The End of Sorrow

by Eknath Easwaran

  There are many ways in which you can make your offering unto the Lord. It is not what you give to the Lord, but the love with which you give that makes your sacrifice acceptable to him. The greatest gift you can give the Lord is yourself, and in order to do this, you must eliminate all your self-will and banish all violence from your life. Let me assure you that when you make this supreme offering to the Lord, it is not the Lord who is getting the bargain. He is not a good businessman. If at any time the Lord says he is prepared to receive you, do not make any terms. Agree on the spot, and he will never desert you.

  26. Some renounce all enjoyment of the senses and sacrifice them in the fire of sense restraint. Others partake of sense objects, offering them in service through the fire of the senses.

  Here Sri Krishna is distinguishing between two different approaches to the spiritual life. One is the ascetic way, followed by members of the monastic order, and the other is the middle path of moderation to be followed by those of us who live in the world.

  We should respect members of the monastic order in all religions because they have turned their backs upon the world in order to lead the spiritual life. While we were in India, we had the privilege of knowing a Hindu monk who had been the head of a great monastery in the Himalayas for many years. He retired from this office in his later years to lead a completely contemplative life. There is nothing in the world to tempt him. His eyes are always fixed on the supreme goal, and he therefore feels no conflicts. He does not envy the man of the world’s freedom to go to a movie or drop in at an ice cream parlor; in fact, he probably feels compassion for those of us who still respond to the call of these little delights. For him, these are wrong, but for those of us who live in the world, who follow the householder’s path to spiritual awareness, these little pleasures are not wrong. To live the monastic life and turn our back upon the world, and, in a sense, negate our senses and the world, is only one approach to the spiritual life. This path is suitable for a very rare type of person, and we should never deprecate those who follow it. But there is another approach to the spiritual life which is just as challenging, and more suited for the vast majority of us living in the modern world. On this path we live in the world and yet are not of it. For me, this kind of spiritual life is very satisfying. We live in the bosom of our family, as integral members of our society, and yet never forget that the Lord is enthroned in the hearts of all. We live in the midst of life and find our fulfillment not by negating the senses, but by harnessing them in the selfless service of others. Instead of going on fasts, for example, I try to eat good, wholesome food in temperate quantities, not for the satisfaction of my palate, but to strengthen the body so that I can help carry the burdens of those around me. If my body is not strong, I cannot contribute to the welfare of society, and I cannot give the best account of myself in life. Instead of fasting, therefore, I suggest eating moderately. Fasting may not be as easy as feasting, but after a while it is not too different. Both are extremes. It is not hard to go the extreme way, but what is really difficult is neither to fast nor to feast, but to be moderate in everything we do. This is what the Buddha called Madhyamarga, the Middle Path – the ideal path for the householder. It requires great artistry and vigilance. Instead of negating the body and senses, we train them to be instruments of selfless service. We harness our physical, mental, and intellectual capacities not to make money or achieve power or fame for ourselves, but to use these faculties with great detachment to make our contribution to life.

  27. Some offer the workings of the senses and the vital forces through the fire of self-control, kindled in the path of knowledge.

  28. Some offer wealth, and some offer sense restraint and suffering. Some take vows and offer knowledge and study of the scriptures; and some make the offering of meditation.

  This word yajna, ‘offering,’ means that everything we do should be for the welfare of all those around us. There are different ways in which people make contributions in the Lord’s service, and one is through wealth. Money is not evil; it is love of money that is evil. The scriptures always emphasize that it is the Lord alone who is to be loved; everything else is to be used.

  We can look to Mahatma Gandhi to see how yajna can be applied in life. His material possessions were worth only two dollars at the time of his death, yet some of his best friends were very successful businessmen. He had a group of multimillionaires around him, and he was often criticized severely for being so close to them. But Gandhi would say that the Lord was present in them also. We should never forget that the Lord is present not only in the poor but in the wealthy too, not only in the ignorant but in the learned too.

  When Gandhi was on a fast, distinguished doctors from various parts of the country would come to examine him, sometimes to get on the front page of the newspapers, and Gandhiji, who was aware of their motives, would allow himself to be examined carefully and then say, “My fee is twenty-five rupees.” All his faculties, all his skills, everything was used to raise money for his work. Among the women of the villages of India, he was particularly successful. There is a saying in India that a man’s best bank is his wife’s neck, and most well-to-do Indian wives have a lot of jewelry, which is considered to be a good investment. Gandhi would tell these women, “Your beauty does not depend on diamonds; your beauty comes from inside. You should reveal this beauty by putting the welfare of your family, your community, and your country first.” Then he would ask them all, even the little girls, to take off their gold bangles, and almost everybody present would respond immediately to his call. As long as there are poor people in the world, as long as there are people who are deprived and handicapped in the world, if we are sensitive, we will not load ourselves with unnecessary adornment. Again, this is not a plea for poverty but a plea for contented, simple living, in which all the legitimate needs of the body are satisfied. We can use our money, whether we have a lot of it or not, to contribute to selfless work that is aimed at the welfare of all.

