Do Your Work and Let Go

For the last week or so, I have been reflecting on a teaching from the Bhagavad Gita, which instructs that we should do our work - and then let it go...

More specifically, the teaching is really about how we are never entitled to the fruits of our actions. It is certainly our choice whether to act or not in a situation. We are in "control" of that, so to speak, but we are never in control of the outcome of our actions. It does not belong to us. It belongs to God. So teaches this text, beloved to so many...

And by the way, even our choice not to act - it is in itself an action. So, we are never truly free from choice...

In some ways, this is very freeing - if we truly understand the teaching and internalize it. And if we do, it means we must let go of  all expectations - and if we truly do that - then we cannot really feel hurt by what others do - or do not do, in our lives...

In fact, we wouldn't even be concerned with what others do or do not. (Am I sounding like Yoda here?) Instead, we would recognize that the actions of others are merely a reflection of where they are on their life journey!

Phew!

I have been thinking a lot of the web and tangles all this can create in our lives. For example, we do what we consider to be a good deed. We have an expectation of how it will be received. But guess what? More often than not it is not received in the way we imagined - if at all. Most of the times, that action or deed is not even acknowledged. And when it is not, we fret, we imagine a scenario that reflects our reality - but has nothing to do with the other person that is involved. And the outcome of all of this is that it simply leads to needless suffering...

I have been hard at work creating 90 second meditations for a new YouTube channel, and Facebook and Google+ pages, all titled Meditation Pure and Simple. As a result of doing these meditations, very short clips of what I have been working on in my life - or really need to hear myself, I have invariably been reflecting on all those things that have caused pain in my life. And they all began with thoughts and actions that I held on to - about how I felt people should have responded - or not responded to me - or how I expected them to treat me - things that I cannot control in any way shape or form.

But the Gita, the "Song of the Beloved Lord," centuries ago recognized and taught  the path of meditation and devotion - and right action - among many other things. This text explains in various chapters that all we can do - is what we choose to do - to the best of our ability. We make our choices, and we live our lives - but we must let go of the outcomes. We must let go of our expectations, and of our desires of how we feel people should be.

This is not easy. But it is perhaps, the most important lesson to learn in attaining ultimate freedom!

To peruse my new ventures, which are a labor of live, visit these sites - and please give me your feedback!

https://www.facebook.com/meditationpureandsimple

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2XjLZ3NY9cLLPRMj_Bi0sw/feed


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