A vision of Vedanta makes our entire life spiritual. However, it cannot be demonstrated in the way a yoga practitioner demonstrates a yoga pose or a singer sings a song. We cannot ask a person to show his honesty, integrity or truthfulness in two minutes. These qualities are values of life. They are not special acts. Anyone who has imbibed these values comes to live these values. An honest person will be honest in his thinking, speaking and all his actions. Honesty will pervade his entire life. This quality is not an activity, but every activity is permeated by this quality. In the same way, spirituality is not just an activity, but an attitude that permeates all activities and every aspect of life.
Is happiness the Result of an Action?
All of us are busy performing various actions. And actions are performed to gain certain results – generally to procure money, position or power, and we expect these in turn to give us happiness. However, if I put my happiness in the result, then I have put happiness in the future! Further, the future is always uncertain. So, my happiness, being in the future, remains uncertain. In any case, one thing is certain – even if I get happiness as the result of an action, it will end soon, because it is the result of a specific action.
We have tremendous attachment to results of action. Wherever there is attachment, there is fear too – fear that I might not get what I want, and fear that I might lose the object of my attachment. If I do not get what I want and someone else gets it, then I become jealous of that person. Thus the vicious chain extends, creating negative feelings.
Such attachment to the results of action is called ‘phalasakti’. This creates lot of stress in our life. Some people may not be attached to the results of action, but they are attached to action itself! They think that no one else can do their work efficiently. They cannot delegate, because they do not trust anyone else, or because they are too attached to their work to give it up.
So, we are either obsessed with a particular result or attached to the action itself. And as long as we are alive, we cannot remain without performing action. How do we handle this problem? Vedanta gives a beautiful solution. There is nothing wrong in wanting something or having a plan of action. It is the insistence on a particular result that creates the problem. Even if you want a particular result, you have to remember that you may have freedom to perform the action, but no choice about the result of the action. The result depends upon many other factors. One man climbed the tenth floor of a building to commit suicide. He had the choice to jump or not to jump. He chose to jump, but then realized his mistake and started praying, “Oh God, please save me and see that I do not fall down.” He heard a voice saying, “Only your body is going down, but you are coming up!”
Remember that the result is not in our hands. We must have the wisdom to accept whatever comes. However, we have the choice to perform the same action aiming at a limited result or for greater ideal. While the action remains the same, the joy that is derived in the latter situation is different and higher. For example, an artist can perform for money or for a higher ideal. When it is performed for a higher ideal, the same action becomes purifying in its effect and does not bind us in any way.
So, dedicate your actions to a higher cause, a noble ideal, or perform them for your own spiritual growth and mental purity. Otherwise, the action becomes a cause for further bondage.
Blog No. 5, from - Vision of Vedanta. One blog from the series will be posted every week. The author is the Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide.
COMMENT