REFLECTION 15: ACTING WITHOUT ATTACHMENT

There is a way of acting in which a person can do-and remain free at the same time. Not bound by success or failure; not tormented by gain or loss; not tied up inside by right and wrong. This is 'acting in the Way without clinging': doing what must be done, without becoming entangled in the outcome.

For the moment the mind cares in the grasping sense, we hand our emotional life over to circumstances. If we succeed, we feel elated; if we fail, we suffer. If we are praised, we swell with pride; if we are criticised, we feel small and wounded. And so the mind is tossed about, endlessly, by the waves of life-never truly at rest.

The wise are not indifferent, but they know where to place their heart: in the action itself, not in the result. They do what needs doing, what is right to do, for the joy of creating, for love, for truth-not for prestige or reward. Like a flower releasing its fragrance: it does not bloom for anyone, nor does it wither for anyone. It simply does its work-opening in its own naturalness.

Success and failure, gain and loss, right and wrong-these are only labels applied by a mind that pides. But the Way is not found inside such opposites. When we let go of all comparison, what remains is a deep peace: pure action-like a river that keeps flowing, like the sun that keeps rising, without needing a reason.

That is why a truly free person is not the one who 'gets everything', but the one who is no longer bound by anything at all. They act, and then they let go. They give, and then they forget. They live, and they smile-whatever storms and changes the world may bring.

Hoàng Nhật Minh
Excerpt from the book: Spiritual Science - A Journey Back To Your True Self

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