These days I have been studying the Bhagavad Ghita and the following thoughts really captured my attention:
BG 2.47: You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
BG 2.48: Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.
Or in another translation the BG 2.48 says: Abiding in Yoga, do your work, renouncing attachment. Maintaining balance in succes and failure, Yoga is known as the state of balance.
Well, in other words, you only have the right to do the job, your duty is to do it without any expectations or attachments as regards to the result. Very interesting thought. So, only the job, the task, the actually performed activity shall be important, not the outcome. One commentator notes that when you only focus on the job itself, then you will give a much better performance. On the other hand, if you like what you do, and you dedicate your full attention to it, irrespective of any outcomes, then this work will be naturally well done and successful. Yoga is skill in action (BG. 2.50) and such an activity is the result of a balanced mind and conciousness, not just a talent to do something, but a broad possibility to take the right action (David Frawley).
This thought became very meaningful in my life lately and it has been a source of encouragement. Yes, exactly, that is why I gave up my legal profession and decided to teach yoga. Because I like to do this and this section of the Bhagavad Gita reinforces my idea, that I can maintain hamony and bliss only if I continue walking on this path. In my Saturday class, a nice girl, a fellow lawyer walked up to me for she saw the blog and was very surprised, ’You really gave up Law’? Oh, yes, indeed.
And now I have the right to do the task and I carry on with a brave heart. During my next yoga class, I shared these thoughts with my students, to receive more encouragement from one of them in the form of a quote from Pearl Sydenstricker Buck: „The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.”
Work, work and work. This is not even the right word. I still remember, if someone inquired a couple years ago what I wanted most from an omnipotent fairy, I would have asked for Passion. It was always my idea, that only those that had a passion for what they did created great things. My favorite is Gaudi who in his late years even lived in the Sagrada Familia and continued his enormous work from there. What a beautiful image. Truly, if someone has such a job, than he needs not to fear from old age or boring retirement. This person will always feel useful and at least active, boredom will not bother him and his life will get a meaning. Thanks for God, I got this passion finally, the fire that keeps me warm and pushes me forward, for me this is Yoga and especially teaching Yoga.
In the meantime, I am watching Natalie Portman receiving the Oscar. Struggling with her tears, the first phrase that comes out of her mouth is: “I’m so grateful to get to do the job that I do. I love it so much.”
Voila, here you have this wonderful actress, who represents a real story of succes in many departments of her life right now. She could play the ballerina in the Black Swan, her childhood dream, she found her great love and now she is expecting her first child, and on top of all that comes the Oscar. Natalie Portman is glowing. Not because she is looking beautiful in her dress and make-up. She is radiating a light from within. She is happy and at her place. As a human being, she is blossoming in her full glory.
The great news is that to realize our full potential is the birthright and possibility of us all. We may all become the star of our own life. Everyone has a role in this existence. Find the activity that makes you feel truly happy, that you enjoy most, and do it without thinking about the results that it might bring. Do it with a calm mind, focusing on nothing else but the task, and perform it in perfect harmony. This is the key to fulfilment.
Nincsenek megjegyzések:
Megjegyzés küldése