I have been listening to the Bhagvad Geeta for one week,each month.
Last week it came to an end, the 18 chapter was done, a lifetime ambition of mine was fullfilled , to hear the whole Geeta at least once in my life.
In it there was a verse on bondage and liberation, which made me think.
The two are so paradoxical , yet one cannot exist without the other..
To start at the very basic level, 'I sometimes say that I feel liberated, I dont do any housework, the servants manage everthing..ok great feeling, but then, what happens when the food served is not good, and the family complains.. don't we feel bad?
Bondage to the ego?
If instead, one did their housework, for the short time it takes to do it, and yes it may have felt like a bondage at that time, are we not then liberated forthe whole day, and we don't have to hear criticism for work /food not properly done.
Simple logic..
This is at the level of a householder.
At the next level, of relationships...
Sometimes we feel trapped in certain relationships, be it on the personal level, or at work, like with a boss.
If we were to shift the focus from saying that I am trapped, and am here for financial reasons, or because it is my duty, etc, the hundred reasons we give ourselves to feel the victim..and thereby feel "bonded"
and
Were to shift the focus to what that situation offers me in return, e.g in a job, the freedom to not have to worry about my finances, once I get home, and enjoy the rest of my time,
or
In relationships ,to view the overall situation from the angle of the freedoms that I get/enjoy as a result of that relationship..,
whereas we tend to view the small parts where we feel that we are the victims, instead of the larger whole picture...and the benefits we get..
And
In the ultimate analysis,
What are we actually bonded to..?
OUR MIND..
OUR IDEAS ..
OUR SENSE OF WHAT I THINK , IS THE ONLY WAY, AND THE RIGHT WAY...
So actually we have created our own sense of bondage...
and we are the only ones who can liberate ourselves
by..
Understanding that people are a product of their own karmas, vasanas(desires), and are here to fullfill their own life pupose.
That all of us are goverened by our karmas, and that our nature, be it Satwick( pure, thinking type) ,
Rajsic(action oriented)
or Tamasic ( dull witted, indolent, lazy)
is also the result of past karmas,
and that we act under the force of our nature, that it propels us forward,
like water gushing downstream...
(As lord Krishna tells arjun, you are a Kshatriya (warrior), and it is your nature to be rajsic, and therefore even if you dont want to fight, your nature will propel you to fight, if not here, then elsewhere, so pick up your weapons and fight..)
So once we can ...
understand and accept people for what they are,
understand that people cannot but help act the way that they do ,
that our ideas belong to our own mind and ego,
and that it is best not to get to attached to them, and be "bonded "to them, but to let go and be "liberated"
For each one comes with their own karmas which create their destiny.
Therefore why should I dissipate so much of my energy in trying to impose my ideas/thoughts on them..
When I view life with this attitude..
I will then become FREE, LIBERATED,
and
enjoy the peacefullness and quietetude of my own mind.
That I will be free of anxiety and distractions..in the knowing that nothing is in my hands,
and
that my only duty (purushart) is in keeping my mind free from my ego, my anxieties..and all the negative tendancies that arise in one's mind..
To to do this..
All I need to do is SURRNDER to the lord,
knowing that he is doing the best for everone according to their needs..their karmas, their vasanas..
For then I become truly LIBERATED..freed from the BONDS of ego, attacments, desires, anxieties..etc.
And reach that wonderful stae of BLISS as extolled in the scriptures.
OM TAT SAT
we are liberated
Last week it came to an end, the 18 chapter was done, a lifetime ambition of mine was fullfilled , to hear the whole Geeta at least once in my life.
In it there was a verse on bondage and liberation, which made me think.
The two are so paradoxical , yet one cannot exist without the other..
To start at the very basic level, 'I sometimes say that I feel liberated, I dont do any housework, the servants manage everthing..ok great feeling, but then, what happens when the food served is not good, and the family complains.. don't we feel bad?
Bondage to the ego?
If instead, one did their housework, for the short time it takes to do it, and yes it may have felt like a bondage at that time, are we not then liberated forthe whole day, and we don't have to hear criticism for work /food not properly done.
Simple logic..
This is at the level of a householder.
At the next level, of relationships...
Sometimes we feel trapped in certain relationships, be it on the personal level, or at work, like with a boss.
If we were to shift the focus from saying that I am trapped, and am here for financial reasons, or because it is my duty, etc, the hundred reasons we give ourselves to feel the victim..and thereby feel "bonded"
and
Were to shift the focus to what that situation offers me in return, e.g in a job, the freedom to not have to worry about my finances, once I get home, and enjoy the rest of my time,
or
In relationships ,to view the overall situation from the angle of the freedoms that I get/enjoy as a result of that relationship..,
whereas we tend to view the small parts where we feel that we are the victims, instead of the larger whole picture...and the benefits we get..
And
In the ultimate analysis,
What are we actually bonded to..?
OUR MIND..
OUR IDEAS ..
OUR SENSE OF WHAT I THINK , IS THE ONLY WAY, AND THE RIGHT WAY...
So actually we have created our own sense of bondage...
and we are the only ones who can liberate ourselves
by..
Understanding that people are a product of their own karmas, vasanas(desires), and are here to fullfill their own life pupose.
That all of us are goverened by our karmas, and that our nature, be it Satwick( pure, thinking type) ,
Rajsic(action oriented)
or Tamasic ( dull witted, indolent, lazy)
is also the result of past karmas,
and that we act under the force of our nature, that it propels us forward,
like water gushing downstream...
(As lord Krishna tells arjun, you are a Kshatriya (warrior), and it is your nature to be rajsic, and therefore even if you dont want to fight, your nature will propel you to fight, if not here, then elsewhere, so pick up your weapons and fight..)
So once we can ...
understand and accept people for what they are,
understand that people cannot but help act the way that they do ,
that our ideas belong to our own mind and ego,
and that it is best not to get to attached to them, and be "bonded "to them, but to let go and be "liberated"
For each one comes with their own karmas which create their destiny.
Therefore why should I dissipate so much of my energy in trying to impose my ideas/thoughts on them..
When I view life with this attitude..
I will then become FREE, LIBERATED,
and
enjoy the peacefullness and quietetude of my own mind.
That I will be free of anxiety and distractions..in the knowing that nothing is in my hands,
and
that my only duty (purushart) is in keeping my mind free from my ego, my anxieties..and all the negative tendancies that arise in one's mind..
To to do this..
All I need to do is SURRNDER to the lord,
knowing that he is doing the best for everone according to their needs..their karmas, their vasanas..
For then I become truly LIBERATED..freed from the BONDS of ego, attacments, desires, anxieties..etc.
And reach that wonderful stae of BLISS as extolled in the scriptures.
OM TAT SAT
we are liberated
