7 Mindsets for Success, Happiness and Fulfilment by Swami Mukundananda

Author:Swami Mukundananda
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Westland
Published: 2019-10-13T21:00:00+00:00

Purity of Intention Removes Stress

We had discussed that attachment to outcomes is the primary reason for stress. The practice of karm yog naturally eliminates stress by destroying its root cause. In it, we do everything for God’s pleasure. After our best efforts, if we do not get the results we desire, we think, ‘It was probably not the will of God. Let me submit to His wish and be happy.’ This detachment from

outcomes frees us from stress, anxiety, tension and fear.

Let me give a personal example to illustrate this point:

Before I began visiting the US, I used to deliver a 15–20 days’ lecture series in India. I had a team of boys who were fully dedicated to the cause of service to God and guru. Living with me, they would practise their sadhana and help in the mission.

The leader of the team was a dynamic young man. He would go to the next town beforehand and finalise the programme. He would then get the publicity material prepared. The panḍāl (tent for the programme) would be arranged for an audience of about five thousand people. Then the entire team would reach the new town a week ahead of the programme. They would create a publicity blitzkrieg by putting up scores of billboards and thousands of wall posters. They would also distribute tens of thousands of leaflets.

Usually, the programme would succeed, and we would get the targeted number of people in the audience. But sometimes it would fail. When the programme torpedoed and the attendance was sparse, my team leader would feel shattered. He would start crying. For me, it was difficult to see an energetic youth cry. I would ask him, ‘Why are you so upset?’

He would respond, ‘Swami-ji, we tried so hard but people did not come.’

I would then explain to him, ‘For whom did you try? Was it for yourself or the pleasure of God? If you were working so hard as a service to God, then there is no reason to be upset. You put in your best efforts, and after that, the results were in the hands of God. To be upset means you were attached to the results; in other words, you were working for your own pleasure, not God’s. And if you were truly doing this as an offering to the Lord, then think that if the results are not as expected, then it must not be His will. Be content by thinking in this manner. Of course, we must always introspect to see if there was anything better we could have done. But then, learn your lessons and move ahead.’

Thus, stress disappears when we offer the fruits of our exertions to God because we see our work as a service to Him. Consequently, we exert ourselves to the best of our ability for the pleasure of God. Then work becomes joyful and not a grind to bear.

When our intention is purified, we see ourselves as servants of God. Based on this knowledge, we develop a healthy self-identity.

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