25.2: GITA REGIMEN FOR HAPPY LIVING & FOR HAPPY FUTURE
In Life there are only two things:
1: Happenings to us; and
2: Our Obligations.
Our entire life depends on how we respond to these two.
Before we take up the question of how to respond to these, we should understand the why and how of Nos.1 and 2.
In all our previous lives, we do actions, we think thoughts. They generate two bank-balances for us. One is in terms of so-called karma. And the other is the store of Vasanas or tendencies, which stick very subtly to our ‘mind’ when this ‘Mind’ devoid of its memories travels to the future births of the same soul(Jiva) to which it is sticking.
Thus when we are born, we have a store of karmas (sancita karma) of which only a little portion (prArabdha karma) is going to give its fruits (good or bad) in this birth of ours. And also we have a store of Vasanas (tendencies) sticking to our mind, but now the entire store of Vasanas is active in every janma we take. Not like the store of karma of which only a small portion becomes active in each janma of ours.
So when things ‘happen’ to us in this life, they happen by the combined impact of three things, namely,:
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The impact of the world around us
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The consequences of whatever we have done or thought so far in this life; and
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prArabdha karma, which is irrevocable
Gita’s advice for our response to all our happenings is:
TAKE EVERYTHING LIGHTLY.
Neither gloat over good things, nor wallow over the bad things. What is the reason for recommending this response?It is because other than the Self everything is transient (that is, comes and goes).The attitude of our response should be I am not the experiencer. (na ahaM bhoktA) This is the major recommendation of all the scriptures: .THE ATTITUDE OF DETACHMENT. This will give you Happiness here and now because nothing will touch you, in view of your attitude. Prarabdha karma of course will get exhausted by the end of this life.
Now come to Obligations. .Obligations are prescribed for us by our scriptures, by government, by the society and by the world around us.Our response should be:
TAKE EVERYTHING SERIOUSLY.
Because otherwise, it means we are under the spell of the gang of thirteen, namely,
Raga, Dvesha, kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, mAtsarya, IrshyA, asUya, dambha garva and their Captain, EGO . The attitude of our response of taking everything seriously, should be I am not the doer (na ahaM kartA). This is again the same .THE ATTITUDE OF DETACHMENT. This is the strategy by which you will not accumulate any further vAsanAs or karma-balance.
There is still the Sancita karma, which will contribute to our future births.The only way to neutralize or exhaust that sancita-karma-balance is to keep remembering and chanting God’s names. (nAma-smaraNa)) .That is the only way by which the mind is purified (so that it will not allow any vAsana to stick to it) and the sancita karma balance will also be emptied this way and this way only. 'sancita-karma vinAshaka-lingaM' is the authority for this. If there is no karma or vasana balance that is Happiness for the Future births, if any.