Karma-Yoga : Ch-6. Part-17.

CHAPTER VI

NON-ATTACHMENT IS COMPLETE SELF-ABNEGATION

Part-17.

It is sheer nonsense on the part of any man to think that he is born to help the world; it is simply pride, it is selfishness insinuating itself in the form of virtue.

When you have trained your mind and your nerves to realise this idea of the world's non-dependence on you or on anybody, there will then be no reaction in the form of pain resulting from work.

When you give something to a man and expect nothing — do not even expect the man to be grateful — his ingratitude will not tell upon you, because you never expected anything, never thought you had any right to anything in the way of a return.

You gave him what he deserved; his own Karma got it for him; your Karma made you the carrier thereof.

Why should you be proud of having given away something?

You are the porter that carried the money or other kind of gift, and the world deserved it by its own Karma.

Where is then the reason for pride in you?

There is nothing very great in what you give to the world.

When you have acquired the feeling of non-attachment, there will then be neither good nor evil for you.

It is only selfishness that causes the difference between good and evil.

It is a very hard thing to understand, but you will come to learn in time that nothing in the universe has power over you until you allow it to exercise such a power.

Nothing has power over the Self of man, until the Self becomes a fool and loses independence.

So, by non-attachment, you overcome and deny the power of anything to act upon you.

It is very easy to say that nothing has the right to act upon you until you allow it to do so; but what is the true sign of the man who really does not allow anything to work upon him, who is neither happy nor unhappy when acted upon by the external world?

The sign is that good or ill fortune causes no change in his mind: in all conditions he continues to remain the same.

Swami Vivekananda
To be continued  ...