is fear of success holding you back?

Verse 3.30: Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.

Seems odd to ask, doesn't it? In fact, some of you might be incredulously asking, "Are you serious? You're fearful of success?"

The funny thing is....I think a lot of people are. Although it may seem normal to be afraid of failure, success can sometimes be even more daunting. In fact, the one quality that success and failure both have in common is:

The Unknown.

Although we may throw all of our efforts, expectations and heart into our work or project, there is no guarantee that success will look as we've envisioned or imagined it to be. Similarly, failure might lead us to face unexpected emotions, thoughts and "seemingly" unwelcome situations.

If you've ever felt this way, today's verse is for you. So far, we've been investigating the art of working without being attached to the results and the Gita has explained how we can do this in a practical way:

Working as an expression of gratitude to the Divine.

The benefit of working in this way is that one does not accrue any karma. We live an "akarmic" life which does not tie us to the temporary, material body anymore. Granted, this is the long-term benefit; so for all of you who have been wondering, "Is there any short-term benefit?" you need not look any further:

Acting without attachment allows you to become free from fear of success and failure!

No longer do you have to live in your head where the mind paints portraits of what success and/or failure might look like. Instead, by working in gratitude, we make ourselves open for Divine empowerment.

Even though we might pride ourselves on thinking big, it's absolutely nothing compared to what can manifest if we allow ourselves to become the instruments of blessings.

My personal role model who embodies this incredible mood of working in gratitude is the great bhakti yogi, Srila Prabhupada. It is he who translated and gave the world The Bhagavad Gita - As It Is. He threw all of his efforts and heart into giving all of us this incredible gift of the Gita and various other bhakti texts, coming over to America at the advanced age of 69 with only forty rupees in his pocket.

He had no fear and no expectations, because his faith was placed in something unshakable - bhakti yoga. He placed everything in the hands of the Supreme and because of that, unbelievably amazing things manifested.

The branches of a tree have the potential to grow to amazing heights since they are connected to the root; similarly, our potential for greatness is limitless if we tune in and connect to our source - the Divine. That's what yoga is all about.

acting without attachment to the result - a practical step by step guide.

Verse 2.48: Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.

~This post is dedicated to my spiritual guide and all my bhakti mentors. Without your love, gentle chastisement, continuous encouragement and empowerment, I would be lost.~

Yesterday I went to my weekly yoga/pilates class. At the end of the class, during the relaxation period, the instructor asked everyone to focus on their breathing. She added, "If thoughts come to your mind, acknowledge them with compassion and let them go." I was left thinking, "What in the world does that mean? Acknowledge your thoughts with compassion." It sounds really beautiful, but how does one actually go about doing it?

In a similar vein, many persons today, equate yoga with feeling peaceful. My question to all of you today is, what does peace mean? That's the challenge with words. No one actually decodes the intangibles like peace, compassion, humility etc., as what is given in the dictionary. They are coloured by our experiences and perceptions. That's why spirituality, which promotes the development of so many of these intangible characteristics, can be confusing to many.

This is why bhakti yoga is not only practical but complete, as it not only gives one the process but explains what the outcome is. Here, a very beautiful and practical definition of yoga is given - "Practice your duty in an equipoised frame of mind, abandoning all attachment to success or failure." Let's stop and really understand what the word equipoised means as, for most of us, this is not a common word we use in our vernacular. Simply put it means balanced or equilibrium.

In the context of yoga, equipoised means to do things for the sake of doing it and giving up the attitude and motivation of "I'm doing this because somehow it will benefit me."

The thing is, we all need some motivating force to drive us to accomplish something. If we don't have one, we won't do anything! Wouldn't you agree? So that begs the question, "If I'm not doing this for me, then what should motivate me?" One could respond and say, "Well, the motivation why I do certain things is certainly not centered on me. I'm motivated because I'm doing it for my friends, family, my country or even for the world." To this, the Gita replies, "Wonderful! That is huge step up from always focusing on ourselves!"

However, like any well-wishing coach or guide who wants to help us attain the best goal possible, Krsna gives us something even higher to strive for. That's right, we can actually operate on even higher motivating principle.

So what is that principle? Prabhupada, our wonderful bhakti guide and teacher, explains in the purport, "Yoga means to concentrate the mind upon the Supreme by controlling the ever-disturbing senses." See the step-wise progression? Let's break it down.

In order to perform one's duties in an equipoised frame of mind (i.e. in yoga):

1. One needs to control the ever-disturbing senses. The senses are like tentacles that are always trying to grab some object so that they can derive some pleasure from it. So how do we control the senses? By purifying them. More on that to come later!

2. One concentrates the mind upon the Supreme. This can be a hard one for many people. The simplest way, however, is to engage in mantra meditation. Simply by repeating transcendental sound vibration, it immediately calms the mind and focuses it. If you've never tried it, just try repeating the simple mantra "Govinda".

3. When one concentrates the mind upon the Supreme, one of the effects we experience is that of gratitude. How's that? Mantra meditation naturally results in the transfer of one's attention from oneself to a higher consciousness. When we tap into that higher consciousness, the worries and anxieties that normally swirl through our mind are exposed for what they really are - temporary and insignificant. That's not to imply that we don't need to take care of them. It means we take care of them with the proper perspective, and thereby don't experience the anxiety factor.

4. This leads one to feeling grateful. Grateful to the Supreme who is always taking care of us and is looking to help us. When we really feel grateful, we want to find a way to demonstrate it to the object of our gratitude, don't we? This is the motivation that drives us - we offer everything we do in appreciation of our gratitude to the Supreme.

In this way, we can be equipoised and naturally give up our obsession with success or failure. We become inspired to do our very best since it's an expression of our gratitude for all that we have been given, but notice how the attachment has changed! It's very subtle. We become attached to offering our best and become unattached to the conception of successful and failure. As they say, "It's the thought that counts." We don't realize it, but it's actually true!

And the best part of it all? The Gita states that the Supreme doesn't measure success or failure the way we do. It's the motivation that matters, and if we become attached to offering our best in a spirit of gratitude, there is nothing greater than that.