"Trust in Allah but
tether your camel first."
This Sufi saying wants to
create the third type of man, the real man: who knows how to do and who knows
how not to do; who can be a doer when needed, can say "Yes!" and who can
be passive when needed and can say "No"--who is utterly wakeful in
the day and utterly asleep in the night; who knows how to inhale and how to
exhale; who knows the balance of life.
"Trust in Allah but
tether your camel first."
This saying comes from a
small story. A master was traveling with one of his disciples. The disciple was
in charge of taking care of the camel. They came in the night, tired, to a caravan serai.
It was the disciple's duty to tether the camel; he didn't bother about it, he
left the camel outside. Instead of that he simply prayed. He said to God,
"Take care of the camel," and fell asleep.
In the morning the camel
was gone--stolen or moved away, or whatsoever happened. The master asked,
"What happened to the camel? Where is the camel?"
And the disciple said,
"I don't know. You ask God, because I had told Allah to take care of the
camel, and I was too tired, so I don't know. And I am not responsible either,
because I had told Him, and very clearly! There was no missing the point. Not
only once in fact, I told Him thrice. And you go on teaching 'Trust Allah,' so
I trusted. Now don't look at me with anger."
The master said,
"Trust in Allah but tether your camel first--because Allah has no other
hands than yours."
If He wants to tether the
camel, He will have to use somebody's hands; He has no other hands. And it is
your camel! The best way and the easiest and the shortest way is to use your
hands. Trust Allah--don't trust only your hands, otherwise you will become
tense. But first tether the camel and then trust Allah." You will
ask, "Then why trust Allah if you are tethering the camel?"--because
a tethered camel can also be stolen. There is no guarantee of the certainty of
the result. You do whatsoever you can do and then whatsoever happens, accept
it. This is the meaning of tether the camel. Do best whatever is possible for
you to do, don’t shirk your responsibility, and the if nothing happens or
something goes wrong, trust Allah. He knows the best. Then may be it is right
for us to travel without camel
It is very easy to trust
Allah and be lazy. It is very easy not to trust Allah and be a doer. The third
type of man is difficult--to trust Allah and yet remain a doer. God is the real
doer; you are just instruments in His hands. Every day it must be happening
that you could have done something, but you didn’t do it. You are using the
excuse that if God wants it done, He will do it anyhow. Or, you do something
and then you wait for the result you expect. And if the result you expected
never comes then you are angry. You then feel as if you have been cheated, as
if God has betrayed you. You feel He is against you. That He is partial,
prejudiced and unjust. And then you have a complaint against him in your mind.
Then trust is missing….
The religious person is one
who goes on doing whatsoever is humanly possible, but creates no tension
because of it. We are very tiny, small atoms in this complicated universe.
Nothing depends only on my own action. There are thousands of energies crossing
and interacting with each other. The total of the energies will decide the
outcome. How can I alone decide the outcome…? But if I do not do anything, then
things may never be the same. I have to do, and yet I have to learn not to
expect. Then doing is a kind of prayer. There is no desire that the result
should be such and such. Then there is no frustration. Trust will help you to
remain happy.
Tethering the camel will
help you to remain alive, intensely alive.
karmany evadhikaras te
ma phalesu kadachana ma karma-phala-hetur bhur ma te sango ’stv akarmani
Hindi
कर्मंयेवाधिकरास्ते
माँ फलेषु कदाचना
माँ कर्म -फालाहेतुरà¤ो माँ ते संगो ’सत्व अकर्मणि
"You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty." You have got choice only over your action (karma) and not over the result of the action. So its okay to desire a favorable result but not be attached to the result and not to set conditions that only a favorable result will make me happy or content. Be unattached with your work (any kind of work), property, people, possessions... they belong to you but don't dictate your life or happiness. There are three considerations here: prescribed duties, capricious work, and inaction. Prescribed duties are activities enjoined in terms of one's acquired modes of material nature. Capricious work means actions without the sanction of authority, and inaction means not performing one's prescribed duties. The Lord advised that Arjuna not be inactive, but that he perform his prescribed duty without being attached to the result. One who is attached to the result of his work is also the cause of the action. Thus he is the enjoys or suffers of the result of such actions.  Karma Yoga - The yoga of Action
Karma
Yoga is the Yoga of Action. It is the path chosen primarily by those
of an outgoing nature. It purifies the heart by teaching you to
act selflessly, without thought of gain or reward. By detaching
yourself from the fruits of your actions and offering them up to
God, you learn to sublimate the ego. To achieve this, it is helpful to
keep your mind focused by repeating a mantra while engaged in
any activity.
Principles of Karma YogaKarma Yoga is one of the four paths of Yoga. In this page are the key components that determine that any action will qualify as being Karma Yoga"Karma Yoga is the selfless devotion of all inner as well as the outer activities as a Sacrifice to the Lord of all works, offered to the eternal as Master of all the soul's energies and austerities."- Bhagavad Gita Right Attitude
It's not what you do that counts, it's the attitude while
doing it that determines if a job is a karma yoga job, i.e. a
liberating job, or a binding job. Work is worship. Swami
Sivananda advises us to "give your hands to work, and keep your mind fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord."
Right Motive
Same as attitude. It is not what you do that counts but
your real motive behind it. Your motive must be pure. Swami
Sivananda says: "Man generally plans to get the fruits of his
works before he starts any kind of work. The mind is so framed that it
cannot think of any kind of work without remuneration or reward. A
selfish man cannot do any service. He will weigh the work and
the money in a balance. Selfless Service is unknown to him."
Do Your Duty
Often "duty" is referred to as "righteousness". You will
incur demerit if you shun your duty. Your duty is towards God, or
Self, or the Inner Teacher who teaches you through all the
specific circumstances of your life as they appear.
Do Your Best
Whatever you have to do, do your best. If you know of a
better way to serve, you must use it. Do not hold back because of
fear of effort or because of fear of criticism. Do not work in a
sloppy manner just because no one is watching or because you feel the
work is not for you. Give your best. Try to do such actions that
can bring maximum good and minimum evil. Do Karma Yoga
increasingly.
Give up Results
God is the doer. You are not the doer. You are only the
instrument. You do not know God's intentions or God's plans. God
is the actor. The Self never acts, changes. It is only the 3
Gunas or qualities of nature which are playing. The way to
realize this truth is to constantly work for work's sake and let go
of the results, good or bad. It is the desire for action that binds
the individual. It is the detachment from action that will
dissolve the karmic seeds. Detachment from results also means
detachment from the type of job itself. There is no job that is
inferior or superior to a different job. Don't be attached to your job.
Be ready to give up your job if necessary.
Serve God or the Self in All
Do to others what you would like to be done to yourself.
Love thy neighbor as thyself. Adapt, adjust, accommodate. Bear
insult, bear injury. Unity in Diversity. We are parts of the same
body. Practice humility in action. Beware of power, fame, name, praise,
censure.
Follow the Discipline of the Job
Each job is a teacher of some sort. You can learn
different skills by doing different jobs. Each job has different
requirements in terms of time, degree of concentration, skills or
experience, emotional input, physical energy, will. Try to do whatever
job you are doing, well.
Credits:
http://www.sivananda.org/teachings/fourpaths.html  |