  Another way of making an offering to the Lord is tapoyajna. The word tapas has a number of related meanings: suffering, the practice of sense restraint, and heat. In deepening meditation a sense of rising heat, which is the rise of kundalini, is not unusual. On such occasions, have as much physical exercise as you can. Hard physical labor is the very best use of this rising heat, which becomes an offering unto the Lord when it is given for selfless service.

  Now comes the word yogayajna, ‘the offering of meditation.’ People who meditate for long hours in the morning and evening are not doing so for selfish ends. It is a misunderstanding to think that people who meditate are seeking only their own salvation or illumination. What they are seeking is the removal of their selfishness and separateness. Every person who meditates rightly is doing so for all of us. In a home where there is one person, say the granddaughter, meditating regularly, even if the rest of the family does not see eye-to-eye with her, they will share in the spiritual bonus, because she is going to be secure, selfless, and able to put the welfare of those around her first. All of us benefit by living with someone who does not live for himself or herself. We do not need to examine all the pros and cons; we have only to live with such a person, and by some unwritten law, our hearts and our respect gradually go out to him. In an unguarded moment we may say, “I wish I could be like him.”

  Once a student from the University at Berkeley came to me at our meditation class and said, “I have a roommate who used to be a pain in the neck for a long time. Now I kind of like him, and I’m even beginning to wish I could be like him. I want to see what is happening here to turn him from a person I disliked into a person I want to be like.” My comment was, “That’s about the best description of meditation I have ever heard.”

  So if in your home people refer to your meditation by saying, “Oh, he is still out on that Indian trip,” do not get agitated or try to defend yourself. There is no need to defend yourself; when you are meditating you have got a good defense lawyer in the Lord, who not only
knows the law but wrote it. At first it is only natural that people will have misgivings about your moving away from the normal ways of life. But if you can show by your life that you are becoming less selfish, less self-willed, and increasingly able to love others, it is only a matter of time before everybody will benefit from your meditation.

  In order to live the spiritual life, therefore, we can all follow this concept of yajna, which means we should give some of our time, our talent, our resources, our wealth, our skill, and our love to everyone around us. The more we give to those around us, the more we shall have to give. It is not the person who has much who is rich; it is the person who gives much. In other words, Sri Krishna is telling us through Arjuna that there are many, many ways in which we can worship the Lord who is in every one of us.

  29. Some offer the forces of vitality, regulating their inhalation and exhalation, and thus gain control over these forces.

  The word used here is prana, which has a number of meanings. Most generally it means vitality, or to use a colloquialism, that which makes us tick. Prana can also be translated as our immense capacity to desire, which is closely related to our capacity to love.

  Another meaning of the word prana is breath. In certain schools of meditation breathing exercises are prescribed to control the mind. I lose no opportunity to caution everyone not to take to these breathing exercises, because they can be dangerous. This is especially the case in our modern times, as our way of life is so artificial, so divorced from the natural rhythm of life, and these exercises require pure living conditions, which are rarely found anywhere these days. Such exercises must be done under the close supervision of a teacher who is thoroughly familiar with all the turns and twists we may come across on this particular path. Some of the occult exercises are so powerful that they can split a personality in two.

  The very best practice for improving the breathing rhythm is to go for a long, hard, fast walk repeating Jesus, Jesus, Jesus or Rama, Rama, Rama. The rhythm of breathing, coupled with the rhythm of the footstep, will blend with the rhythm of the mantram to calm the mind. In the deeper stages of meditation, as our concentration increases, breathing can become so slow that it can drop from sixteen times per minute to eight. Do not pay any attention to this; the more attention you pay to the breathing rhythm, the more difficult it is for it to slow down. When you are meditating sincerely, the great day will come when breathing is suspended for two or three minutes. At the time, you may not be aware of it at all. But afterwards you feel such relaxation in the nervous system, such a quiet knowledge that things are going well on your spiritual path, that you will long more and more to recapture this spell when breathing has been momentarily suspended.

  People who are very forgiving, who do not easily get agitated by dwelling upon themselves and can return goodwill for ill will, love for hatred, usually have long breathing rhythms. The agitated, resentful person, who is ready to take offense any time at anything, is the one who breathes fast and irregularly. Any provocation can throw his breathing out of gear. This disruption cannot help but affect physical well-being, and in many forms of physical illness, emotional stress is very much responsible. For example, asthma and many more serious ailments are often emotional in origin. As our meditation deepens, our concentration increases, and our breathing rhythm slows down, we shall find the answer to many of our physical problems. In order to facilitate this slowing of the breathing rhythm, it is helpful to have regular walks every day repeating the mantram.

  30. Some offer the forces of vitality through restraint of their senses. All these understand the meaning of service and will be cleansed of their impurities.

