CHAPTER VIII

Act without selfish desires

The three components of life are karma, dharma and sanskara. They play a crucial part in our lives. They define our lifestyle.

Karma is the action not only of the physical senses, but also of the inner senses. Sanskara is the natural inclination of the mind. Dharma is our wisdom-full interaction with the world around us.
Let us first discuss action. There are five exigencies of action

1. Action is inevitable
2. The value of action
3. Chronology of action
4. Renunciation in action
5. Type of action

Action is inevitable: Life manifests most vividly in the form of actions. Any movement of our hands or bodies is not an action. A person turning in his bed while sleeping drops a glass and in the process makes a thief to run away is not said to have performed an action. Similarly, a person reacting to a situation as per his conditionings cannot be said to be performing any action. There is a difference between action and reaction. Those who do not understand the meaning of action stagnate in life. Very few people act, most of us merely react. Only those who act, move ahead in life.

Action is inevitable and cannot be avoided. Therefore, why should we not make the best out of an unavoidable situation? This can be applied to your office too where an effective manager is able to get the best out of existing situations without waiting for the ideal conditions.

Value of action: What matters in life is your ability to adopt action to obligation. Our business lies in action alone and not in the award accruing because of our action. That is the value of action. If you start enjoying your work, you will realise what a beautiful thing it is.

Work is worship, only when you enjoy your work. Otherwise, your work becomes a burden. It is a horrendous thing.

Mere acquisition of knowledge is not enough. It has to be translated to action. The motto of life should be to strive to struggle, not to succeed. Success will automatically follow. Work well and accomplish the joy of life. And once you start enjoying it, success and failures become irrelevant.

Once you start thinking and acting accordingly, your action will be more dynamic. Often, people do not realise the beauty and grandeur of work. They attach worldly motives to their work. They develop desires and become attached to their objects of desire.

While trying to fulfil desires, they crave for the fruits of their actions. In doing so, they pursue self-imposed duties. Then, work becomes a burden. We become bound by our work. The result is suffering and sorrow.

Instead, gain freedom and happiness. You cast off self-desire and the worldly motives appended to your action, render your work sacred, surrender to the total plan of nature. Your selfish desires and clinging render your life and business mundane. Work without attachment and craving are known as worship. That is the principle of renunciation.

Why should you attach any motive to work? Work itself is self-rewarding, entertaining and blissful. Employ this simple principle of work in practical life. All your actions become one nice song.

Often, we notice a single bearer serving over 60 customers in a restaurant, with a smile. You do not see any strain on his face. He genuinely serves the guests, without expecting any tip. He enjoys his work. On the other hand, you also come across bearers who wait on you only because they expect a big tip. Such people do not enjoy their work. They derive no pleasure out of their work. Instead, they view it as a burden.

If you begin to work in a spirit of renunciation, the world returns your courtesy. And as a result, wealth and prosperity are at your door. True value of life lies in renunciation. Action performed in the spirit of detachment leads you to the state of perfection.

Use the world to enjoy the world. Use the world to transform the world, just as you use a thorn to remove a thorn embedded in your flesh. Hence, act in the world with your mind fixed on the true Self. You are bound to reach the real truth.

Chronology of action: Each and every one of us is an individual and we act as long as we live. Our actions differ from one individual to another. These actions differ because we are dependent on our inherent nature. This is what is called sanskaras.

Sanskara is the natural inclination of the mind. People who believe in re-birth define sanskaras as impressions derived from past experiences that form desires which influence future responses and behavior. They believe that sanskaras are mental impressions which exist as memories from past lives, or the present life, and which determine one’s desires and actions. They are not entities with substance or shape, nor are they forces, but are understood in psychological terms only. It is like a virtual account where your karmas are deposited.

Sanskara is also defined as tendency, habitual conditioning of the mind or impressions of the sub-conscious mind. Thus what you learn from your childhood also forms part of your sanskara.

This is also termed as vasanas.

The true meaning of vasana is something that is unmanifested in you. Each individual’s vasana is different. That is why every human being is drastically individualistic. Vasanas are the cause, and action is the effect. Vasana produces the thought. The thought produces the desire in us and desire produces an action.

For instance, when a painter is in deep sleep, his desires or vasanas are at a dormant stage at that point of time. But when he wakes up, the vasanas start acting. This produces a thought in the person and this thought progresses into desire and desire leads to the action of painting.
Vasana is the manifest which is not known, and action is the final manifestation of our vasanas. Each vasana, before reaching to its fullest expression, passes though the state of thought and desires.

Renunciation in action: While dealing with renunciation, let us pose a question: What is dharma?

As we discussed earlier, dharma is our wisdom-full interaction with the world around us; how we relate to people, our friends, relatives and others we come into contact with directly or indirectly. Our most immediate dharma towards them is to help each and every one to evolve. When we find ourselves in a position in which we must help others by supporting, nourishing or nurturing them, and when this position manifests in all areas of our life, we understand that this is our dharma, duty, commitment or obligation. The three foundations of dharma, in this regard, are right thinking, right behaviour and right action.

Dharma is to live with your true natural Self and to act according to your true natural Self. That leads to renunciation of the fruits of your action.

When you act according to your true nature and not according to your conditioned nature, it is called swa dharma. When you start relating to others and ignoring you own true nature, it is called para dharma. In other words, swa dharma is your true nature, while para dharma is the result of somebody else’s thoughts imposed on you.

You have the power to choose your action. If you have the desire, you can change your action. First, select a field of activity which is conducive to your own vasanas or shastras. Then, there is no reason why you will not excel in each and every field of life.

Anything virtuous or wise is a state of mind. Whatever your physical body does or acts is not right or wrong. Consider this example. A terrorist opens fire on a crowd killing 50 people. A police man present at the scene immediately pulls out his revolver and guns down the terrorist.

Both have committed the same act. Both have used a gun to kill other people. While the action of the terrorist who killed innocent people without provocation is bad, the action of the police man is considered good.

Thus, an act by itself is not good or bad. What counts is whether your act is motivated by selfish desires. Eventually, renunciation of action is work that is executed dispassionately.

Kinds of action: Actions are of three kinds

1. Action performed with selfish desires
2. Action performed with unselfish desires
3. Action performed without desires

Acting with a selfish desire is considered as the lowest mode of existence. Such people work only according to their self-imposed desires. A person who acts without desires is a supreme being. That is the best form of living.

How can you act without attachment? Simple. Just look at the nature around you—the sun, the moon, the earth, the vegetation, the forests, the rivers…

The sun rises every morning day after day, century after century. What is the sun’s self desire? None. Plants give you food. What is their self desire? Rivers give you water. What is their Self-desire?

We should also learn to perform our duties like nature without expecting any results.