Chaitra Navratra has begun and so have the good wishes, long notes on social media. Information flooding, and then there is silence. Silence that holds the meaning of the 9 auspicious nights- Parvathi’s tapasya. Tapasya is not about extreme austerities- standing in snow, fasting for years and meditating in forests. We need to question what does it actually mean to us? Because we don’t live in caves, we are living in families, with jobs and responsibilities.
Be it anything, but most are practicing sadhna while feeling like individual doers, like one owns it. So the feeling of “I am doing sadhna” , “I am improving” “I am evolved and progressing”, the “I” invades many. The self-absorption that follows. The sense of doership(ahamkara) remains.
Life keeps happening, people come, situations appear. And these situations bring us joy, loss, humiliations. Vedanta and Yogic philosophy say these experiences are not random, they are prarabdha karma. The results of seeds that were already sown once upon a time. Seeds that were planted before even you were born.
The bhagwat Gita((4:17)) says " the nature of karma is difficult to understand"
Your experiences of now/today is the unfolding of many actions whose origin we can’t remember. So if everything unfolding is the result of past karma- how should spirituality be practiced by living in this world? Traditional teaching that’s why emphasised on karma without expectations, feeding the hungry, helping others, performing dharmic actions, not because others need it, not because you think it is “your punya” .Punyata or dharmikta shouldn’t bring ego. A lot of people do charity for ego satisfaction. But without a single thought of ” i will gain punyata” sows the seed for future experiences. The BG calls this Nishkama karma- an action without attachment to results. This is Niyama in materialistic life too- doing your role by not feeding the ego that claims ownership