Eastern & Western Philosophies Meet on: RIGHTFUL ACTION

  

“I express the principle of one’s freedom as a human being in this formula: No one can compel me (in accordance with his beliefs about the welfare of others) to be happy after his fashion; instead every person may seek happiness in the way that seems best to him, if he only does not violate the freedom of others to strive toward such similar ends as are compatible with everyone’s freedom under a possible universal law”.  -  Immanuel  Kant 

Each person should find their own personal path to happiness as long as they do not harm others along the way. Another idea of Kant is that while free to determine your path to happiness, you must perform rightful action along the way with no other motives than the for the sake of doing your duty as a part of society.

Rightful action can be defined as doing things to better the world around you: community service, helping a neighbor, being a working and law abiding member of society, carrying out tasks that are asked of you, and so on. These actions are duties we have as humans, and performing them with that intention will only increase your happiness and bring more positivity into your life. There are certain laws put in place that require us to do things, but the purpose of them is to maintain universal happiness, not to create happiness for individuals.

The third section of  the Bhagavad Gita is about Action. Lord Krisha tells the warrior Arjuna that he must perform action as a sacrifice, detached from the outcome: good or bad.  This is the yogic path known as Karma Yoga. Karma yoga is an active path of selfless service. Action is better than no action and in order to move forward in this life some action must be taken.

“Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life.”  -BG 3.19*

Both Kant and the Bhagvad Gita suggest that through meritous actions from which you are detatched to the outcome, happiness can be obtained.  Moral merit increases your moral worth, which increases your happiness.          

 “Action imprisons the world unless it is done as a sacrifice; freed from attachment, Arjuna, perform action as sacrifice!” -BG 3.9**

By performing action with the intention of sacrafice, a great amount of happiness can be found because there are no expectations for the result of your action. When action is done with altirier motives, we must deal with expectations and assumptions, which will only misguide our intention and create false ideas about what should be. If those ideas aren’t fulfilled, we suffer. When you do not think about the result of your action you can only find happiness. The intention of your action is then pure and pure actions have positive outcomes. Lord Krishna calls men who attach to their actions “ignorant” because they are afflicted with the qualities of nature. The qualitieis of nature are always changing. ….. The Bhagvad Gita emphasize detachment from your actions in the form of surrender. This requires an understanding of your duty, the will to fulfill it, and sense of contentment from the simplicity of performing that actiong. (There is a similar belief in Mahyana Buddhism which includes seeking out enlightment for the good of all beings.) 

“What the outstanding person does, others will try to do. The stanards such people create will be followed by the whole world”- BG 3.21**

By doing good and being a positive reflection for others, you are raising the vibrations of the universe you live in which in turn raises your vibrations.

“Nature has willed that man, entirely by himself, produce everything that goes beyond the mechanical organization of his animal existence and partake in no other happiness or perfection than what he himself, independently of instinct, can secure through his own reason”-Immanuel Kant

You have the choice to take action in your life. The results of your actions will reflect the quality of your actions. You are the only one who can bring yourself to a point where you are worth of life and well-being. 

above picture is a scene from the Bhagavad-Gita



** From translation by Eknath Easwaran
*From translation by Barbara Stoller Miller