[Advaita-l] Karma yoga: the kinder, softer preparation for self-inquiry and surrender

[H S Chandramouli]

On Fri, Mar 12, 2021 at 7:52 PM Akilesh Ayyar via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> On Fri, Mar 12, 2021 at 2:36 AM H S Chandramouli <hschandramouli at gmail.com
> >
> wrote:
>
> << From *Letters from Ramanasram*, a questioner says:
>
> Q: “The reasons for these interruption [in my practice] is the samsara
> (family), is not it? I am therefore thinking of abandoning the samsara.”
> M: “Oh! Is that so? What really is meant by samsara? Is it within or
> without?”
> Q: "Wife, children and others..."
> M: "Supposing you leave your wife and children. If you are here this will
> become another kind of samsara. Supposing you take to sannyasa. Another
> kind of samsara comes into existence in the shape of a karra (walking
> stick), kamandalu (water bowl) and the like. Why all that? Samsara means
> samsara of the mind. If you leave that samsara, it will be the same thing
> wherever you are. Nothing troubles you."
>
> Later, in the same work:
>
> Q: “Before beginning the Self-enquiry, ‘Who am I?’, is it necessary to give
> up all actions (Karma Sannyasa)?”
> M: “What is your idea of sannyasa? Sitting, getting up, going about, and
> eating, are karmas (actions). Of these which are you going to give up? That
> is why ancients say, when they talk of Karma Sannyasa , ‘First give up the
> feeling that you are the doer’.”
> Q: *“Sankaracharya gave prominence to Karma Sannyasa.”*
> M: “Yes, he did. But then, even he did karma (action). He went from one
> place to another and from village to village and established the doctrine
> of Advaita (non-duality). At that time, there were no railways. He went on
> foot. Is not all that karma? The meaning is, when a person becomes a Jnani,
> nothing affects him, whatever he may do. He does everything for the welfare
> of the world. He, the Jnani, gives up only the feeling of ego namely that
> he is doing everything.
>
> Couldn't be any clearer >>.
>
> Namaste.


That is great. It may be difficult to locate more appropriate references
than these to validate my earlier observations. Couldn't be clearer.

There is nothing further for me to state.

Regards



>