Question on Gita and Love

Query 2: >Compassion is a word with a broad meaning. Today if I find on the road a person being beaten mercilessly ... would I try to help one. No! One reaps the fruits of his Karma ... Vivekananda tried to help the community ... he got lost on the path of spirituality and did not gain Self Realization which he badly wanted to.

If this is the case, then no one needs to help another? Every one on the Spiritual path should not help others or do charity at all? What is the motivation in Religion to lend a helping hand along the way? After all, Buddha, the Enlightened One, is known to have taken care of a leper monk when other monks stood away and was willing to slice his flesh to feed hungry eaglets. Christ, Shirdi Sai Baba etc. have all been known to show an example.

Yes, I however agree that a person who dedicates their life to service like Mother Teresa may enter heavan but not Liberation and it is much more effective to serve after enlightenment. In one of Yogananda's writings, Swami Vivekananda is shown to have used yogic powers to save one of Yogananda's disciples, Janakananda, when the latter was a small boy. However, I suppose Vivekananda is not realized?

Query 3: I think I have never mentioned this to you before, but I am an undergraduate. I find that it is difficult to practise Karma Yoga as a student and be fully detached from the fruits of actions (exam results) and be even-minded in pain and pleasure. What do you suggest? While answering, please remember the maxim, "it is easier said than done"

Vijay Kumar:
We should have??? We should be doing so many good things in life ... Do we really practice what we preach! Why does a Spiritual person have compassion and love for everybody ... as and when one elevates himself Spiritually ... we go farther and farther away from the physical manifest form ... we tend to see the divinity within every form ... we start loving every creature, every form, every Jiva because one is an embodiment of atman the soul within ... which is of the same essence as God, the Omnipotent Creator.

For an ordinary human being, who lives a physical manifested life ... it is very difficult to practice brotherhood with all. If it were so, it would not have been the present bad times that we face today (the present Kali Yuga) ... it would have been Satyuga (the Golden period). Life in his cycle ... we have both bad and good times. So is the law of Karma ... we cannot deviate from it, come whatever may.

Most people Pray to God not for the sake of it but they fear God and hence they seek his blessings. One who pays to God in its truest sense ... he never despises anyone ... friend or foe, for he sees in one the image of God as you have expressed.

Compassion is a word with a broad meaning. Today if I find on the road a person being beaten mercilessly ... would I try to help one. No! One reaps the fruits of his Karma ... Vivekananda tried to help the community ... he got lost on the path of spirituality and did not gain Self Realization which he badly wanted to.

An ordinary human being must try to help one another but for how long ... whether we must help one or not is prompted by our Atman within ... why at all should we think about it. Once I tried to help a person (a sikh gentleman) lying in pool of blood ... I and my companions saw the truck which hit his motorcycle ... yet his parents tried to put the blame on us. It does not mean we must not help people in need but we have to work as per the merits of the case.

Bhagavad Gita is a very way broad document ... it encompasses everything. You are slightly away from the path. Bhagavad Gita deals only with the innerself ... it does not give much importance to the outer covering ... the body of a human being. It promotes doing the right Karma so that atman the soul within gets liberated at the earliest from the cycle of birth and death. The physical aspect of Spirituality is discussed more in Ramayana that teaches one to rise to the level of Rama... one who for the sake of his father abandoned the throne and went to the Jungles for a long period of 14 years.

As per Bhagavad Gita, all atmans souls are independent ... only after they manifest a body the relationship develops. All being sons and daughters of God ... we become brothers and sisters. It is not vice versa. Bhagavad Gita never advocates one to become like Mother Teresa ... many can perform social service ... but how many travel the pure path of spirituality and Realize God within their lifetime ... not one in a billion! Bhagavad Gita inherently provokes one to continue walking the right path in spite of all the hurdles one might face in life. While proceeding on the path of pure Spirituality ... we may sometimes neglect the physical aspect of life ... failing to serve individuals so that one may serve the total mankind ultimately.

This is the path I have followed.

Vijay Kumar:
>If this is the case, then no one needs to help another? Every one on the Spiritual path should not help others or do charity at all?

