Why should I not care?

I am curious to know what others make of this passage?

If I don't care about the outcome of my task, then why am I bothering to do it?

“You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either.

Perform every action with you heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. Renounce attachment to the fruits. Be even-tempered in success and failure: for it is this evenness of temper which is meant by yoga.

Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahma. They who work selfishly for results are miserable.”

― Bhagavad Gita

[JosephineB]

The discipline of living in the moment? Even doing the so called mundane tasks in life.

[sky]

Originally Posted by ketzer

I am curious to know what others make of this passage?

If I don't care about the outcome of my task, then why am I bothering to do it?

“You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either.

Perform every action with you heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. Renounce attachment to the fruits. Be even-tempered in success and failure: for it is this evenness of temper which is meant by yoga.

Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahma. They who work selfishly for results are miserable.”

― Bhagavad Gita

Do your duty for the love of God, egoless and without being attached to the outcome.

[ThatMan]

Originally Posted by ketzer

I am curious to know what others make of this passage?

If I don't care about the outcome of my task, then why am I bothering to do it?

“You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either.

Perform every action with you heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. Renounce attachment to the fruits. Be even-tempered in success and failure: for it is this evenness of temper which is meant by yoga.

Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahma. They who work selfishly for results are miserable.”

― Bhagavad Gita

This passage is full of spiritual wisdom, the Bible says exactly similar things: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31

You see, "for the glory of God", not for yourself and your self gratification, but whatever you eat, drink or whatever you do, do it with the Creator in mind, giving thanks.

I don't think there are many people on this Earth that can say that everything they do, they do it in partnership with the Creator... This is a inner state where you simply don't care about the outcome, you become grateful for everything, even for failure.

The Word of God is found in all religions of the world.

[davidsun]

Originally Posted by ThatMan

This passage is full of spiritual wisdom, the Bible says exactly similar things: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31

You see, "for the glory of God", not for yourself and your self gratification, but whatever you eat, drink or whatever you do, do it with the Creator in mind, giving thanks.

I don't think there are many people on this Earth that can say that everything they do, they do it in partnership with the Creator... This is a inner state where you simply don't care about the outcome, you become grateful for everything, even for failure.

The Word of God is found in all religions of the world.

Well explained!

[sky]

Originally Posted by ThatMan

This passage is full of spiritual wisdom, the Bible says exactly similar things: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31

You see, "for the glory of God", not for yourself and your self gratification, but whatever you eat, drink or whatever you do, do it with the Creator in mind, giving thanks.

I don't think there are many people on this Earth that can say that everything they do, they do it in partnership with the Creator... This is a inner state where you simply don't care about the outcome, you become grateful for everything, even for failure.

The Word of God is found in all religions of the world.

The BG is wisdom

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by ketzer

“You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either.
― Bhagavad Gita

Note that it is Krishna, who just explained to the warrior Arjuna, who was on the battlefield, how to put the concept of work into practice. Today, what Krishna was speaking about would resonate with service/devotion.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by ketzer

I am curious to know what others make of this passage?

If I don't care about the outcome of my task, then why am I bothering to do it?

“You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either.

Perform every action with you heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. Renounce attachment to the fruits. Be even-tempered in success and failure: for it is this evenness of temper which is meant by yoga.

Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahma. They who work selfishly for results are miserable.”

― Bhagavad Gita

Namaste:

So, who is the one doing all of this "bothering" or "caring" about what it is that is either being done or not being done?

That is the whole essence of those passages from the Bhagavad Gita.

Even "non doing" is the action of inaction, so whether Arjuna fought or not is irrelevant if there is no "Arjuna" and no "Krishna".

This is a difficult concept to understand, but it was never meant to be understood..

Ralph Waldo Emerson summed it up beautifully in his poem entitled "Brahma" (which for my whole life, I believe it was meant to be entitled "Brahman")

Brahma - Ralph Waldo Emerson

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahma_(poem)

Brahma

If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.

Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.

They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Jyotir]

Originally Posted by ketzer

I am curious to know what others make of this passage?

If I don't care about the outcome of my task, then why am I bothering to do it?

To characterize a necessary detachment as indifference, e.g., “not caring”, indicates an unfortunate but nevertheless common misunderstanding of the passages.

There is no avoidance of work while incarnated in the physical reality.
If work is unavoidable then for the awakened human being, the proper attitude to work is essential, in order to fulfill spiritual purpose accordingly.

In the Gita, Arjuna (who also symbolizes the world disciple) has been awakened to the spiritual possibility of life, and is subsequently informed by Krishna (God) what is the proper spiritual attitude regarding work or action.

How and why someone consciously orients to that work (action) determines whether it is a spiritual intention or not, which further affects the process and outcome. The prescriptions of the Gita describe the spiritual approach (yoga), proper attitudes which provide liberation, vs. the conventional materialistic approach (desire/expectation of ego-mind) which yields further limitation in and of the physical.

One has to care about any and all of it, to do one’s best according to circumstance, to consecrate all action to the divine, which then increasingly informs the process. If we work with the intention of satisfying the desires and expectations of ego-mind, this necessarily ends in further entrapment, interrupts a dynamic presence in-and-of the moment, and generates additional reactive distortions and further limiting conditions.

The theory of Karma Yoga is:

1) detachment from result (and expectation) which allows for increasing
2) intuition regarding God’s Will within any action

Only when 1 & 2 are substantially undertaken does it then become possible to

3) become a dynamic instrument of Truth consciousness (God’s Will) in the physical

Suggest reading Sri Aurobindo's (imo, one of the best commentaries available), “Essays on the Gita”.


Hope this is helpful.


~ J

[Jainarayan]

The verse is actually

karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi

karmaṇi—in prescribed duties; eva—only; adhikāraḥ—right; te—your; mā—not; phaleṣhu—in the fruits; kadāchana—at any time; mā—never; karma-phala—results of the activities; hetuḥ—cause; bhūḥ—be; mā—not; te—your; saṅgaḥ—attachment; astu—must be; akarmaṇi—in inaction

You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.

Do your duty, but do not concern yourself with the results. We have the right to do our duty, but the results are not dependent only upon our efforts. A number of factors come into play in determining the results—our efforts, destiny (our past karmas), the will of God, the efforts of others, the cumulative karmas of the people involved, the place and situation (a matter of luck), etc. Now if we become anxious for results, we will experience anxiety whenever they are not according to our expectations. So Shree Krishna advises Arjun to give up concern for the results and instead focus solely on doing a good job. The fact is that when we are unconcerned about the results, we are able to focus entirely on our efforts, and the result is even better than before. - Swami Mukundananda