Thoughts Vs Actions: The Key to Success You Need to Know
न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्य पुरुषोऽश्नुते । न च सन्न्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति - Bhagavad Gita 3.4
Naishkarmya is an important concept in Bhagavad Gita. Naishkarmya literally means without action or effect. Lord Krishna explains that one does not get released from the responsibilities of action or the bondage of its effects just by shunning the action.
Sannyasa (the way of renunciation) has come to enjoy a great prestige among religious-minded people. But Sannyasa is not just giving up actions.
Giving up actions outwardly while entertaining cravings in one’s mind is called hypocrisy (mithyachara) as beautifully explained in Bhagavad Gita sloka 3.6. If you have to quit smoking, you have to first remove the cravings for smoking from your thoughts. Assume you decide to sacrifice a night party with your friends for the sake of taking care of your ailing mother as a responsibility, you will not be able to do proper justice to your duty and the desired focus and attention on the responsibility taken unless you completely remove the thoughts of the night party from your mind.
The most important fact about naishkarmya is the control of the senses by the mind and undergoing all actions in life with a detached mind (asaktah). Such a person is called a karmayogin, and he is said to succeed in life.
कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन् | इन्द्रियार्थान्विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचार: स उच्यते | - Bhagavad Gita 3.6
Translation - Those who restrain the external organs of action, while continuing to dwell on sense objects in the mind, certainly delude themselves and are to be called hypocrites.
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Which is More Important – Thoughts or Actions?
If you have to free yourself from shackles, it is not sufficient to stop the actions that bind you but resist or remove the thoughts leading to the actions. That brings up an interesting debate. Which is more important, thoughts or actions?
Our thoughts guide our actions and thus certainly thoughts are important. They create vision, gather inspiration and cultivate imagination. Barring a few serendipitous moments, thoughts are the springboards for almost all the achievements of humankind, be it the famous 'I Have a Dream' speech by Martin Luther King or John F Kennedy’s address to the congress about the project to send human to the moon in 1961 when such a thought looked outlandish.
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Actions Strengthened by Positive Thoughts
New Year is fast approaching. It is always a good beginning to note down and shortlist ambitious new year resolutions in December. These thoughts fructify into resolutions and actions with determinations results in achievements. However, we see that some of the new year resolutions go awry after clear thoughts. Because thoughts alone seldom sustain motivation.
Actions, on the contrary, multiply over time. One small act leads to another and another. Over time, actions become independent from motivation because unlike thoughts actions give us immediate feedback. And with that feedback we are able to gather information, learn and try again.
Seeding and De-weeding
Positive thoughts act as catalysts for actions but thoughts without actions is thinking like a good fertile seed will germinate on its own in the shelf. Stopping the action without cleaning the thoughts is like de-weeding without clearing the roots.
Develop positive thoughts, fortify your thoughts into determined actions and remove thoughts that lead to the action and the outcome when desisting from an action. Spread Positivity.
These thoughts could form as the basis for your 2024 NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS.
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