BHAGAVAD GITA 2:50 YOGA: EFFICIENCY IN ACTION [योगः कर्मसु कौशलम् ]

2017 0226 09 Bhagavad Gita 2:50 Yoga: Efficiency in Action [योगः कर्मसु कौशलम् ]

Swami Ranganathananda gives a wonderful commentary for stanza BG2:50  in his book "Universal Message of the Bhagavad Gita" Volume 1 [pp 195-205]:

The whole of Vedanta can be described by one phrase coined by Sir Julian Huxley. He wants modern science to develop into a 'science of human possibilieis' from what it is now.

As a working person, how can I utilize that work situation to expand my mind and heart and to manifest the tremendous possibilities that lie within. That is real education for a human being.

In the verse 2:50 we have the keynote statement of the Gita teaching, given in the briefest possible language. In fact, the whole philosophy of the Gita itself is expressed by the briefest definition of yoga in this verse 2:50 which says:

बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृत दुष्कृते  |

तस्मात् योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्   ||   BG 2:50

"Endued with this evenness of buddhi, one frees oneself in this very life, alike from virtues and vice. Devote yourself, therefore, to this yoga. Yoga is efficiency in action."

All these dualities of good deeds and bad deeds that we do in our lower life are fulll of conflicts. But when you rise to the level of buddhi, you go beyond these conflicting dualities. Therefore, connect youself with this technique of yoga.

Get your whole mind and heart established in yoga. What is yoga? 'Yogah karmasu kausalam'. Yoga is 'efficiency or dexterity in action'.

You are working; that is beautiful. It can become not only a means of your worldly welfare but also a school of your own inner development. That is the unique feature of Gita teaching.

In no other religious literature, do you find this definition of spirituality. Spirituality is defined here as efficiency in work. It is a combination of productive efficiency without and spiritual efficiency within.

Efficiency is a great characteristic of modern western civilization. Sri Krishna also stresses this concept of productive efficiency: with minimum effort producing maximum results. 

Accepting this, the Gita introduces a second and higher dimension of efficiency, which is greatly needed today in our civilization. It refers to what has happened to your mind by that productive efficiency?

Has that work done any good to your mind; has it made you better, purer, broader? Has it made you realize your own true nature? If that is done, efficiency gets a second dimension.

See what has happened to you after years of productive efficiency. Have you grown spiritually? Have you realized something of the divine spark  that is within you?

Have you gone beyond the body-mind complex and its pulls and pressures, and become calm and steady within yourself? What has happened to the human being? 

What about the inner life of the worker? is he rich within, peaceful and fulfilled? In this way, Sri Krishna defines the yoga taught in the Gita as a double efficiency: productive work efficiency, and inward personal or character efficiency.

This second emphasis highly needed today all over the world, because we find man has become smaller and smaller, more subject to tension, sorrow, unfulfilment and suicidal tendencies.  

Man has become a creature of the environment. Because we neglected the second dimension to the concept of efficiency. The Gita gently advises all working people to take care of this also. 

As you work, you bring blessings to society by your honest, efficient, cooperative labour in whatever fields you are working; see also that your inner life becomes qualitatively richer full of joy, peace, love and concern for humanity.

Quantity of material production is necessary only up to a certain degree. More [quantity] is not merely unnecessary but bad. Sri Krishna foresaw this kind of difficulty for humanity.

And so, he developed a philosophy, so many thousands of years ago, where efficiency gets a double dimension, where quantity and quality go together.

Are those who work efficiently peaceful? Can they live at peace with one another? Serve one another? These are all important questions. We shall succeed to abolish war and violence from society by this qualitative enrichment of human life.

YouTube Video: Bhagavad Gita Ch. 2: Karma Yoga: Swami Chinmayananda:[Click Here]

                                 

RITAM SATYAM DHARMAH [ ऋतं सत्यं धर्मः ]

2017 0219 08  Ritam Satyam Dharmah [ ऋतं  सत्यं  धर्मः ]    

In the foreword to Hindu Dharma by the Sage of Kanchi*, judge Mishra writes:

Sri Vidyaranya defines ritam as the mental perception and realization of God. The Taittriya Upanishad also uses it with "satyam" and "dharmah". It exhorts students to speak the truth and practise dharmah (satyam vada; dharmam chara). 

According to Sankara, satyam means speaking the truth and dharmah means translating it (satyam) into action. "Satyamiti yathasastrarthata sa eva anusthiya manah dharmanama bhavati."

