We believe everything happens according to our desires and expectations. We are like that crazy old man of a fable I heard from a great master. This crazy old man lived her whole life in a village. But one fine morning he left the village in anger, cursing the villagers for lack of recognition for him and he promised to teach a lesson. He said, “I am taking with me the cock at whose crowing the sun rose here every morning. Now the sun will rise in another village where I am going.” And the story says when the old man reached another village and his cock crowed and the sun rose, he said to himself, “The idiots of that village must be weeping bitter tears, because the sun is now rising in this village and they are in dark forever.” The old man’s logic is flawless. There was no doubt left in his mind that sunrise depended on his cock’s crow. But no cocks become victim of such illusions, only their masters. This fable reflects human mind.
The future comes on its own. We cannot prevent tomorrow from becoming today. Let us do our work and do it completely. That itself is enough. The act must be total and this is the whole of Krishna’s teaching. By total action he means, once we have done our thing we are finished with it. There is nothing more to be done about it. And if something remains to be done, even if we have to wait in expectancy of its result, then the act is not total. Our act is complete in itself when we don’t look forward to some reward, some recognition or even appreciation. For this reason Krishna says, “Leave the fruit of labour to God.” By God he does not even mean there is some accountant-cum- controller general sitting somewhere in the heavens who will take care of it on our behalf. Leaving it to God means: please do your work and leave it at that, leave it to existence.
Existence is like a mountain which echo’s every sound uttered around it. We don’t have to wait prayerfully for the echo, after making the sound, it will happen on its own. To produce an echo, a proper sound of some volume is needed. This is how the desire for result, the tension caused by desire and expectation does not allow us to do our work rightly. People among us who are anxious for results often miss the moment of action itself. Because the moment of action is now and here, while the results lies in some future. So those of us whose eyes are set on the future are bound to miss the present. Then we don’t love our work, we love only the result. Then we don’t give our whole heart and mind to action- we do it reluctantly and haphazardly. If our attention is focused on future- and we are where our attention is- then we cannot be totally in the present. And that which is done inattentively cannot be deep and total. So it cannot be blissful.
Let us introspect this and more elaborate answers to come in weeks that follow!
Wishing you good health & happiness,
Dr. Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran foundation- the stress management people
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