The Philosophy of the Karma Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita - 11 : Swami Krishnananda
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29/12/2019.
(Spoken on July 15, 1979.)
Last Post
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1.
One who is not caught up in the delusion of this so-called irreconcilability of dvanvdas is one who is not stupid, and to be stupid is to believe in the ultimate irreconcilability of yourself and myself.
#Can we be really friends?
##Let us ponder over this matter a little. Can you be a real friend of mine always, till the end of life, under every circumstance, at every place, even at the point of doom?
###It is doubtful if this is a practicable proposition. We are told that a real friend is one who will follow us till the doom. But have we seen such a friend throughout history?
*It is not possible because we have a personality of our own. Because I assert myself in the same way as you assert yourself, we can never be friends. We can never be friends as long as we are individuals, as long as I am what I am and you are what you are.
####But if I can become you and you can become me, there is a chance. Is it possible that you can become me and I become you?
*Maybe. It is a strange proposition indeed.
##How is it possible that I can become you?##
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2.
This is sadhana. It is not merely the rolling of the beads in a physical fashion but the rolling of the bead of the mind, as the saint Kabir used to say, man ka manka. The mind has to perform a sirsasana, which means to say, the top has to become the bottom, and the bottom has to become the top. That is sirsasana. The object has to become the subject; the subject has to become the object. What I see should become myself and I should be there in what I see.
Then the real Bhagavadgita gospel begins to operate like a flood that is rushing over our heads. Then God is at our beck and call. God becomes our servant. He is not merely our master. Wonderful! God becomes our servant as Krishna became a tongawalla – unthinkable! If you read the lives of saints, you will realise how God became even a servant boy in the house of great masters. He will sweep the floor, wash your cloths and purchase vegetables for you from the market.
This is possible only if you are the servant of all, and not the master of anyone. As I mentioned yesterday, if you are the humblest conceivable, you are the master of everything. He who is nothing has control over all things. He who wants nothing will be bestowed with everything, and he who is the last will become the first for God.
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3.
An abolition of individuality, ego-personality and whatnot implies the worship of God in the circumstances of things. As Krishna is present in the whole field of the Mahabharata and Rama was present in the entire Ramayana warfare, God is present in this series of events we call life. The whole of life is a series of processions of events which is the drama played by the central will of God. He is the dramatic personae as well as the audience. He is Himself in this arena of movements, in this stage of life where men come and go and have their entrances and exits. But all these are to be taken in their central perspective and we have to learn the art of seeing things as the Supreme Being Himself sees.
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4.
Truth is, really speaking, what God sees with His eyes, goodness is that which God loves, and righteousness is that which God does. We cannot do what God does, we cannot think what God thinks, and we cannot see things as God sees. It is true, but we can take one step in that direction. Even if we move one inch in the direction of holy Badrinath, we are on the journey towards Badrinath, though it is only one step that we have taken. We have not even reached Lakshmanjhula, but still we say that we are on the journey towards holy Badrinath. Likewise is our journey towards God. It may be millions of miles away or hundreds of births ahead; it does not matter. We have taken a step, and it is a step in the proper direction.
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5.
Thus, one has to be always infinitely patient with the confidence that one has taken the right step, just as a farmer is happy even if he has merely sown the seed in the field and he does not know whether the crop will come up or not. It is beyond him, and he is not worried about it. The kisan, the person who works in the field, is satisfied because he has done his duty. He has done it in the proper manner, and therefore, it brings him satisfaction. What makes us happy is not the expected fruit which is out of our reach and beyond our control, but the consciousness of having done what is proper with the light of the highest understanding available to us.
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6.
#Here is, in a small outline, the whole philosophy of the karma yoga of the Bhagavadgita, which is the prerequisite to the higher contemplations on God with the final aspiration of unity with God.
THE END.
=======================================================================
=======================================================================
=======================================================================
29/12/2019.
(Spoken on July 15, 1979.)
Last Post
======================================================================
1.
One who is not caught up in the delusion of this so-called irreconcilability of dvanvdas is one who is not stupid, and to be stupid is to believe in the ultimate irreconcilability of yourself and myself.
#Can we be really friends?
##Let us ponder over this matter a little. Can you be a real friend of mine always, till the end of life, under every circumstance, at every place, even at the point of doom?
###It is doubtful if this is a practicable proposition. We are told that a real friend is one who will follow us till the doom. But have we seen such a friend throughout history?
*It is not possible because we have a personality of our own. Because I assert myself in the same way as you assert yourself, we can never be friends. We can never be friends as long as we are individuals, as long as I am what I am and you are what you are.
####But if I can become you and you can become me, there is a chance. Is it possible that you can become me and I become you?
*Maybe. It is a strange proposition indeed.
##How is it possible that I can become you?##
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.
This is sadhana. It is not merely the rolling of the beads in a physical fashion but the rolling of the bead of the mind, as the saint Kabir used to say, man ka manka. The mind has to perform a sirsasana, which means to say, the top has to become the bottom, and the bottom has to become the top. That is sirsasana. The object has to become the subject; the subject has to become the object. What I see should become myself and I should be there in what I see.
Then the real Bhagavadgita gospel begins to operate like a flood that is rushing over our heads. Then God is at our beck and call. God becomes our servant. He is not merely our master. Wonderful! God becomes our servant as Krishna became a tongawalla – unthinkable! If you read the lives of saints, you will realise how God became even a servant boy in the house of great masters. He will sweep the floor, wash your cloths and purchase vegetables for you from the market.
This is possible only if you are the servant of all, and not the master of anyone. As I mentioned yesterday, if you are the humblest conceivable, you are the master of everything. He who is nothing has control over all things. He who wants nothing will be bestowed with everything, and he who is the last will become the first for God.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.
An abolition of individuality, ego-personality and whatnot implies the worship of God in the circumstances of things. As Krishna is present in the whole field of the Mahabharata and Rama was present in the entire Ramayana warfare, God is present in this series of events we call life. The whole of life is a series of processions of events which is the drama played by the central will of God. He is the dramatic personae as well as the audience. He is Himself in this arena of movements, in this stage of life where men come and go and have their entrances and exits. But all these are to be taken in their central perspective and we have to learn the art of seeing things as the Supreme Being Himself sees.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.
Truth is, really speaking, what God sees with His eyes, goodness is that which God loves, and righteousness is that which God does. We cannot do what God does, we cannot think what God thinks, and we cannot see things as God sees. It is true, but we can take one step in that direction. Even if we move one inch in the direction of holy Badrinath, we are on the journey towards Badrinath, though it is only one step that we have taken. We have not even reached Lakshmanjhula, but still we say that we are on the journey towards holy Badrinath. Likewise is our journey towards God. It may be millions of miles away or hundreds of births ahead; it does not matter. We have taken a step, and it is a step in the proper direction.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.
Thus, one has to be always infinitely patient with the confidence that one has taken the right step, just as a farmer is happy even if he has merely sown the seed in the field and he does not know whether the crop will come up or not. It is beyond him, and he is not worried about it. The kisan, the person who works in the field, is satisfied because he has done his duty. He has done it in the proper manner, and therefore, it brings him satisfaction. What makes us happy is not the expected fruit which is out of our reach and beyond our control, but the consciousness of having done what is proper with the light of the highest understanding available to us.
========================================================================
6.
#Here is, in a small outline, the whole philosophy of the karma yoga of the Bhagavadgita, which is the prerequisite to the higher contemplations on God with the final aspiration of unity with God.
THE END.
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