Attachment to Karmaphalam (fruit of an action)
Question:
Please help me understand this. We have been working really hard for the upcoming course. We are talking about the benefits of meditation and this course to everyone. We have been doing intro talks but we still do not have registrations. A lot of people I speak to love the idea and know that it is important for them but then they come back and tell me that they either don’t have the money now or the dates are not working out. I understand the expectation reduces joy but, in this case, there is an expectation. Since we do not have the early bird special anymore, people are not motivated to register right away either.
Others say that we have to have the intention. Isn’t that intention for people to register an expectation too?
Answer:
When you are thirsty, you have an intention to get up and go to the kitchen and get a glass of water. You do not think about it, or debate about it, or logically analyze it or even expect anything. You just naturally do the action of drinking water. Just like that, just have the intention that I need to reach out to as many people as possible – I should share this awesome course with everyone possible. And then go out there and share your experience – act spontaneously!
Lord Krishna says, ‘every action that you do in life, should be done spontaneously.’ What does ‘acting spontaneously’ mean? It means to just do your karma, do not be attached to the karmaphalam.
Attachment to karmaphalam, is the cause of analyzing, debating, loving, hating, wanting and not wanting, etc. These conflicting thoughts in the mind is what Ashtavakra calls dvandva. This dvandva affects your action further and you are not as productive as you could be. Thus to increase productivity in anything you do, whether at work or home or seva, always act spontaneously!
Above all, remember, the people that you reach out to today may come to Art Of Living in future, you are sowing agami (future) karma seeds, some may sprout now, some might sprout later. You cannot stand in the garden on top of the spot where you just buried the seed and keep screaming ‘Sprout now…. Now…. Now!’ 
No! No!
You just go out there and be 100% in sharing your beautiful experience of this spiritual wisdom without any expectation and leave the rest up to the Consciousness/God/Guru/Supreme energy or whatever you believe in!
Time Karma has its own dynamic to bring forth results! Let Karma do its job, you do yours devoid of attachment to karmaphalam! It means – keep an intention to do your action (Karma) 100% but don’t keep any attachments to the results of your intention (Karmaphalam)… Got it?
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Another fantastic post by Ektaji!
“Karma karo, phal ki chinta nahi” – Bhagavad gita.
And in doing this Karma, like Ektaji said, don’t deliberate too much. Advaite teaches us that Mind has to be transcended. Most decisions don’t require so much introspection. In fact it leads to “Analysis, paralysis”. Only some things need a long winded plan. Even in that case, plan carefully once and then just execute on the plan. Be flexible and go with the flow. As things change, improvise. But, don’t keep on replanning and replanning. Don’t use your mind so much.
The folks who cannot join any spiritual system, probably they are not really ready for it. One master explained “People deserve the Guru they encounter”. THere are guru’s who take spiritualists for a ride. Lot of these spiritualists, in these masters’ words, are spiritual tourists. They were not hard core adherents in the first place. Hard core adherents will find a way. So, why lament on the involvement of these spiritual tourists.
On Spontaneity. Modern psychologists and spiritualists are always at odds. Psychologists view everything from what was learned in this lifetime. Everything that a brain can store. Also, in psychology the brain is all encompassing of our intelligence. A spiritualist understands that there are impressions from last life, learning from previous incarnations. Our mind is a lot more holistic than the narrowly defined intelligence of the brain. Inspite of these foundational differences, the conclusions sometimes drawn are remarkably similar by both.
One of the best selling novels on decision making was “Blink”. It was written by a modern psychologist who emphasizes the importance of making decisions spontaneously. And how such decisions are far superior. He gave many examples in his book.
Spontaneity rules. Don’t overuse the mind. Like great masters say “Transcend your mind. Beyond mind lies the source of creation.”
I accept, this way of doing things, is best and sounds easy… I like and feel this advice.
Getting into this mode is my minute to minute challenge.
Appreciate your wisdom, that’s so well explained and simply.