Practical Instructions
Here are some instructions to a karma yogi. Do not make any difference between menial and respectable work. Fix the mind on the Lord and give the hands to work. Sing God's Name while serving others.
Feed the Poor. Clothe the naked; comfort the distressed. Do actions as your duty. Do not expect any thanks or appreciation, applause, salute, for your work. Spend one tenth of your income on charity. Share what you have with others. Always scrutinise your inner motives. Annihilate all selfish motives.
Give up abhimana (identification, pride) of all sorts. Never feel, "I have helped that man".
Always think, "The Lord has given me an opportunity to serve him". Always be on the lookout for ways to serve and never miss one single opportunity.
Do not be attached to the work - you must be able to give it up at any moment. Discipline the body and the mind again and again for fiery service. Non-attachment to work does not mean indifference.
Develop a passion for Self-realisation, for freedom from birth and death, for liberation from bondage. One strong holy desire annihilates all worldly desires. This will help your progress towards freedom. Understand the theory of karma and cut the three knots - ignorance, desire and selfish action. Then you are beyond the law of karma. Then you are a liberated sage. This is your foremost duty. All other duties are self-imposed through attachment, ignorance and delusion.
Be equanimous in all conditions, knowing that they are nothing but the fruits of your own past actions; be indifferent to the pairs of opposites. Always be rooted, inwardly, in the self. Always be blissful. Radiate bliss and joy. Now none is foe, none is stranger. Feel and see the Self in all beings. Be devoted to the well-being of all humanity. Love for love's sake. Work for work's sake.
Feed the Poor. Clothe the naked; comfort the distressed. Do actions as your duty. Do not expect any thanks or appreciation, applause, salute, for your work. Spend one tenth of your income on charity. Share what you have with others. Always scrutinise your inner motives. Annihilate all selfish motives.
Give up abhimana (identification, pride) of all sorts. Never feel, "I have helped that man".
Always think, "The Lord has given me an opportunity to serve him". Always be on the lookout for ways to serve and never miss one single opportunity.
Do not be attached to the work - you must be able to give it up at any moment. Discipline the body and the mind again and again for fiery service. Non-attachment to work does not mean indifference.
Develop a passion for Self-realisation, for freedom from birth and death, for liberation from bondage. One strong holy desire annihilates all worldly desires. This will help your progress towards freedom. Understand the theory of karma and cut the three knots - ignorance, desire and selfish action. Then you are beyond the law of karma. Then you are a liberated sage. This is your foremost duty. All other duties are self-imposed through attachment, ignorance and delusion.
Be equanimous in all conditions, knowing that they are nothing but the fruits of your own past actions; be indifferent to the pairs of opposites. Always be rooted, inwardly, in the self. Always be blissful. Radiate bliss and joy. Now none is foe, none is stranger. Feel and see the Self in all beings. Be devoted to the well-being of all humanity. Love for love's sake. Work for work's sake.
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