Thy right is to work only, but never to its fruits; let not the fruit of action be they motive, nor let they attachment be to inaction.
Bhagavad Gita 2:47 (https://shlokam.org/bhagavad-gita/2-47/)
Are images really treacherous?
I am not sure if images are treacherous, but they can definitely be deceptive. A little look at the stats page, for example, creates an amazing image for the ego, of a blog well read and "successful" in outer world terms. Thanks to some Singaporean bots(assuming that is what they are) it shows that I have had 28,500 views already this month and the month is just starting. Imagine! (Only months before I would have been thrilled with 285 views in an entire month.)
Is this image of blogging success real?
No...like so many images we attach meaning to in this world, this image isn't real. The bot activity on the stats page creates an image that creates a surface illusion of success according to the requirements of the surface illusion of the material world, that feeds the surface illusion of an ego. All just one big surface illusion. The numbers are there on this image in plain black and white, that is real, but what they are pointing to is not real...I am not what is deemed as a "successful blogger." There has not been that many readers ( Google analytics is very quick to put ego in its place lol) .
The thing is, even if those numbers were legitimate, would that make the image of success real? No...it would just be pointing to a number of clicks onto certain pages. These clicks of the finger do not mean that the entries were read. And even if they were read? That does not mean that the effort I put into creating these entries was received in a way I would want them to be received, does it? Sure it may herald a certain "success" in blogger terms...which is all about the numbers... about the number of clicks rather than the number of readers...but not in "real" terms...in reaping the fruit of my action terms.
Fruits of Action Beyond the Image
What fruit am I hoping to reap by my actions here? What I want to do here; what I want to pass on goes way beyond the creation of an image ( which is a good thing considering this blog creates a far from perfect image lol), and beyond getting a certain number on my stats page. It even goes beyond getting a certain number of people to genuinely read my blog in order to get something from it. Infact, it isn't about the fruit, it is about the action itself.
Let not the fruit of action be they motive
Still Not Evolved...
Writing is like that for me. I write to write. Don't get me wrong...I can still see a big fat greedy ego that wants to gain a certain recognition and success as a writer, that wants to earn some money as a writer lurking around in my psyche. I am not that evolved yet. I even caught myself trying to convince myself initially that the spikes on the stats page were legitimate lol. I was falling in love with the image created there...willing to be deceived by it. The thought of being successful as a writer/teacher ( just identities that reveal I am far from evolved) and the thoughts of reaping the fruits of my actions here ( getting paid and out of this financial slump) were enticing. So I was kind of enjoying the image and was willing to be deceived by it.
...but no longer attached to the fruit.
Still, I knew it was not real. I knew if these fruits ego was wanting me to gain by writing showed up in my life, they would not sustain who I was beyond the "me" . I knew they were not enough to keep me from enjoying and doing what I do, regardless of outcome. Regardless of what the numbers show on this page...legitimate or not...I would still come here everyday to do what I do. I am so glad to know I have a right to this work, even if I don't have a right to its fruits.
Eckhart Tolle in the below video link tells us that when we release the attachment to the fruits of our actions and serve and offer because we find joy in what we do,we release ourselves from the hold of negative karma and may someday even reap the rewards of positive karma. Sometimes, the fruit will show up ripened in our lives naturally when our motivation is pure But like most karma,we may not see the results right away...we might not even see it in this life time. There are so many writers who struggled through their incarnations with the hope of being known...and who only found their ideas of success post humously. I would be okay with that.
I do not need to be known in this life time but if what I do here will benefit others after I die, that would be great. I often come here with this little thought chirping in my head..."I may not get readers when I am alive, but maybe after I pass on, someone will have the sense to come here and see what I was spending so much of my earthly time doing, read it, appreciate it and get something of value from it. Maybe my children who are also struggling financially will earn some money from selling something I wrote."
Regardless if a cent is earned on this that I write,or not, now or posthumously. If I have no more than ten readers total since inception; if I continue to be viewed by no more than bots....it is okay. I will not get lost in an image of success and I will continue to write, learn and teach for the sheer joy of it. The fruits of action will never be my motive. I come here to write, just to come here to write.
Anyway, I thought of that this afternoon and thought I would share. Why? Because I love the action. The fruits of my action are secondary, if anything significant at all.
All is well
Nerdwriter 1 (2015?) What is the Treachery of Images? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atHQpANmHCE
Eckhart Tolle (May, 2023) What is Karma Yoga?...The Bhagavad Gita. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3YRKMB-TIg&t=3s
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