Tether your camel first...................

MySAR for 10th August

"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 -फालाहेतुरभो  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 Yoga Karma 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