Yagya

(Teachings from Gita) One who follows at least one yagya ( path which leads to God), receives inner happiness and everlasting contentment. On the other hand, one who doesn't, is always encircled by worldly desires which cause him myriad anxieties and worries. When a son takes good care of his parents, a wife takes proper care of her husband or one performs his duty in a relationship to the best and does so in a selfless way - it too is considered a yagya.

The crux is that we should not be possessed by materialism, the day we realize that all our worries will disappear. No being - living or non-living - should be indispensable for us. We should be content with what we have. Take a moment and think about it - what worries you most? Would you still worry about it if you knew that all you wanted was a place to live and food to eat? Most likely the answer is no. Just imagine how simple life would become; how stress-free your mind would be; how happy and content your inner-self would be.

Gita contains such wonderful advice that I think if we were to incorporate even an iota of it then we would be much happier than we are today. It teaches us to do everything in moderation. Neither eat too much nor eat too less. Neither be too happy nor be too sad. In fact when one learns to detach himself, he will reach this controlled state. If you lose something, don't grieve over it and not because you can get another one but because you can live without it. For a common man like me, I think it would be difficult o apply this principle to living beings but I feel that we can certainly apply it to non-living things.

I remember that quite sometime back, a friend of mine had become a patron of the "Art of living" and when asked what it was about, part of the reply was "...It teaches you that if you lose your wallet you shouldn't grieve over it...". At that time I felt what's the fun in life if you don't have attachment with things; but now I understand that life can be as good with/without most of the things. It's how we try to make it.