I simply quoted my case ... normal Human Beings including those on the path of spirituality follow a different path ... we inherently tend to help out one in need ... this purely depends on our Karma ... one cannot expect the same attitude from a hard-core criminal walking the path way. If you try to help someone it is because you have an inherent tendency ... those who don't do not care at all.

The meaning of word charity is varied ... I need a million dollar to establish a Satyuga ... are there any who are willing to listen! With passage of time I know my inherent wish would be fulfilled but not right now. There are numerous instances of money being loitered without much thought, yet we have to sustain all. Absolute pure charity means helping the mankind as a whole and should not be limited to a particular sect, Religion, institution or a country. Every act is charitable which earns us Punya, otherwise not. Giving charity for the sake of it ... for earning a name in the society is no charity at all.

>What is the motivation in Religion to lend a helping hand along the way? After all, Buddha, the Enlightened One, is known to have taken care of a leper monk when other monks stood away and was willing to slice his flesh to feed hungry eaglets. Christ, Shirdi Sai Baba etc. have all been known to show an example.

Buddha wanted to help one because he found the leper monk to be a truthful person (which I hope he would have been) ... once we come to know that the present life is our last manifestation on Mother Earth ... we tend to make the best use of it ... be it relieving one from his difficulties.

I remember the moment I had Realized God ... I had a very strong urge for three days ... only if I could have touched a dying body ... one could have got up hail and hearty. Something within prompted me from carrying out such so-called miracles. A mere glaze from me could have made sick people all right. But that was not to be. I have been against miracles since childhood. Probably, it was best for that period.

Religion primarily motivates people in following an almost fixed path ... the one followed by their leader. Religion tends to combine people and keep them under an umbrella ... it is not Religion which motivates people but the inherent Spirituality in all beings which guides us on the right path ... when we follow our Spiritual leader ... we do not follow him but we tend to follow the hidden meaning behind his Spiritual teachings ... those hard-core truths which keep one away from vices. Physical aspect of helping one is only a fraction of what one can accomplish Spiritually.

>In one of Yogananda's writings, Swami Vivekananda is shown to have used yogic powers to save one of Yogananda's disciples, Janakananda, when the latter was a small boy. However, I suppose Vivekananda is not realized?

Vivekananda practiced pure Spirituality ... he was not religiously inclined. He definitely had the support of God. Miracles, definitely can be performed by only those Spiritual people who are true at heart and practice absolutely pure Spirituality. Those who tend to show that they have miraculous powers ... are mere Tantriks who believe in the show of their power ... such people cannot accomplish much.

Vijay Kumar:
It is never difficult to practice Karma Yoga at any stage of life ... only your understanding of the term Karma Yoga is at variation ... Karma Yoga does not only mean as as you have referred ... has a very broad meaning.

Why you are a student? There must be some goal behind it ... something you want to achieve in life. If after having achieved that goal ... you indulge your self in materialistic pursuits ... you definitely are after the fruits of Karma. King Janaka ... father of Sita (wife of Rama) is the only example in the history of India who was a perfect Karma Yogi in his times. He did whatever was expected of a King ... rather fulfilled his duty as a King ... his aim was never to enjoy life as a King ... rather he wanted to serve the society which he could better serve only if he became the King ... and he became one.

You as a student must never hamper after the marks or getting better education ... but once you have a goal ... you definitely would strive to come first in class ... for you have a duty to fulfill. Rather you must strive for perfection in everything you do. Exams are only a means to keep the student in check ... they serve no other purpose.

Every moment of your life must be spent in achieving your aim of life ... I would advise you here that you must possess which have been recommended by me in my various newsletters. They shall help you concentrate on a certain goal and then help achieve it. I consider these books more valuable than the Bible.

I know it is difficult not to experience pain and pleasure ... more difficult is to maintain the equilibrium between the two. Reading about- Nimitta (Predestined course of life) and Niyati (Predestined) in my Glossary would clarify your doubts to a certain extent.

Always there to clarify your queries (send your query),

Essay by: Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani" ... The Man who Realized God in 1993!

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