If you are stressed, understand its root cause and find a permanent and lasting solution in Swami Mukundananda's article!

 

Most people experience stress, which is a pervasive problem. We find various solutions to deal with stress in self-help books, but these are usually temporary. The Bhagavad Gita provides a permanent solution for staying stress-free amidst challenges and adverse situations. Swami Mukundananda not only discusses managing stress but also addresses it from a spiritual perspective to eliminate it entirely.

Human life is multifaceted, and while living in the world, we have various roles and responsibilities in our family, profession, society, and spirituality. In the process of balancing all these, we encounter many challenges like stress, anxiety, and fear. How can we control our mind amidst all these difficulties? The Bhagavad Gita sheds light on this and provides a suitable solution.

Before discussing ways to deal with stress, let's first understand its root cause. Stress develops when we are attached to specific outcomes and worry that things may not go as per our desires. For example, a businessperson striving to make a profit but facing unexpected losses experiences stress. Similarly, a sales representative unable to meet targets becomes stressed due to the inability to achieve success. Thus, the roots of stress lie in our attachment to specific outcomes and our mental tendency to reject alternatives and possibilities.

Now that we understand the cause of stress, the solution is simple – we must let go of attachment to outcomes. Focus only on our efforts, not the results. This wisdom was explained in the Bhagavad Gita five thousand years ago:

You have the right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Do not consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and do not be attached to inaction.

The results of our efforts are not entirely in our hands. They depend on various factors such as circumstances, assistance from others, competitive efforts, luck, coincidences, and the will of God. After giving our best effort, we should be content with whatever results we get.

For instance, a nurse in a hospital takes care of patients with great attention. If a patient dies, the nurse doesn't celebrate; if the patient recovers, she doesn't rejoice. She just fulfills her duty. However, if one of the patients is a relative of the nurse, she becomes very anxious while fulfilling her duty. In such a situation, she becomes attached to the patient's outcome, while with other patients, she was just fulfilling her duty.

The above illustration highlights how we perform many tasks in the world without attachment. Now, if we learn to do this consistently in all situations, we can find a permanent solution to deal with stress and achieve joyful peace.

The next natural question that arises is how can we detach ourselves from the results of our actions? For this, we need to practice Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga is derived from two words: 'Karma' meaning professional duties and 'Yoga' meaning union with God. In other words, it means "acting in the world but being connected to God." A Karma Yogi performs worldly duties with the body while keeping the mind absorbed in God.

Consider some practical examples:

In family life, develop the awareness that all family members are children of God, and it's our responsibility to take care of them for God's happiness.

While earning money, one can think, "I want to earn to support myself and my family so that we can all be devoted to God, and whatever I save, I will donate for God's service."

During exercise, we can develop this divine awareness, "I need to keep my body healthy so that I can serve God with a healthy body."

When the mind is in God, we naturally work for His pleasure, dedicating the results of our efforts to Him. By dedicating all actions to God's pleasure, we become free from attachment to results. Consequently, the stress associated with our actions disappears due to the thoughts embedded in our actions.