Spiritual Message for the Day – Living The Gita Vision by Sri Swami Chidananda
Baba Times Digest© | 15 May 2015 17.55 EST | New York Edition
Living The Gita Vision
Divine Life Society Publication: The Gita Vision by Sri Swami Chidananda
The Central Declaration Of Vedanta
The central declaration, the central experience of Vedanta is the immortality of the Self in the individual. It is the divinity of the innermost Spirit indwelling the material body, the physical body-ajo nityah sasvato'yam purano na hanyate hanyamane sarire (Unborn, eternal, changeless and ancient, the Self is not killed when the body is killed). This is the culminating declaration about the immortal, imperishable nature of the Spirit within, the third dimension of man, the other two being the physical and the psychological. The spiritual dimension, the real dimension, is something that is immortal, imperishable, eternal and divine. To be established in this truth of our real nature is to grow in strength day after day, is to grow in fearlessness day after day, is to grow in a state of unperturbable stability day after day.
And it is only when you are established in this interior state of stability that you can truly act in an effective manner in this outer world. In all changing circumstances, trying to act in a way that the situation requires at that particular point in time, be daksha (proficient, apt). Always be in a state of full knowledge, full awareness, that there is something else that is acting, a mechanism is acting. Be established in the knowledge: "The forces that operate the mechanism are the three-fold gunas, which are a part of prakriti to which this mechanism belongs; whereas, within that I am the unaffected witnessing consciousness. I am the witness. I apparently do, but in the midst of my apparent doing, I am really the actionless witness beyond time and space. Indriyas act amidst their objects. The three gunas are doing many things. But seated in their midst, I am the silent, unaffected, detached witnessing consciousness." This is the secret of true karma yoga. It is the secret of apparently being active as the situation demands and yet at the same time being fully aware of what you are, never losing the awareness of your true transcendental nature, which is beyond the body, senses, prana, mind and intellect.
This is the call of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita to every sadhaka as he is moving towards his goal of God-realisation. Unless we learn the manner of living in this world upon the Gita-spirit, Gita-ideal, we will lose our way. We will get caught and entangled. Always assert: "Nothing can entangle me. Never can I become entangled in anything, because I am the immortal, ever-free Soul, always one, secondless." It is this interior awareness that makes one go through life amidst the many and yet rooted in the One.
This Gita-awareness within and the Gita-vision of this changing world, the need to be in the midst of the field of action but yet maintain and retain one's awareness of being a serene witness, is absolutely essential to all sadhakas who, being in the world and of the world, have to move towards the great Goal. It is all the more essential in these changing times when human society has changed so vastly. Conditions are not always conducive, helpful and favourable to this interior journey of the soul towards its eternal Source. There is a lot of distraction and a lot of disturbance. In the midst of all that, serenity is to be maintained.
It is only the vision and the spirit of the Gita upadesa of the second and third chapters that will enable us to be in the midst of activity and yet be serenely poised in the Self that is actionless and changeless. That alone abides; all else passes on.
"I shall be rooted in the Eternal and function in the non-eternal. I shall abide in the Divine-God in me and I in God." Thus may you reflect and contemplate upon the Gita ideal of life in this world and the Gita ideal of action in the midst of this ever-changing phenomenal situation. May you reflect deeply upon this and create an awakened interior within, so that the world is not able to affect your sadhana, so that your sadhana goes on unhampered in spite of the distractions outside, because you ever abide in the Self.
May the Lord, Jagad-Guru, Gita-Acharya, Bhagavan Lord Krishna, the World Teacher, shower His divine grace upon you and may His grace manifest within you as this awakened spiritual awareness and as the ability to act with expertise, so that in the midst of action you still maintain an abidance in the ever-actionless Reality within, so that you are able to be actionless in the midst of action.
May God's grace manifest within you as the heightened awareness and elevated, uplifted consciousness of the Reality. May you abide in that, and may you move through this journey of life as an anasakta karmi, a detached actor. Always think: "Action is going on. I am not attached to it. I am aware that I am not the actor." May His grace manifest within you as this inner perception and the inner awareness, the inner consciousness, which is the key to successful karma yoga together with your bhakti, jnana and dhyana.
Excerpts from: Living The Gita Vision - The Gita Vision by Sri Swami Chidananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE >>> Email to BT Digest Editor ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)