wisdom comes from God.

Hare Krishna.

Why do we shout in anger?

A saint asked his disciples, 'Why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?'
Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout for that.'
'But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you?' asked the saint. 'Isn't it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when you're angry?'
Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint.
Finally he explained, 'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great distance.'
Then the saint asked, 'What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small...'
The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

MORAL: When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not get distance each other more.

Meaning of a True "Self Appraisal"

A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to punch in seven digits (phone numbers).
The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation:
Boy: "Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?

Woman: (at the other end of the phone line): "I already have someone to cut my lawn."

Boy: "Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now."
Woman: I'm very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting my lawn.

Boy: (with more perseverance) : "Lady, I'll even sweep
your curb and your sidewalk, so on Sunday you will
have the prettiest lawn in all of Palm beach , Florida."
Woman: No, thank you.

With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The store-owner, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy.
Store Owner: "Son... I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job."
Boy: "No thanks,


Store Owner: But you were really pleading for one.
Boy: No Sir, I was just checking my performance at the
job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady I was talking to!"

This is what we call "Self Appraisal".

Dont Wait For The Brick

Wait For The Brick

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and drove the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money.

Why did you do it?" The young boy was apologetic. "Please mister ...
please, I'm sorry...

I didn't know what else to do," he pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop..." With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. "It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out his fancy handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.

"Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the little boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message:

Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!

10 Tips from Robin Sharma's "Pillar of Mastery"

Robin Sharma - Author 'The Monk who sold his Ferrari'

1. Sleep less. This is one of the best investments you can make to make your life more productive and rewarding. Try getting up one hour earlier or sleeping an hour later, for 21 days and it will develop into a powerful habit. Just imagine having an extra 30 hours a month to spend on the things that are important to you.

2. Start your day well – it's a powerful strategy for self-renewal and personal effectiveness. Set aside one hour every morning for personal development matters. Meditate, visualize your day, read inspirational texts to set the tone of your day, listen to motivational tapes or read great literature. Take this quiet period to vitalize and energize your spirit for the productive day ahead.

3. Manage Time- Do not allow those things that matter the most in your life be at the mercy of activities that matter the least. Every day, take the time to ask yourself the question "is this the best use of my time and energy?" Time management is life management so guard your time with care.

4. Jot down Ideas -Throughout the day we all get inspiration and excellent ideas. Keep a set of cards (the size of business cards; available at most stationary stores) in your wallet along with a pencil to jot down these insights. When you get home, put the ideas in a central place such as a coil notepad and review them from time to time. As noted by Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."

5. Always remember the key principle that the quality of your life is the quality of your communication. This means the way you communicate with others and, more importantly, the way you communicate with yourself. What you focus on is what you get. If you look for the positive this is what you get. This is a fundamental law of Nature.

6. Stay on purpose, not on outcome. In other words, do the task because it is what you love to do or because it will help someone or is a valuable exercise. Don't do it for the money or the recognition. Those will come naturally. This is the way of the world.

7. Enhance your will-power; it is likely one of the best training programs you can invest in. Here are some ideas to strengthen your will and become a stronger person: Do not let your mind float like a piece of paper in the wind. Focus. When doing a task, think of nothing else. When walking to work, count the steps that it takes to get all the way to the office. This is not easy but your mind will soon understand that you hold its reins and not vice versa. Your mind must eventually become as still as a candle flame in a corner where there is no draft.

8. Associate only with positive, focused people who you can learn from and who will not drain your valuable energy with complaining and uninspiring attitudes. By developing relationships with those committed to constant improvement and the pursuit of the best that life has to offer, you will have plenty of company on your path to the top of whatever mountain you seek to climb.

9. You must have a mission statement in life. This is simply a set of guiding principles which clearly state where you are going and where you want to be at the end of your life. A mission statement embodies your values. It is your personal lighthouse keeping you steadily on the course of your dreams. Over a period of one month, set a few hours aside to write down five or ten principles which will govern your life and which will keep you focused at all times. Examples might be to consistently serve others, to be a considerate citizen, to become highly wealthy or to serve as a powerful leader. Whatever the mission statement of your life, refine it and review it regularly. Then when something adverse happens or someone tries to pull you off course, you quickly and precisely return to your chosen path with the full knowledge that you are moving in the direction that you have selected.

10. No one can insult or hurt you without your permission. One of the golden keys to happiness and great success is the way you interpret events which unfold before you. Highly successful people are master interpreters. People who have attained greatness have an ability which they have developed to interpret negative or disempowering events as positive challenges which will assist them in growing and moving even farther up the ladder of success. There are no negative experiences only experiences which aid in your development and toughen your character so that you may soar to new heights. There are no failures, only lessons.

And a disclaimer from Sharma

"Do not take personal development books as gospel. Read them and take whatever useful ideas you need. Some people feel they must do everything suggested and take the techniques to extremes. Every book has at least one tool or strategy of benefit. Take what you need and what works for you and discard what doesn't suit you."