Enough Is Never Enough…So ‘Let Go, Let God'
As a case may be made that the age in which we live fosters addictive behaviour, knowing when to stop is not a skill easily at our disposal.
Unfortunately ‘hitting bottom’ for most of us is the first STOP SIGN we encounter in our quest for sobriety—actual or de facto.
Except that hitting bottom ensures only improvement can come next, it is not a pleasant place to be—in no way, shape or form.
For the moment, let’s put aside what Carolyn
Myss—and Shree Vasant—said…”All humans are addicts.” We feel it, we know it.
Many societies and virtually all of the internet teases and cajoles us into believing EXCESS, MAXI, SUPER-SIZE…are, or should be, not only our goals but our raison d’être—our reason for being. More is better. Much more is even better yet.
When it comes to dysfunctional behaviour, knowing when to stop is crucial. When it comes to service and other actions that improve our human condition, stop signs are also valuable.
A popular word these days is OVERWHELMED, as in, “I am feeling so overwhelmed…by my life.”
Certainly STRESS comprises a major component of feeling overwhelmed. Looking for the causes of stress, we might consider lack of BALANCE, PERSPECTIVE and EFFICIENCY.
Looking for the antidotes, we might consider balance, perspective and efficiency.
“Yoga is efficiency of action,” Patanjali begins his Yoga Sutras with.
The core of service—and, and at the same time, the safety valve for relief of stress is inculcating idam na mama.
If non-attachment to the fruits of your labour is to be attained, letting go and letting God may best be your modus operandi.
In other words, in your best ‘trust but verify’ mode, carry on with service while simultaneously staying within the lines of the Boss’(in the sky) parameters.
Let go and let God” means stopping your attempts to control outcomes and instead trusting a higher power to handle them. •
The values of this approach include reduction of feeling overwhelmed, less likelihood of ego claiming ownership of positive outcomes, and less likelihood of disappointment should things go awry. Most importantly, the best karmic outcome is more likely to manifest. Being an ally of the Divine is the highest of callings. And though the higher the calling, the harder the road at times, the tens of thousands of Agnihotris worldwide attest to the value.
And SERENITY, a form of peaceful acceptance and release from the obsessive need to control, awaits us over the rainbow.
And though the Law of Karma is inviolable—so important and sacred and unbending—anything near full awareness of magnitudes, far-reaching effects and whys and wherefores is so beyond humans’ comprehension and consciousness as to make attempts to figure things out a lesson in futility. It is so far above our pay grade, it is unattainable.
Of course 1) GRACE can trump karmic paybacks and 2) performing good actions without attachment ensures no further karmic entanglements. However, as this is easier said than done, it makes sense to make use of the tools that we have been provided with.
Agnihotra, if performed regularly seems to make all things possible actually. And to a large extent, making us more aware of and more proficient at practicing DAAN, TAPA, KARMA & SWADHYAYA is the blessing. Earned blessings best be utilised.