Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / Action According to One's Own Svabhava and Svadharma

Transcript

Action According to One's Own Svabhava and Svadharma · Sri Aurobindo Studies

• 0:01
  People who take up spiritual life frequently believe that
• 0:04
  they should change their line of work and focus in the external
• 0:08
  world. In some cases, this is a
• 0:11
  recognition of the inner being's guidance as the individual
• 0:15
  awakens to his true calling. In other cases, however, this is
• 0:20
  a mistaken belief that certain lines of work or action are more
• 0:25
  spiritual, and thus one should abandoned what was a natural
• 0:29
  calling for one that the mind has determined is the more
• 0:34
  spiritual activity. In the Bhagwad Gita, Sri Krishna
• 0:39
  advises Arjuna that it is better to follow one's own law of
• 0:43
  living, even if it appears to be faulty in some way, than to try
• 0:48
  to follow some other law of action, no matter how lofty or
• 0:51
  beneficial it appears. In chapter 3, verse 35, Sri
• 0:57
  Krishna states quote better is 1's own law of works.
• 1:02
  Swadharma, though in itself faulty, than an alien law well
• 1:07
  wrought out. Death in one's own law of being
• 1:11
  is better. Perilous is it to follow an
• 1:15
  alien law. End Quote.
• 1:18
  And it continues in chapter 18, verse 47.
• 1:21
  Quote better is 1's own law of works, though in itself faulty,
• 1:28
  then an alien law well wrought out.
• 1:31
  One does not incur sin when one acts in agreement with the law
• 1:35
  of 1's own nature. End Quote.
• 1:39
  Citations here. Translated by Sri Aurobindo from
• 1:42
  Bhagwad Gita and its message. Arjuna asks in Chapter 2, verse
• 1:49
  454. Quote What is the sign of the
• 1:53
  man in Samati whose intelligence is firmly fixed in wisdom?
• 1:58
  How does the sage of settled understanding speak, how sit,
• 2:03
  how walk? End Quote.
• 2:06
  Sri Krishna responds not with outer signs or actions, but with
• 2:12
  the inner standpoint and subjective basis that drives the
• 2:16
  action forward. There are legends from the
• 2:20
  traditions of ancient India that speak of individuals who act
• 2:23
  from true humility, caring for their elders, working at jobs
• 2:28
  that are considered mean or low, but who have the inward attitude
• 2:33
  of consecrated action. They are accorded respect in the
• 2:38
  teachings versus those who put on a show of knowledge and who
• 2:43
  then look down on those with lesser outward signs of
• 2:46
  attainment of spiritual realization, Sri Aurobindo
• 2:51
  observes quote. There is no need for you to
• 2:55
  change the line of life and work you have chosen, so long as you
• 2:59
  feel that to be the way of your nature.
• 3:02
  Swabhava, or dictated to you by your inner being, or for some
• 3:07
  reason it is seen to be your proper Dharma.
• 3:11
  These are the three tests and apart from that I do not know if
• 3:15
  there's any fixed line of conduct or way of work or life
• 3:19
  that can be laid down for the yoga of the Gita.
• 3:22
  It is the spirit or consciousness in which the work
• 3:26
  is done that matters most. The outer form can vary greatly
• 3:31
  for different natures. End Quote.
• 3:35
  Reference. Sri Auro Bindu and the Mother.
• 3:38
  Looking from within. Chapter 3.
• 3:41
  Action and Work, page 62.