The inaction in action and the action in inaction

You will not be disturbed by the effects of your actions when you receive those results, whatever they are, with contentment.  Whatever the result, when you look upon the fruits of your actions from a vantage point above the turmoil of selfishness, jealousy and envy and you learn to accept both gain and loss with a calm mind, you will be free.  A wise person who understands this truth will perform all of his or her actions for the benefit of others and thus has no claim to the results anyway.  This is known as “the inaction in action.”  And when this same wise person sits unmoving in meditation, turning the mind inward toward the soul, this is known as “the action in inaction.”  That person is on the way toward union with God, which is the ultimate goal of all our actions and makes us truly free.

Because we all have to act in this world, the real task becomes learning how to distinguish between right actions, wrong actions and when inaction is the right thing to do.  All the results of our actions are nearly impossible to predict.  Therefore, the only way to avoid any negative consequences of your action is to avoid letting yourself become attached to the fruits of that action.  The way to do that is to be constantly identified with your inner soul-self that has the same attributes that God has.  The sages of ancient times realized that this was the way to perform all your actions in this world because it frees you from the pain and suffering that accompanies them.  Like those sages, you should act that way, too.

No matter what you want to achieve, understanding the laws that God put in place and acting accordingly will help you reach your goals.  Owing to individual natural tendencies, different people will live out their lives in different ways.  Some will aspire to very little, only being motivated by the desire for physical pleasure.  Others will want material success and worldly power.  Still others will have a philosophical or religious inclination and will seek God for the reward they get in this life and the next.   Then there are the rare few who seek God for the purpose of realizing their own true soul nature.  Regardless of the goal, success is only achieved in this world by applying the proper actions to reach that goal.  Wishing and praying for it without acting will get you nothing.

However you seek God, He responds in kind

Those who believe in reincarnation are taught that they can escape the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth by becoming united with God directly.  This union with God can be accomplished by practicing self-discipline to learn control of the senses, by being free of attachment to fulfilling desires, by disengaging from fear and anger, and by taking refuge in the inner peace which results from doing so.  But, not everyone is born into a family or a culture that teaches reincarnation and the ability to unite directly with God.  Because of the differences in religious and individual beliefs within those religions, people use many paths to find God.  In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna reassures everyone that however people sincerely call on God, He responds to them in the way they worship Him.

Ch4 - Yoga of Discriminating Wisdom

            By sitting next to the wisdom of the holy Bhagavad Gita and listening to the discourse between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, which is the scripture of yoga and the science of God realization, thus begins the fourth chapter called Jnana Yoga, union with God through the wisdom to discriminate between reality and the illusion caused by the created world. (OOPS – I let some Hindu religion slip in, but it’s just for some context about what is to follow.)
            The knowledge of how to identify with your true inner self rather than ego-driven desire is said to have come directly from God.  But whatever the source, its wisdom has literally been passed down directly from teacher to student for thousands of years.  The truth in this wisdom is eternal, even when the elements of nature make it appear to be just a delusion.  The result is that this wisdom has been of supreme benefit to humankind.
           Luckily for humankind, when righteousness seems to be in decline and vice predominates, someone always comes along to remind us that there is virtue in this world and there is a reason to be good and do good.

Eliminate your problems with wisdom-guided intuition

Our indulgence in sensual pleasures allows the senses to become dominant over the body.  Therefore your mind, with its ability to exert control over your sensual indulgences, is stronger than your senses.  But the mind itself is restless and seeks out ever-new experiences.  So, your ability to wisely choose what is in your own best interest can potentially be stronger than your mind.  The image of God within you, which is your true self, is the source of the wisdom to discriminate between what your intellectual thinking tells you and what wisdom says is really right for you.  Knowing that your true soul-self is the source of your discriminating wisdom and by constantly identifying with it instead of your ego, you can utterly annihilate the source of your problems in this world.

Just like a fire can be obscured by the smoke it makes or a mirror’s reflection can be covered by dust, so your inner wisdom and true soul-self are covered by your desires.  Our restless minds and insatiable senses are at the heart of those desires.  That desire is what clouds our judgment and leads us to do thing we know are not in our own best interest.