Karma Yoga
Chapter 3, Verse 26
na buddhi-bhedaṁ janayed
ajñānāṁ karma-saṅginām
joṣayet sarva karmāṇi
vidvān yuktaḥ samācaran
The wise should not confuse the minds of the ignorant who are attached to work; rather himself performing work with devotion, he should inspire others to do likewise.
“The wise should not confuse the minds of the ignorant who are attached to work…” Here Krishna reminds Arjuna, “First be wise. Be strong! Be centred in the Divine Self. Be centred into God Consciousness. Don’t confuse the people! They are already confused. They are already in their own pride and ego, and are blind. If you go to them with knowledge and talk about God, they are not interested.” You look at the world nowadays – how many people really are interested in knowing who they are? How many people are interested in serving God? How many people just say, “We are happy in our small world which we have created.” Go outside and you’ll see many people like this.
Sometimes you’ll go and talk to them, and they will not be interested. They will go to the church once a week or they will go to the temple once a week, just for the sake of going there. Not because they desire the Divine, not because they desire to rise in spirituality. No. The interest has not been born inside of them. It is still dormant inside of them. If you go and start talking to them about God, they will feel fear! They will run away. They will start talking badly about you. They will start saying many things, like, “You have gone crazy!”, because there is a lack of understanding. That’s why Christ said that you don’t give pearls to pigs! They will trample over them. So don’t give this knowledge to them yet! Be centred into yourself.
Krishna says, “…rather himself performing work with devotion, he should inspire others.” Just by being strong in yourself, by being rooted and radiating this love and devotion, you will automatically be an inspiration to others. Very often, people come here to the ashram and say, “People are really happy here!” But what makes them perceive this happiness? Outside there are also people who are happy, but here you have a smile that comes from the heart. On the other hand, does a fake smile inspire you? It doesn’t! When you have sincerity inside of you, you don’t need to talk to people to inspire them. It will radiate through you! It will emanate from your being. You’ll become an inspiration for them! And then they will also see this inspiration. They will see this transformation, this change and they will start to inquire. They will start looking at their own life, and ask, “Do I have a beautiful smile or not? Am I sincere with myself or not?” Then they start searching. They start to look deeper until they find their path. Inspire them! Don’t frighten them! But give them a nice smile from the heart!
If this is clear inside of you, even the ones who have never understood the true importance of life will start wondering. You’ll become an example. The wise one, through his example, will change people! Take Mother Teresa, and Gandhi. They are dead now, but they are still inspiring people! Why are they still inspiring people? It was what they were radiating, what they were giving. It was through prayers, through service, and through selfless, unconditional love that they had for humanity that they inspired people. They had forgotten about themselves and their own pleasure. They had placed the others first. Even though they have passed on, people are still inspired by their lives. When you read about the saints, you see what makes them special. They were inspired by the message of Love that Christ taught. The saints, Christ, and Krishna inspired people not only when they were here, but their inspiration continues on.
Bhagavad Gita
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