In this connection, the explanation given by Sri. K.Balasubramania Aiyar [in his introduction to Yaksha Prasna]**, is relevant:

"An analysis of the significance of these three words (ritam, satyam and dharmah) brings out clearly to us the fundamental basis of dharma as the ideal for an individual. 

While ritam denotes the mental perception and realization of truth and satyam denotes the exact true expression in words of the truth as perceived by the mind, dharma is the observance, in the conduct of life, of truth. 

In fact, dharmah is the way of life which translates into action the truth perceived by the man of insight as expressed by him truly. In short, ritam is truth in thought, satyam is truth in words and dharmah is truth in deed."  [ உண்மை  வாய்மை  மெய்மை ]

 

*Full Text of HINDU DHARMA by the Sage of Kanchi: [Click Here]

This volume Hindu Dharma [The Universal Way of Life] is in the nature of a discovery of Vedic India, Immortal India. This is bound to immensely inspire not only the people and youth of India but also the people and youth of the world over to restore and retain values, purity and sanity in personal and public life. Vedo khilo dharmaulam; Dharmo rakshati rakshitah ---the Vedas are the root of all Dharma; Dharma protected, protects.


**Full Text of YAKSHA PRASNA  by KBalasubramaniaIyer: [Click Here]

We have an excellent exposition of  Ritam, Satyam and Dharmah  in the Introduction to this small volume Yaksha Prasna by KBI.

SANATANA DHARMAH सनातन धर्मः - STEPHEN KNAPP

2017 0212 07  Sanatana Dharmah  सनातन  धर्मः - Stephen Knapp

Stephen Knapp [a] Sri Nandanandana Dasa

Sanatana-Dharmah: Its Real Meaning

By Stephen Knapp

When it comes to understanding the meaning of Sanatana-dharmah, we have to be aware of its Sanskrit definition. The root of the word dharmah धर्मः  is dhri धृ , which means to uphold or sustain. Dharmah is that which upholds. Dharmah is also the force which maintains the universe. Where there is dharma there is harmony and balance individually and socially. 

If we live on the basis of lust and greed, to accumulate possessions, money, and sensual pleasure by the demands of the mind and senses, it will become most difficult to follow the path of dharma. Doing what should not be done is called adharmah. The conclusion is that if we want happiness and peace we must learn how to live according to the path of dharma.

Dharmah also means righteous conduct. This includes following social laws and proper moral activity and behavior. It encourages truthfulness of thought, word and deed. Dharmah also means truth. So we follow the path of dharma to free ourselves from illusion and reach the ultimate Truth, which is the topmost reality, the spiritual strata. 

The more society chooses to follow the path of dharma, the more easily we can attain an existence of cooperation and harmony instead of one of wars, conflict, terror and killing. So whatever we do, even if it is doing business, making money, politics, etc., it should be done on the basis of dharma. Then things will progress in the proper way. 

Following dharma will bring both material well-being as well as final liberation from material existence. Thus, one can attain all that this world can offer through the path of dharma. On a national, ethnic, or racial level, dharma is an instrument of unity, not divisiveness. That which helps unite everyone and develop love and universal brotherhood is dharma. 

So we can see that the path of dharma is more of a way of life. It is a way of life that is lived with every moment and every breath. It is a matter of raising our consciousness to the highest level possible. It is a matter of understanding and living according to the Universal Spiritual principles that apply to everyone. Thus, we reach our fullest potential, which in the end is on the spiritual platform.

Now when we add the word Sanatana to dharma, it expands the meaning and purpose. Sanatana means eternal. So Sanatana-dharma is the eternal path which has been given to humanity and comes from beyond the material dimension. Thus, Sanatana-dharma is the inter-dimensional path of progress for all living beings.

Sanatana-dharma also means the eternal path and our eternal nature. Dharma means the ultimate nature of the living being, the spirit, the soul. And the nature or dharma of the soul is to love and be loved, to serve its most lovable object and to receive love. The dharma of fire is to give light and heat. If it does not do that, then it cannot be fire. 

Sanatana-dharma or eternal nature of the soul is that it is a spiritual being that is naturally connected to God and feels the greatest joy in its constitutional position as a servant of God. The soul needs to love. It cannot do without it. 

Sanatana-dharma means both the ultimate spiritual truth and the means to attain it. Sanatana-dharma is also a matter of understanding. It is an awareness that every particle of this universe is an expansion of God’s energies. Dharma is the path to seeing how God is everywhere. Thus, dharma is not only the path to God but is also in God. 

