Wednesday, March 11, 2009

An Instrument in the hands of the divine!

Yesterday, during a conversation, the word "instrumental" was casually used. Suddenly, a click happened to me and I thought "instrumental" is such a beautiful word. If we really contemplate on it, it has the whole essence of Karma Yoga in it - doing all the work we need to do in life, but with no ego of 'doership'; when this happens, we just become an instrument in the hands of the divine. The divine energy flows through us, guiding us at every step. There is no "I did this", "I did that.." simply because we are just a dummy instrument that He uses.

I remembered Swamiji's discourse on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3. Swamiji beautifully shared "Solid bamboo is used for carrying the dead... but if the bamboo is hollow, then it can even be used as a flute in the hands of Krishna! Our whole life then becomes a divine song that Krishna plays using the flute" How beautiful I thought. If only we allow Krishna to pick us up in His hands! If we constantly remind ourselves that we are hollow, we are pure emptiness, we are nobody, then indeed we allow that emptiness to happen inside us.

This is easier said than done because the notion that we are running our life has become too deep in us. As Swamiji says, although we think that things happen because of us, it is never the case. Because the truth is that things happen inspite of us! The reason why many of us suffer from shoulder pain after a day's work at office is simply this - we have taken the whole load of our life on us. It has become a strong conditioning that it is our hard work in life that is making us survive. (Enjoy a video below where Swamiji talks about the myth of hardwork!)

Many times, this is the case even when it comes to volunteering for the mission. In my own experience, I can see so much of that "burden" dropping from me as I become aware of who is bearing the weight. Swamiji always says the mission can mould us and that is really so true. He says if you all can put aside half an hour a day, not more, to just do any work without expecting ANY form of return, then we are indeed working towards our inner growth. We are indeed becoming instruments in the hands of the divine for that half an hour. Normally, there is a constant subtle current of "who will notice my work?" or "what will I get out of this?". For that half an hour, let us consciously park that thought aside and involve our whole being in doing something without any expectation.

If we slowly expand that half an hour into our whole day, then we stop being driven by fear or greed. We start to express a new dimension within us which we are never used to. It's a space where there is only fullfillment and hence no expectations. Our whole day then just becomes a beautiful expression of fulfillment.

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