The Bhagavad Gita: Renounce and Rejoice and the Practice of Meditation
V. Renounce and Rejoice
Krishna says: “ The immature think that knowledge and action are different
But the wise see them as the same.
The person established in one path will attain the rewards of both.
The goal of knowledge and the goal of service are the same;
Those who fail to see this are blind.”
VI. The Practice of Meditation
Krishna says: “It is not those who lack energy of refraining from
Action, but those who work without expectation
Of reward who attain the goal of meditation.
Theirs is true renunciation.
Therefore Arjuna, you should understand that renunciation and
The performance of selfless service are the same.
Those who cannot renounce attachment to the
Results of their work are far from the path.”
“To those who have conquered themselves
The will is a friend. But it is the enemy of those
Who have not found the Self within them.”
“Those who aspire to the state of yoga should seek
The Self in inner solitude through meditation.
With body and mind controlled they should constantly
Practice one-pointedness, free from expectations
And attachment to material possessions.”
“Sit in meditation with me as your only goal…
Those who are temperate in eating and sleeping
Work and recreation
Will come to the end of sorrow through meditation.”
“When meditation is mastered
The mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place.
In the still mind, in the depths of meditation
The Self reveals itself.
Beholding the Self by means of the Self
An aspirant knows the joy and peace of complete fulfillment.”
…”the mind will become stilled in the Self.” [the Quaker’s “stand still within the Light]
“Wherever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search for satisfaction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the Self. Abiding in joy come to those who still the mind. Freeing themselves from the taint of self-will
With their consciousness unified
They become one with Brahman.”
“I am ever present to those who have realized me in every creature.
Seeing all life as my manifestation
They are never separated from me.”
“When a person responds to the joys and sorrows of others
As if they were his own
He has attained the highest state of spiritual union.” [a good definition of “compassion”] [the opposite of narcissism, sociopaths, and psychopaths]
“No one who does good work will ever come to a bad end
Either here or in the world to come.”