Sanatana-dharma is the basis of universal truth. It can be applied to anyone at anytime and anywhere in the universe. It does not matter in which religion you may be affiliated, you can still benefit and grow within the fold of Sanatana-dharma to reach a higher awareness and perception of your true potential and genuine spiritual identity. 

For further details: www.stephen-knapp.com : [Click Here]

Stephen Knapp And His Books on Spirituality, Vedic Culture

and Eastern Philosophy

YouTube Video: Stephen Knapp on Vedic Culture: [Click Here]

DR EDWARD BACH: HEALING HERBS FOR USE IN EVERY HOME

2017 0205 06  Dr Edward Bach: Healing Herbs for use in Every Home

Dr Edward Bach [1886-1936]

[Further excerpts from the public lecture given by Dr Edward Bach on "Healing by Herbs for use in Every Home" at the Masonic Hall, Wallingford, England on September 24, 1936, two months before his death.] 

                       

THE REMEDIES OR THE HEALING HERBS

It is not entirely necessary to give an outline of all the 38 remedies, because if you understand the way in which three  or four are used you have the principle which applies to them all. So we will consider the Remedies which are given in case of  FEAR.

It does not matter whether it is an accident, sudden illness, a long illness or even in those who are quite well in themselves. If fear is present, one of the emedies for fear should be given. Of course, other Remedies may be required at the same time, as there may be other conditions present, then they would be given in addition; but that depends on the case.

Fear is very common in some form or other: not only amongst the ill, but amongst ourselves who otherwise may be well. But whatever it may be, the Remedies will help us to be free of that great burden which we call fear. There are five types of fear, and therefore there are five Remedies, one for each type.

Rock Rose

1] The first is when the fear is very great, amounting to terror or panic: either in the patient or because the condition is so serious as to cause intense fear to those around. It may be in case of sudden illness, or accident, but always when there is great emergency or danger, give the Remedy for this: made from a small plant which is called ROCK ROSE. This Remedy has had wonderful results, and many an alarming case has been better within minutes or hours of its being given. The key-notes for this Remedy are Panic, terror, great emergency or danger.

Mimulus

2] The second kind of fear is more common: and is the one which applies to everyday life. The ordinary fears so many of us get. Fear of accidents, fear of illness, fear of a complaint getting worse, fear of the dark, of being alone, of burglars, or fire, of poverty, of animals, of other people and so on. Fears of definite things, whether there be any reason or not. The Remedy for this is a beautiful plant called MIMULUS: rather like Musk. 

Aspen

3] The third kind of fear is of those vague unaccountable things which cannot be explained. As if something dreadful is going to happen, without any idea as to what it may be. All such dreads for which no reason can be given, and yet are very real and disturbing to the individual, require the Remedy of the ASPEN. And the relief which this has brought to many is truly wonderful.

Cherry Plum

4] The fourth kind of fear is that when there is a dread of the mind being over-worked, and the fear that it cannot stand the strain. When impulses come upon us to do things we should not in the ordinary way think about or for one moment consider. The Remedy for this comes from the CHERRY PLUM,  which grows in the hedge-rows around this district. This drives away all the wrong ideas and gives the sufferer mental strength and confidence. 

Red Chestnut

5] Lastly, the fifth kind is the fear for others, especially those dear to us. If they return late, there is the thought that some accident must have happened: if they go for a holiday, the dread that some calamity will befall them. Some illnesses become very serious complaints, and there is great anxiety even for those who are not dangerously  ill. Always fearing the worst and always anticipating misfortune for them. The Remedy made from the RED CHESTNUT BLOSSOM, of the tree so well known to all of us, soon removes such fears and helps us to think more normally.

It is not easy to confuse these five different kinds of fear, as they are quite distinct; and although fear is the commonest mood we have to treat, it requires but one or more of five Remedies to combat it in all its forms. 

For Fear, Uncertainty, Loneliness, and so on

Amongst the other Remedies, you will find those which apply to all the conditions that can be met. 
Such as some for those who suffer from uncertainty, never knowing quite what they wish or what is right for them. Some for loneliness. Others for those who are too sensitive. Others for depression, and so on.

And with very little effort it becomes easy to find the Remedy or Remedies which a patient needs to help them. 

And, once again, the important point is this: that wonderful as it may seem, relieve your patient of the mood or moods such as are given in this system of healing, and your patient is better.

 Collected Writings of Dr Edward Bach: [Click Here]

YouTube Video: How to use Bach Flower Remedies: [Click Here]