Dialog with Loved ones – August 2017
Dialog with Loved Ones….
Dear Loved One,
Divine Blessings,
This is the Shraavan month of Guru Poojan, Sadhana and Shiv Sadhana. This is the month of the divine elixir, the golden nectar. You ought to take new resolutions, and plan for new determinations. I bless you, and I am sure that you will certainly obtain success in all your endeavors.
I wish to focus today on a special topic. I sense a certain kind of gloom and tiredness on your face, when I see your faces during the Sadhana camps, or during our meetings. Your mind lacks enthusiasm. Your face reveals the pain within your mind. Your smile may disguise it, but your inner mind does have a certain degree of pain and suffering.
All of us need to understand the method to live a delightful life full of energy, enthusiasm and zeal. What is the best way to plan our life? What should be our goals? And how to we achieve those goals? I have tried to understand the relationship among the nature, thoughts and emotions of a person. There should be a continuous resonance between his nature, thoughts and feelings. We can live a liberated life if our thoughts and feelings are synchronized with our nature. This can certainly lead to an unprecedented increase in the efficiency of our work.
The three focal areas are – Responsibility, Duty and Right-Ownership
The way in which we tackle any kind of work is very important. We place ourselves under a huge pressure, if we take complete responsibility for our tasks. We start to feel completely responsible for the tasks and its results. This sense of responsibility increases our desire for the results of our actions and it enhances our feeling of ownership. These senses-feelings of – this is mine, I have accomplished this, I have developed this; are various indicators of our ownership.
This feeling of responsibility towards everything is the primary cause of our sorrow. It will be great if we completely turn over this sense of responsibility. This sense of high responsibility almost kills us. You start to feel that – All this is occurring due to myself, this all is my responsibility, this family and society cannot survive without me etc. This is our basic mistake.
We should not escape away from our responsibilities, rather we should consider our responsibilities as our duties. We do not worry about the results when we perform anything with a sense of duty. We do not enslave ourselves to its results. We reduce our burden if we perform all our tasks with dutiful sense. Lord Krishna advises Arjuna in a beautiful Shloka in Geeta –
KaaryanyadoshopahataswabhaavaH Prachchhaami Tvaam DharmasammudhachetaaH |
YachchheyaH Syaachikshintam brahi Tanme ShishyasteSham Shaadhi Maam Tvaam Prapannama ||
Meaning
O Arjun, you should remove your confusion. On one hand, you consider yourself as being responsible for this war while on the other hand you also wish to earn this right to victory through responsibility. You desire to take responsibility for this entire war. This responsibility has instilled a fear of failure or success within you. Will I obtain any joy after killing so many? O Arjun, you are getting afraid of the failure. This responsibility is the sole cause of your confusion.
You should try to comprehend that Lord Krishna did not state – Who is responsible for all this? He also did not state – You are a capable warrior, and you bear the greatest responsibility to win victory for the Pandavas. Lord Krishna explained very clearly that – Remove all your confusions and continue to perform your duties. This confusion causes you to question – Why to perform this duty? Similar confusions also creep into your mind and this is the leading cause of all your sorrows and gloom.
The deeper you feel responsible for your actions, the higher will be your sense of ownership. You should not bear sole responsibility for your tasks. You should perform tasks with a dedicated sense of duty. The duty removes the heavy burden of responsibility. We owe a duty towards our society, our children and our family. We ourselves need to decide about our duties. We will not be able to successfully perform our tasks if we start bearing responsibilities for all our actions.
Focus only on your duties. Think whether prayers, service-to-Guru, Guru-Sewa is your responsibility or your duty? You can joyfully accomplish it if you think of it as your duty. Think thoroughly before making a decision, but do not become astray once you have made a decision. It is your duty to follow this path of your life. The responsibility comes with a very heavy burden. Lead each day of your life with a sense of duty to escape this burden. Keep on performing all your tasks with a dutiful sense. Keep questioning yourself, if you have performed all tasks of today with a dutiful sense. Have you put all your efforts to accomplish these tasks? A person never tires of fulfilling his duties. Unnecessary burden of responsibility and extreme desire to obtain desired results, along with deep ownership can completely tire out anyone.
Perform your daily prayer also with a sense of duty.
You should consider it as your duty to perform the Shakti Sadhana during Navraatri and Lakshmi Sadhana during Deepawali. Anything which your mind considers as a duty, should be completely and successfully performed.
God has a very simple principle. Lord Krishna states that –
Karmanyevaadhikaaraste Maa Faleshu Kadaachana ….
Yogastha Kuru Karmaani Sangan Tyavatvaa Dhanannjaya …
Each step of this life is full of duties. This life is not a burden of responsibilities. Do not consider yourself responsible for each failure. Continue to perform your duties. Guru and God, Shakti and Shiva, Rama and Krishna, your beloved deity, all are with you at all times. They keep encouraging you to perform your duties.
Cordially yours….
Nand Kishore Shrimali