Action, humility and offering

The unseen dark plays on his flute,
And the rhythm of light,
Eddies into the stars and suns,
Into thoughts and reams.
- Rabindranath Tagor



सत्त्वत्संजायेते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च
प्रमाद्मोहो तमसो भवतोज्ञानमेव च
sattvat sanjayte gyanam  rajaso lobha eva cha
pramada mohau tamaso  bhavato agyanam eva cha
(Bhagavat Gita - Chapter 14, Verse 17)

Explanation - 
sattva - from the mode of goodness;
sanjayte - develops;
gyanam - knowledge;
rajasah - from the mode of passion;
lobhah - greed;
eva - certainly;
cha - also;
pramada - madness;
mohau - and illusion;
tamasah - from the mode of ignorance;
bhavatah - develops;
agyanam - nonsense;
eva - certainly
cha - also.

From the mode of goodness (sattva), real knowledge develops; from the mode of passion (tamas), greed develops, and from the mode of ignorance develop foolishness, madness and illusion.

Life is nothing but an action every moment being alive. Once man ceases to act, he is is no more alive. This action can be qualified as to be done in the below two attitudes - 

Sattva - This is the mode of doing an activity in devotion, totally not attached with the outcome. Here the activity is the path to wisdom. It is not a means to a goal. Rather it is done for its own sake. The doer offers his time, energy, and skills to the activity itself. The idea is to know, to be; not to have. It is being in the appreciation that the results are not just a function of the individual deeds. But rather, there is a bigger scheme of things, which is hidden, unknown and totally un-controllable from the perspective of the doer. There is no certainty of the result or life per-se. Rather what is in control is the process of entering into the action, and the attitude man develops for the action. That attitude is termed here as Sattva. It is the attitude of considering activity as a sacred journey, where the person venerates each moment in the activity, and offers his total being in the activity as such. 

Tamas - This is the mode of doing an activity in order to have something, to attain a goal. It is done from the level of a child who badly is attached towards having something, or somebody. Work is a means to have, devour, snatch, attain, win over the other - either a thing or a person. Here work is done in fear, anxiety, stress and profound greed. The process of doing the activity might be rigorous or superficial. That is not the point. But the attitude of the doer is the subject of discussion. For the doer, it is about his ego, his attachment, greed and the deep passion to Have. This is madness or illusion, as is expressed in the above verse. The truth is that results might come, or might not. And even if results are produced as expected, it is immaterial in the bigger scheme of things. The doer has to eventually forgo anything external that he abounds, sooner or later. This mode is totally removed from the attitude of being a part of a big scheme of things. There is no humility. And worst of all it is grounded in the passion to have. This leads the person to anger, destruction and pain, when he is not able to have his subject of attachment. 

One can see that even if one has enough money and adequate arrangements for sense gratification, there is neither happiness or peace of mind. That is not possible, because one is situated in the mode of passion. If one wants happiness at all, his money will not help him; he has to elevate himself to the mode of goodness by practicing Sattva. When one is engaged in the mode of passion, not only is he mentally unhappy, but his profession and occupation are also very troublesome. He has to devise so many plans and schemes to acquire enough money to maintain his status quo. This is all miserable. In the mode of ignorance, they take shelter of intoxication, and thus they sink further into ignorance.

Humility is not mere consciousness of our littleness, which might be only a feeling of disappointment at not being as important as we would wish to be, nor is it self-depreciation. Rather it is the eradication of all self-conceit, so that we become sweet and beautiful, have an openness of mind and heart, and feeling a really deep respect for another, whoever he may be, based on the recognition of his Godhead.

- N Sri Ram.

(Hence, humility is the starting point to really know some one else. It is the foundation of being receptive, understanding and loving to the other. It is the genesis of expanding out of the pigeonhole of one's own small self, and reaching out to the open universe. It adds newer dimensions to one's self. It makes man grow)

Religion lies in a state of mind and heart in which there is action, unreserved and complete, which action is a giving of itself by a nature which then manifests itself.

- N Sri Ram

Mother, I shall weave a chain of pearls

For thy neck with my tears of sorrow.

The stars have wrought their anklets

Of light to deck thy feet,

But mine will hang upon thy breast.

Wealth and fame come from thee

And it is for thee to give or withold them.

But this my sorrow is absolutely mine own,

And when I bring it to thee,

As my offering thou rewardest me

With thy grace.

- Rabindranath Tagore (Gitanjali Verse 83)