Q. How can I work without the expectation of anything in return? Why should I work in that case? Karmayoga sounds almost impossible.
A. Normally, a child loves playing game. Some people love cooking, some love dancing, some love teaching, some love writing, some love Tennis, some love Cricket, some love literature, some love Math and the list goes on and on. If you do what you love then you do not feel that you are doing it. You are almost in trans doing it. Work becomes play. As long as one is doing what one really loves (Swadharma), Karmayoga is not that difficult. The problem is when you like something but do something else because of the money or whatever reason. If one is doing what he does not like, he definitely needs motivation to keep him under the stress of doing the work. Naturally, Karmayoga then becomes very difficult.
A: Right now if you wish you can think of your favourite actor. This thought is triggered by conscious mind and the image comes from the memory/causal body/karana sharira (unconscious mind). You can bring this thought whenever you wish. However, a thought that just pops in without you consciously desiring is triggered by the subconscious mind and is delivered by the causal body. What thought will pop in from causal body depends on the activities of conscious/subconscious mind. Your conscious/subconscious mind is actually a tuner. When it is in resonance at certain thought frequency, it attracts that type of thoughts from the causal body. On a side note, since it is about tuning, if you identify with misery, you may attract chain of thoughts close to misery and the opposite is also true. Now, you can choose what type of thoughts you would like to harbour and which types of thoughts you would like to kick out the moment they pop-up in your mind.
Q: Some texts write about reincarnation/rebirth but if it were true why does not every person talk about previous birth?
A: You – the pure awareness – have forgotten your true nature. You keep on identifying with thoughts and things that you are not. At certain instant you become a thought x, another instant you become another thought y and this keeps on going. This can be thought of as taking new birth every time there is identification with something new. Once false identification stops, there is no more rebirth. Not identifying means simply witnessing or there is a distance between you and your thoughts (Saakshi Chaitanya in Vedanta terminology).
Q: If I am Consciousness and bliss is the nature of consciousness, why don’t I always feel bliss?
A: Unfortunately, a rose itself cannot appreciate its beauty and fragrance. Yes, you are Consciousness and bliss is your inherent nature, but you as pure Consciousness feel nothing. But, you as person are sometimes happy, sometimes sad etc. Actually, it is your mind that becomes happy, sad etc. The reason why your mind does not always feel bliss is due to your conditioning, your latent tendencies, your hidden desires etc. together called causal body* acting as a veil. For analogy sake, think of the real you – Consciousness – as Sun. Then, sunlight is analogous to bliss. Think of your mind as the surface of the earth. Now imagine clouds between the Sun and earth. If clouds are clear, surface of the earth receives sunlight otherwise it does not. Likewise, whenever veil of causal body is removed your mind experiences bliss, otherwise it does not.
Q: It is I only who sees my dream, nobody else. But, everybody sees creation. If creation is also a dream why does everybody see it?
A: Actually, it is not just you who sees your dream world. Others also see your dream world but they do not call it dream world. For them it is real. Let us say that K is seeing a dream in which he (as K’) along with A, B and C are present. These 4 people (A, B, C, K’) who are fictitious are actually behaving in the dream as if they were seeing the dream world of K as real world. If A hits B in the dream world, B responds A in the dream world appropriately. Does this not mean that B is seeing and experiencing the same dream world? This means that everybody present in the dream is seeing & experiencing the dream world – not just K whose mind is projecting the dream. Creation is the dream world projected by the consciousness and we the actors present in the dream world would naturally see it. We as humans may appear very real with respect to our world (which is not dream world for us) but from the perspective of consciousness, we as humans are like actors in the dream movie.
A: What if a bacteria asked this question? Probably, the answer saying, “You were the outcome of evolution and came to survive more hostile antibiotics” would be satisfactory. What if a mosquito asked this question? Probably, the answer saying, “You were the outcome of evolution and came to survive more hostile repellents and suck the blood cleverly without making much noise etc.” would be satisfactory. Since we humans consider ourselves special having far superior intellect & networking ability, many of us will not be satisfied with the answer that we are merely a product of evolution. We would ask how did evolution start followed by a series of whys leading to the direction of big bang. But if we consider a 6 foot tall man in comparison to the universe/multiverse then he may only be marginally better of than a mosquito in grand scheme of things.
On a more serious note, an individual in reality is consciousness which is U-kāra (formless/shapeless) about which the individual does not know and he/she continues to identify himself/herself with body-mind. The dream of consciousness is A-kāra (shape, i.e. the body). When it is realised that false identification was made and the real nature is revealed as consciousness, there is Ma-kāra (merging, wisdom). So, AUM sums it up. Besides playing life following the code of conduct of the dreamworld, your purpose can be to realise your true nature which is not the body-mind complex but is pure consciousness.
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