Chapter 3
Awareness and Devotion
There are two general methods for the divine illustrated in the Bhagavad
Gita.
One is the path of awareness, of meditation.
The other is the path of devotion, of love.
Before you can understand what these are, you must first understand what they are not, and what is not a path.
First, it is not a path to attempt to renounce action.
Trying to be an ascetic, to create a false discipline in yourself, is
not going to help.
Because the source of your misery is not in your actions but in the attachments
that cause them.
You might be obsessed with making money, and so you take a vow of poverty.
Does this mean that your lust for money will go away?
On the contrary, you will be even more obsessed.
You will constantly be thinking about it,and you will be struggling and
resenting yourself for denying yourself access to this money.
You will act out, in other ways.
You may create other, even more unhealthy lusts to replace your need for
money.
Either that, or you will simply give up your vow eventually, and begin
seeking money again.
They you will feel guilty and weak.
But the problem was never your pursuit in the first place.
It was your attachment, your desire.
Renouncing the actions will not help, only renouncing your attachment,
coming to understand the fruitlessness of it will help.
You will always have to take actions of various sorts.
And inevitably, these actions will sometimes put you in situations of
pursuing your desires.
Then, to try to resist or fight those situations is pointless.
Instead, you can only free yourself by awareness when you come to accept
whatever comes.
Our friend with the money obsession will only be able to find peace when
he can welcome an environment where he is making money, and be absolutely
equally welcoming to a situation where he will not be able to make money.
When he can see that being rich or poor are equally valuable, then he
will be free.
And remember, the way to do this is to be centered, 'united' the Gita
calls it, no matter what situation you are in.
Regardless of what is going on around you, some kind of action will be
demanded of you.
Even if the 'action' is to do nothing, that will still be a form of action.
The key is that in each action you must focus on that force that is behind
the material world, that unchanging unity, the Mystery.
Then you can accept any situation equally, and perform any action with
equal detachment.
This is what Krishna means by 'actions done for spiritual purposes'.
In some verses of the Gita, Krishna speaks of how, 'in ancient times'
the God Brahma taught that all manner of good things will come from these
spiritual actions.
What is meant by this is that the more ancient Vedic cultures of India
had taught this method of awareness, and knew that it led to wellbeing
and a positive society.
But by Krishna's time already those old Vedic teachings had been corrupted
into the dogmas of what Krishna called the 'false religionists'.
The real essence of the technique had been replaced with a dry, dead series
of rules, and so Krishna had to once more restore the living essence to
the dead teachings.
The other technique that Krishna wished to restore was the technique
of devotion.
It too had degenerated into pointless ritual.
It is clear from what he says in the Gita that in Krishna's time there
were rituals being performed, for food, for purification, for offerings
to the 'spirits'.
But these rituals were being performed without any real essence.
The essence of devotion is to offer up your actions, to offer what you
do and who you are, to the divine.
When you can experience gratitude, the feeling of joy that comes from
being alive, and in that way feel that whatever is happening you will
accept, then you can be free of the suffering that comes from attachment
to your personality and lusts.
Ritual done with this real purpose will let you connect to the divine.
It is important to remember this, that all ritual is done with the ultimate
purpose being devotion.
And a ritual done without this devotional attitude will lead to nothing.
On the other hand, when you capture that sense of devotion, then no
ritual is truly needed.
Do not get hung up on particular forms, understand the function.
Understand that devotion is the purpose, not the ritual itself.
Ultimately, one who has understood devotion will know this, and will then
perform devotional acts not for some ulterior purpose, but simply out
of gratitude.
Even when they achieve, they can still show devotion, because these rituals
will then be transformed into acts of gratitude.
Then their real beauty will come through, they will be completely alive,
so alive that even those who witness these rituals can be transformed.
This is what Krishna means when he tells that Arjuna that even he practices
devotion, and that if he didn't all the worlds would come into ruin.
It is because he can lead others, through his devotion, to achieving the
unity he has.
But at the same time, Krishna warns Arjuna that there will be foolish
or lazy people who will act out of their desires, who will not be devoted
or grateful.
Of these he says "it is best not to disturb them".
What does this mean?
First he says that you must help others, then he says you must not disturb
them.
But it is not a contradiction.
What Krishna means is that you cannot lead anyone to the Mystery.
You cannot save anyone or change anyone.
No one can.
You can only transform yourself.
Thus, the best thing to do is practice devotion, and to let that be your
effort to change the world.
Let others see your devotion, let them see your gratitude, let them see
your awareness, and let that be your evidence.
Let it be a torch.
Do not struggle to argue with them, or try to force them to see what you
have seen, because that will only bring reactions to them.
Just by being, just by changing yourself, and by expressing yourself naturally,
you can do the most good.
This is what Krishna means by 'human beings performing divine acts'.
When you can be human, it is a divine act.
