Thus the man that has practiced control over himself cannot be acted upon by
anything outside; there is no more slavery for him. His mind has become free.
Such a man alone is fit to live well in the world. We generally find men
holding two opinions regarding the world. Some are pessimists and say, “How
horrible this world is, how wicked!" Some others are optimists and say, "How
beautiful this world is, how wonderful!" To those who have not controlled their
own minds, the world is either full of evil or at best a mixture of good and evil.
This very world will become to us an optimistic world when we become
masters of our own minds. Nothing will then work upon us as good or evil; we
shall find everything to be in its proper place, to be harmonious. Some men,
who begin by saying that the world is a hell, often end by saying that it is a
heaven when they succeed in the practice of self-control. If we are genuine
Karma-Yogis and wish to train ourselves to that attainment of this state,
wherever we may begin we are sure to end in perfect self-abnegation; and as
soon as this seeming self has gone, the whole world, which at first appears to
us to be filled with evil, will appear to be heaven itself and full of blessedness.
Its very atmosphere will be blessed; every human face there will be god. Such
is the end and aim of Karma-Yoga, and such is its perfection in practical life.
Our various Yogas do not conflict with each other; each of them leads us to the
same goal and makes us perfect. Only each has to be strenuously practiced. The
whole secret is in practicing. First you have to hear, then think, and then
practice. This is true of every Yoga. You have first to hear about it and
understand what it is; and many things which you do not understand will be
made clear to you by constant hearing and thinking. It is hard to understand
everything at once. The explanation of everything is after all in yourself. No
one was ever really taught by another; each of us has to teach himself. The
external teacher offers only the suggestion which rouses the internal teacher to
work to understand things. Then things will be made clearer to us by our own
power of perception and thought, and we shall realise them in our own souls;
and that realisation will grow into the intense power of will. First it is feeling,
then it becomes willing, and out of that willing comes the tremendous force for
work that will go through every vein and nerve and muscle, until the whole
mass of your body is changed into an instrument of the unselfish Yoga of work,
and the desired result of perfect self-abnegation and utter unselfishness is duly
attained. This attainment does not depend on any dogma, or doctrine, or belief.
Whether one is Christian, or Jew, or Gentile, it does not matter. Are you
unselfish? That is the question. If you are, you will be perfect without reading a
single religious book, without going into a single church or temple. Each one of
our Yogas is fitted to make man perfect even without the help of the others,
because they have all the same goal in view. The Yogas of work, of wisdom,
and of devotion are all capable of serving as direct and independent means for
the attainment of Moksha. "Fools alone say that work and philosophy are
different, not the learned.” The learned know that, though apparently different
from each other, they at last lead to the same goal of human perfection.
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