Karma-Yoga : Ch-6. Part-7.

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Chapter-6.


"NON-ATTACHMENT IS COMPLETE SELF-ABNEGATION"


Part : 7.


By means of the constant effort to do good to others we are trying to forget ourselves; this forgetfulness of self is the one great lesson we have to learn in life.

Man thinks foolishly that he can make himself happy, and after years of struggle finds out at last that true happiness consists in killing selfishness and that no one can make him happy except himself.

Every act of charity, every thought of sympathy, every action of help, every good deed, is taking so much of self-importance away from our little selves and making us think of ourselves as the lowest and the least, and, therefore, it is all good.



Here we find that Jnana, Bhakti, and Karma — all come to one point.

The highest ideal is  eternal and entire self-abnegation, where there is no "I," but all is "Thou"; and whether he is conscious or unconscious of it, Karma-Yoga leads man to that end.

A religious preacher may become horrified at the idea of an Impersonal God; he may insist on a Personal God and wish to keep up his own identity and individuality, whatever he may mean by that.

But his ideas of ethics, if they are really good, cannot but be based on the highest self-abnegation.

It is the basis of all morality; you may extend it to men, or animals, or angels, it is the one basic idea, the one fundamental principle running through all ethical systems.


Swami Vivekananda

To be continued   ....



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