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Thread: Action vs nonaction

  1. #1

    Action vs nonaction

    Namaste:

    I have been struggling with the yoga of Action which Lord Krsna discusses with Arjuna in the Bhagvad Gita.
    Just when I think I understand I become confused again!
    Does action refer to devotion? What does "nonaction" refer to?
    Help!

  2. #2

    Re: Action vs nonaction

    This issue is central to the Gita's teaching. Sri Krishna bases the distinction between karma and akarma (action and non-action) not on the physical performance but on the underlying motive. Hence the state of life in which desire for personal gain is prominent is karma, whilst to be desireless is akarma even if one performs many physical actions with the body. At Kurukshetra both Arjuna and Duryodhana waged war to the best of their ability and externally both were acting in an identical manner. However, Arjuna was in the realm of akarma because he was acting as duty without desire, whilst Duryodhana was in the realm of karma because he sought personal gain from his action.

    The question of the relation between akarma and devotion is interesting. In the opening chapters of the Gita, Sri Krishna presents the doctrines of Karma Yoga (desireless action) without any major connection with devotion or God. It is just a matter of acting for duty alone as an expression of dharma. However, by the end of the Gita a clear link has been established; one can act without desire when one acts out of a sense of devotion. This is perhaps most clearly expressed in verse 46 of the eighteenth chapter:

    yatah pravrittir bhutanam
    yena sarvam idam tatam
    sva-karmana tam abhyarcya
    siddhim vindati manavah

    A person attains success by worshipping through his designated actions he who is the source of activity for living beings and by whom this world is pervaded.

    Sorry the translation is a bit awkward; it's not that easy to find a smooth flowing version. My mind is a bit dull today.

  3. #3
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    Re: Action vs nonaction

    A related question:

    Is "seeking enlightenment" an oxymoron*?




    Namaste,
    ZN

    *(like "deafening silence")

  4. #4
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    Wink Re: Action vs nonaction

    Namaste Znanna,

    A “deafening silence” may be the apparent silence created by covering one’s ears.

    Likewise, “seeking enlightenment” is a virtual reality for those with worldly eyes open but with their third (interior) eye tightly shut.

    In such situations there is no true deafness to sound or blindness to enlightenment, but the seeking will continue until those deafened by the world will open their ears to the wise and the spiritually blinded will simply close their two eyes and open their inner (third) eye to find the true Self that was always there and never actually required any search in the first place!

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