"Living The Gita Vision" by Swami Chidananda

"....Unless we learn the manner of living in this world upon the Gita-spirit, Gita-ideal, we will lose our way. We will get caught and entangled. Always assert: "Nothing can entangle me. Never can I become entangled in anything, because I am the immortal, ever-free Soul, always one, secondless." It is this interior awareness that makes one go through life amidst the many and yet rooted in the One.

"This Gita-awareness within and the Gita-vision of this changing world, the need to be in the midst of the field of action but yet maintain and retain one's awareness of being a serene witness, is absolutely essential to all sadhakas who, being in the world and of the world, have to move towards the great Goal. It is all the more essential in these changing times when human society has changed so vastly.

"Conditions are not always conducive, helpful and favourable to this interior journey of the soul towards its eternal Source. There is a lot of distraction and a lot of disturbance. In the midst of all that, serenity is to be maintained.

"It is only the vision and the spirit of the Gita upadesa of the second and third chapters that will enable us to be in the midst of activity and yet be serenely poised in the Self that is actionless and changeless. That alone abides; all else passes on.

"I shall be rooted in the Eternal and function in the non-eternal. I shall abide in the Divine-God in me and I in God." Thus may you reflect and contemplate upon the Gita ideal of life in this world and the Gita ideal of action in the midst of this ever-changing phenomenal situation. May you reflect deeply upon this and create an awakened interior within, so that the world is not able to affect your sadhana, so that your sadhana goes on unhampered in spite of the distractions outside, because you ever abide in the Self.

"May the Lord, Jagad-Guru, Gita-Acharya, Bhagavan Lord Krishna, the World Teacher, shower His divine grace upon you and may His grace manifest within you as this awakened spiritual awareness and as the ability to act with expertise, so that in the midst of action you still maintain an abidance in the ever-actionless Reality within, so that you are able to be actionless in the midst of action.

"May God's grace manifest within you as the heightened awareness and elevated, uplifted consciousness of the Reality. May you abide in that, and may you move through this journey of life as an anasakta karmi, a detached actor. Always think: "Action is going on. I am not attached to it. I am aware that I am not the actor." May His grace manifest within you as this inner perception and the inner awareness, the inner consciousness, which is the key to successful karma yoga together with your bhakti, jnana and dhyana."

(An excerpt from Swami's book 'Gita Vision)