  The purification of the body is an essential step on the spiritual path. If we want to discover our real identity, to realize that all life is one and live in harmony with this unity, we must have a body that is healthy and strong, one which will never fail in the selfless service of others. This gives us a deep motive for exercising discriminating restraint over the senses. For example, we should not eat things simply because they look or taste good. The proper function of food is to have food value, and we should take care to eat only what is nourishing. It is not good to dwell on food, either. The gourmet who is constantly looking for new ways to stimulate the palate will become more and more trapped on the physical level. After we have taken reasonable care to see that we get the right food, served with love, we should then forget about it and leave it to the digestive system to do the rest. There is no need to talk about it; there is no need to ask, “When are we going to have another meal like this?” In this way, instead of being used by the senses and wasting our vital capacity on petty sensory pleasures, we must train the senses to be obedient servants. In recalling our desires from the wasteful sensory channels into which they are now flowing, we unify our capacity to desire. Then we can direct this unified love and energy towards the supreme goal.

  31. True sustenance is in service, and through it a man or woman reaches the eternal Brahman. But those who do not seek to serve are without a home in this world. How can they be at home in any world to come, Arjuna?

  It is in making others happy that we find our happiness, and it is in serving others that we become fulfilled. If we pursue only our own private satisfaction, even in this world we are likely to be completely frustrated and insecure. In other words, even if we do not meditate, even if we do not follow the spiritual path, we cannot help finding that when we forget ourselves we are happy, and when we dwell upon ourselves we are miserable. The egocentric person is not only cut off from the mystical experience; he is also unable to enjoy the world. The selfless person enjoys life to the fullest, because he is always free.

  32. These offerings are born of work, and each guides man along a path to Brahman. Understanding this, you will attain liberation.

  33. The offering of wisdom is better than any material offering, Arjuna. For the goal of all work is spiritual wisdom.

  The concept of yajna is now brought to its consummation. The Lord says that it is good to give our money, material possessions, time, and energy to a worthy cause that seeks the general welfare. It is good for us to give, if necessary by reducing our style of living to simple comfort. This does not mean that we must sacrifice minimum comforts, but most of us can work long and hard enough to be able to give part of our time and earnings to a great cause. To be able to work for others without thought of a paycheck can bring joy to everyone. As long as we have been working just for pay, calculating how much we are making per hour, we cannot realize that working for a selfless cause can give more satisfaction than the pay envelope we bring home. This does not mean that we must give up our jobs; all of us have to maintain ourselves and our families. But over and above this it is necessary for all of us, in our own interest and in the interest of the general welfare, to give part of our time, talent, and money to a selfless cause.

  But even though all these offerings are very important, the Lord will not be fully content with only these gifts. The greatest sacrifice is jnanayajna, the offering of wisdom. The greatest gift we can give the Lord is the sharing of spiritual wisdom with others. Helping others to find the Lord of Love hidden in their own heart is the greatest yajna. The Lord says here, “I want you to be united with Me, to realize that I live in every living thing, that all life is one.”

  All actions must eventually lead us to this knowledge of the unity of life. Even the mistakes we make will force us gradually, through increasing suffering, to go forward on the spiritual path. The Lord does not want us to suffer, but suffering is the only way he can keep us from going further and further away from him. We can all save ourselves a great deal of pain by the simple method of learning to respect other people’s needs more than our own. We may ask, “How do I know other people’s needs? I am not psychology-oriented. I am not a very good observer.” The Buddha’s answer to this is simple: “What hurts you hurts others.” We do not have to read books about other people’s needs. We do not have to go to the university
or read Sanskrit or study Panini’s grammar. All we must do is remember that what hurts us hurts our father, what pains us pains our mother, what annoys us annoys our children, and what irritates us irritates our friends. All the psychology we need to know is contained in this: “Others and I are one.” We can understand everybody’s needs just by looking at our own, and we can realize the unity underlying all life by resolving: “Even if I have to inconvenience myself, even if I have to lead an uncomfortable life, may I be given the strength, wisdom, and humility never to contribute to the suffering of anyone on earth.” This is the supreme yajna which the Lord asks everyone to make.

  34. You should approach someone who has realized the purpose of life, and question him with reverence and devotion. He will instruct you in this wisdom.

  In this and the following verses, Sri Krishna uses the word jnana again and again. Jnana means ‘knowing’ in the sense in which Socrates used it, that is, knowing oneself. We all have an amusing idea of knowledge. We can answer any question about Shakespeare, about Milton, or even about Beowulf, but if someone asks us who we are, we say, “How do I know?” This is the strange paradox that all the great spiritual teachers point out: what is the use of knowing everything else on earth if we don’t know who the knower is? We are born, we go to school, we get married, beget children, buy and sell, and pass away without knowing who we are. It is an appalling commentary on our concept of knowledge. In knowing ourselves we fulfill the supreme purpose of life; when we know ourselves, we know all life is one, and we have the desire and the will to live in harmony with this knowledge.

  Spiritual awareness is really not taught; it is caught. This is a beautiful way of saying that when we love someone who lives without any thought of his own personal satisfaction, who devotes all his energy, love, and wisdom to help those around him find wisdom, we absorb, through our deep love for him, something of his spiritual awareness. Constant association with people who are spiritually advanced supports us by a process of absorption.