168. Shedding Sense of Entitlements.



Arjuna says, “Out of compassion (anugraha), you have revealed to me the secret wisdom (adhyatma) and my delusion is dispelled (11.1). You have explained to me in detail about the origin and the dissolution of beings, as well as about your imperishable greatness (11.2). You have told me about your supreme glory, and I wish to see your supreme form (11.3). If you think that I am capable of seeing your supreme form, then kindly show me” (11.4).

The general belief is that His blessings are a must to overcome delusions and attain adhyatma. This is an excuse used to avoid the difficult task of internal transformation. If one is told to perform karma (action) without expecting karma-phal (fruits of action) one argues that it is not possible without His blessings. Similar argument is put forward when one is told to transcend polarities; transcend gunas; drop the differences or labelling to see Him around us in every living and non-living entity.

On the other hand, whoever attained adhyatma said that it happened because of His anugraha as what they got was beyond their imagination. This looks paradoxical. While His blessings are available to everyone, like rain, we cannot escape the effort of keeping the bowl upright to collect them.

Krishna says, “I am equally disposed to all living beings. To Me none is dweshya (hateful), none is priya (dear). But those who worship me with devotion are in Me and I am also in them” (9.29).

The difference is the devotion which is like keeping our bowl upright. In the contemporary context, ahankaar is also referred to as entitlement. Devotion is nothing but shedding entitlements by realising that it’s all His grace and at the same time performing karmas assigned to us in the present moment by this mighty existence without attachment or detachment.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

261. Shed the Ahankaar

Image
  K rishna says, “Abandon all dharmas and take refuge in Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, grieve not” (18.66). While verse 2.14 can be taken as the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna advises us to ignore the transient pleasure-pain polarities which are caused when senses meet sense-objects, the verse 18.66 can be considered as the end of the Gita. Krishna uses the word ‘ dharma’ , and he is certainly not referring to religion, faith, or righteousness, as each of these carries different meanings for different people. Bhagavad Gita is not a book of religion but of natural principles that govern our lives. On the other hand, a lot of clarity comes if we take the paradigm or subjective reality as the meaning of dharma . Paradigm is the combination of our opinions, imaginations and understandings about the things around us or the way things are from our point of view. It is like the partial understanding formed about an elephant by a blind person by touching only ...
Read more

258. Sins and Suffering

Image
  O ne of the common fears of humanity is about committing sins ( paap ). Every culture has evolved around the concept of sin, and the common belief is that all our suffering is due to sins committed in this life or previous ones. Religions thrive on our guilt of committing sins. Even Arjuna’s despondency is because of his belief that he will incur sin by slaying his elders, teachers and relatives. That’s why Krishna elaborates on this issue on various occasions in the Bhagavad Gita. Firstly, Paramatma takes no account of anyone’s virtue or sin. It is the problem of human beings who are deluded as their knowledge is covered by moha (delusion or ignorance) (5.15). Secondly, one hoping for nothing, with a controlled mind and body, doing mere bodily actions, incurs no sin (4.21). Even if we are the most sinful of sinners, we shall safely cross the sea of sin by the raft of wisdom (4.36). The wisdom is realising ‘That’ by which we will see all beings in the self (4.35). Thirdly, for ...
Read more

259. Tapasya with Devotion

Image
  K rishna says, “This (the Gita) is never to be spoken by you to those who are not austere ( a-tapaskaya ) or to those who are not devoted ( a-bhaktaya ). It should also not be spoken to those who are averse to listening and especially not to those who cavil at Me” (18.67). The spiritual journey toward unconditional love and eternal joy is both adventurous and, at times, lonely. In this path we are expected to shed all the beliefs we gathered in our lives. We are also expected to shed the sense of attachment to our physical possessions, feelings and relationships. That’s why very few reach the destination (7.3). Hence, one should pursue it like tapasya with devotion. On the contrary, when it is pursued out of curiosity, it leads to the illusion of knowledge which increases ahankaar . Coming as ‘the existence’, Krishna mentioned about not caviling at Him. It is the path of accepting and embracing all the diverse and seemingly contradictory aspects of existence without any cavil, w...
Read more