Selfless Action

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering selfless action.

Those whose consciousness is unified abandon all attachment to the results of action and attain supreme peace. But those whose desires are fragmented, who are selfishly attached to the results of their work, are bound in everything they do.

 -Bhagavad Gita

It is not so much work that tires us, but ego-driven work. When we are selfishly involved, we cannot help worrying, we cannot help getting overly concerned about our success or failure. The preoccupation with results makes us tense, and our anxiety exhausts us.

The Gita is essentially a call to action. But it is a call to selfless action, that is, action without any selfish attachments to the results. It asks us to do our best, yet never allow ourselves to become involved in whether things work out the way we want.

It takes practice to learn this skill, but once you have it, as Gandhi says, you will never lose your nerve. The sense of inadequacy goes, and the question "Am I equal to this job?" will not arise. It is enough that the job needs to be done and that you are doing your best to get it done.

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to consider that through selfless action we can learn to not become attached to the action or to the fruits of the action. “Action done in selflessness is nourishing. You nourish yourself and you nourish the other person….Whatever you do, do it without self. Do it with selflessness.”¹

¹ Excerpts from Time to be Holy – Swami Sivananda Radha

Blessings,

paul cheek

Rushing Water Yoga

417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607

360.834.5994

www.rushingwateryoga.com

info@rushingwateryoga.com

Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003