Page 24 - NAMAH-Oct-2020

Namah Vol. 28, Issue 3, 15th October 2020

thereby helps us put our efforts in the right it fills us with the courage and confidence
direction. that are so much needed for success in any
sphere of life.
Implicit behind this is the recognition that
there is a Wisdom that works in creation and Finally, by a sustained practice of concentration,
to each it has allocated a role and a place. we gradually develop the skills of a perfect
Life is the way to find this place. Action is marksman who directs his aim straight at
a means to discover what is our role in this the target. After all, true success is not the
universe, a role that is uniquely ours and handmaid of aggression but of concentration.
which none else can occupy. When we live Aggression may help temporarily achieve
life with this perception. then we simply do success in some fields such as sports because
what we are meant to do just as the winds through it one accumulates all the energies
blow, rivers flow, as the sun radiates heat necessary to achieve one’s target. But for all
and light, and flowers offer their fragrance. its merits, aggression is a poor fuel. It may
It is simple, easy, natural. Then we are freed give an immediate kick-start but damages
from stress and ambition but in fact succeed the system in the long run. Its harmful effects
in the true sense, since we are what we were upon our social life and relationships are
meant to be. It is only when we try to measure well known.
our success in relative terms by comparing
it with others’ that we are constantly under What alternative fuel in driving human nature
stress and even when we ‘succeed’ we are not does yoga provide? We have a few choices
happy. A constant unhappiness gnaws in our here. Yoga teaches us that work is worship
hearts and makes all our success seem hollow. and hence the yogin pursues excellence for
The result is chronic unhappiness which we the sake of it. He is neither working for any
try to cover up with artificial and scentless earthly reward nor to secure any other-
flowers that look real but are not. Or else we worldly seat in heaven. For him work is a
run here and there in search of an illusory means to worship the Divine and hence he
happiness, get high on wealth and position, does it with utmost care. Besides a state of
or take to alcohol, drugs and other forms of inner peace helps the yogin focus better.
pleasure to help us momentarily forget the Work flows through a yogin naturally as
pain and the sadness behind our smiles. a river flows towards the ocean. The Gita
declares, ‘Yoga is skill in works’, and it is
But there is still more. Spirituality in fact indeed so in the experience of yogins. Part of
makes us strong in more ways than one. The the misconception arises because we associate
s
Upanisads say that this self is not for the weak peace with inertia, but peace is a very powerful
and indeed it is so. Spirituality takes away state. It clears the human system of all kinds
from us all fear and anxiety and replaces it of rough and turbulent energies and thereby
with faith and trust. It makes us fearless, so helps the free and smooth flow of energies
to speak. It prevents the huge loss of energy through us. This is the second fuel.
that we incur through these leaking holes that
sap our energies. It also frees us from anger Yoga opens us to doors of infinite energy
which is in fact the sign of a weakness. Instead from above and not as we presently draw

24