Yoga means perfection in duty

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Religion: Yoga means perfection in duty

JG Arora

With a guide like Krishna, any catepillar will become a resplendent

butterfly.

 

Any discussion about Gita must include Shloka number 2.47 featuring

performance of duty without any expectation of reward as follows:-

 

("Karmanya vadhikaraste ma phleshu kadaachan, / ma karmphal

heturbhurma te sango astav akarmani"). "Your right is only to do your

duty, and not to its fruit or result. Neither the result of your

action should be your motive, nor should you be inactive". This

Shloka glorifies action; and decries inaction. By avoiding thoughts

about outcome of action, one gets liberation from anxieties,

frustrations and fears caused by desire driven actions; and gives

best performance.

 

And Shloka number 2.50 elevates duty to the status of Yoga since Yoga

means doing one's duty with perfection ("yogah karmsu kaushalam").

 

>From despair to sublime

 

Bhagvad Gita is the journey of a despondent Arjuna who has thrown

away his weapons in the battle as described in Shloka number 1.47 to

a self-assured Arjuna ready for the war as described in Shloka number

18.73. Arjuna's refusal to face the challenge at Kurukshetra is

described by Shloka number 1.47 in these words, "Uttering despondent

words, grief stricken Arjuna threw away his bow and arrows, and sat

down on the chariot in the battle."

 

The Lord kept on exhorting Arjuna to get up and fight i.e. to perform

his duty. Just see Shloka number 2.3:

 

"klaibyam ma sama gamah Partha naitatava yupapadyate, Khshudram

hrudaya dourbalyam tayaktvo uttishtha prantapa". (O Partha, do not

yield to weakness. It does not become you to yield to weakness. O

scorcher of foes, shake off faint heartedness, and get up).

 

The Lord inspires Arjuna to do his duty without worrying over its

outcome. As per Shloka number 2.38:

 

"Sukh dukhe same krutava labh alabhou jaya ajayou / tato yudhay

yujasva na tvam papam vapasyasi" (Treating pleasure and pain, gain

and loss, victory and defeat as the same, engage in the battle. Thus,

you will not incur sin).

 

 

 

 

Meditation: Brain & behaviour

When discussing the relationship of brain and behaviour, the

materialist view of human experience runs into conflict with the

historically dominant religious accounts. Recent studies, however,

suggests that there may be a "middle view" between the two world-

views. Religions, especially Buddhism, stress the role of meditation

in one's spiritual growth. Meditation has tangible psychological and

physiological benefits, though, which can be explained strictly in

neurobiological terms. Understanding of how meditation affects the

brain, and, by extension, human behavior, also gives insight into

consciousness, the role of feedback loops, and the nature of the I-

function. The goal of Buddhist meditation is to detach oneself from

desires and objects which are the cause of suffering. Other forms of

meditation, while differing in terms of their metaphysical grounding

(1), effectively separate the individual from the transitory nature

of the world. In prayer, the effort is largely mental, but

Transcendental Meditation and Zen meditation also involve the

body. Body positioning is important to the meditation, and in Zen,

the object is to have as little tension as possible in the body. "The

body has a way of communicating outwardly to the world and inwardly

to oneself. How you position your body has a lot to do with what

happens with your mind and your breath . . . Although [Zen

meditation] looks very disciplined, the muscles should be soft. There

should be no tension in the body" (2). The correlation of physical

states with mental states in meditation reinforces the correspondence

between neural functions and behavior. Zen practice also has a

revealing theory about the nature of the self, namely that it "has no

core essence" (3). Attachment to the idea of the self as a permanent

thing is a cause of suffering. Instead of seeing a "soul" or a "mind"

as the seat of personal identity, in Buddhism, the self is to be

found in processes. Meditation, then, has the therapeutic effect of

disengaging the practitioner from self-consciousness, freeing the

mind. The view of the world without the construct of a permanent

essence enables one to "experience reality as it really is" (3). It

is important to note that Buddhism does not distinguish mental

processes from other senses. Just as seeing takes a visual object,

the mind takes a mental object (1). Just as the eye is free to take

in different visual objects, the mind is free, as well.

http://www.centralchronicle.com/20051205/religion.htm