karmaNi eva ..

[Greg Goode]

At 08:27 AM 10/31/97 -0600, Ravi Mayavaram wrote:

>We should act not because the actions will produce such and such result or
>avoid the activity because we think the results produced may not be of our
>interest. Actions should proceed from the sense of duty. One has to do his
>duty no matter what the consequences are. That is what I understand from
>this verse and the context.

This is true!  Many people ask "Why do anything at all?" when they first
hear that we have no right to the results of actions, and that ultimately
there is no personal doer/recipient of actions.  If there is no personal
motive for doing anything, then why even get out of bed in the morning?
A friend of mine just yesterday asked me this very question, seeing
everything from her own viewpoint.

All philosophical systems I've seen that urge us to renounce the outcomes
of our actions also supply another reason for actions to take place: duty.
These two ideas work beautifully hand-in-hand with each other.

--Greg