Mike: I have a few follow-up questions regarding your last response.
On Karma Yoga and Compensation
In my professional life, I had stopped advocating for raises, thinking that results belong to Ishwara. However, your response suggests that Karma Yoga includes taking appropriate action, including standing up for oneself when required.
This raises some confusion for me. From the standpoint of Jnana Yoga, I understand that I am already whole and complete. If that is so, why should I seek anything, including fair compensation? Wouldn’t that imply I am still seeking fulfillment through Artha?
Or is the very notion that “I should not act” itself a form of ignorance—confusing the level of absolute understanding with transactional reality?
Sundari: Whether the world is known to be real or not, it exists and you have no choice but to transact with it. The answer to this question, as with all questions, is: Who is transacting? If you are transacting as a person, the answer on topics (and most things) such as this is always a matter of what is dharmic. If you are doing your work but not being properly remunerated for it, appropriate action is to speak up. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Of course, as an inquirer, you take appropriate action – speak up – but leave the results to Isvara.
Karma yoga does not mean that you do not take action. It is your attitude TOWARDS action that counts. Yes, you are full and complete regardless of the result you get, so taking action as the Self involves no agitation, worry or stress no matter the result. It is known that all results belong to Isvara. But as you are the Self, you can also tell Isvara what you want. And since the action taken as the Self will align with what is dharmic, what you want is dharmic. There is no contradiction. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: ‘I am the desire that is not opposed to dharma’.
Mike: For most of my life, I have been predominantly influenced by rajas—constantly concerned about the future and what needs to be done. While this helped me achieve material success externally, it also created inner anxiety and restlessness. Even after significant achievements, such as completing my dream education, I found myself unable to pause, celebrate, or feel truly satisfied.
Sundari: This is the typical result of too much rajas. The backlash from so much extroversion is always worry and stress because no matter what we achieve in the world, it is never enough. It cannot fulfil what we really want because the joy is never in the object, whatever that is. So the inevitable result of too much rajas is tamas, the feeling of burn out, dissatisfaction and incompleteness. The only solution to this conundrum is karma yoga, appropriate action surrendered to Isvara, and jnana yoga – Self-knowledge.
Mike: Certain teachings helped me manage this. A concept from Dale Carnegie—“Live in day-tight compartment”—encouraged me to focus only on the present day, essentially living from waking up in the morning until going to sleep, without projecting into tomorrow. It means sealing off the “dead yesterdays” and the “unborn tomorrows” to focus your time and energy entirely on the present 24 hours. This was quite transformative.
Sundari: Any process that helps manage the mind (the rajas/tamas cycle) is helpful. Ultimately, all you need is karma yoga and jnana yoga, which takes care of everything related to the body/mind.
Mike: Later, teachings from Eckhart Tolle refined this further into living in the present moment—the “Now”—which he equates with consciousness. Practices like inner body awareness, which he describes as a bridge between the manifested and the unmanifested, were especially impactful for me.
However, with my growing exposure to Vedanta, I now understand that such practices may still operate within duality, as they involve experience and objects of awareness, possibly at the level of the subtle or causal body.
Sundari: Yes, this is the key realization. Tolle does not have an independent teaching, what he does teach is experience-based, therefore, based in duality. But he does help many people find some peace of mind, at least for a while. What you really want is permanent peace of mind, which only comes with nondual knowledge. See above.
Mike: Additionally, would Eckhart Tolle’s concept of inner body awareness be comparable to Upasana Yoga? From my personal experience, it has been a game changer, but I would like to understand how it fits within the Vedantic framework.
Sundari: What does Tolle mean by ‘inner body awareness’? There are not two awarenesses. There is only one Awareness and it is the knower of the so-called ‘inner awareness’. It is by the presence of nondual Awareness shining on the mind that ‘we’ as a person are aware at all. The problem arises when we identify with ‘inner awareness’—what Vedanta refers to as reflected awareness—as our true identity. This is what we mean when we say that Tolle does not have a teaching. He teaches duality mixed with nonduality and causes confusion because if he knows the difference, he does not teach it.
From the Vedanta perspective, the body/mind is an object known to you, the Self. It is only apparently real, which means it is mithya, that which is always changing and not always present. Only pure Awareness, SATYA, the witness, is always present and incapable of change.
But to make progress with self-inquiry, we do need to understand and objectify our thoughts and feelings. To do so, we first need to identify them and then unravel them with reference to Self-knowledge, which requires knowledge of the gunas. All thoughts and feelings are guna generated, and they clearly are associated with our karma load and personality.
This is why for self-inquiry to work, we need a purified mind. To achieve that, we need to objectively understand our programming to negate it as only apparently real. The teachings on the gunas should be life changing for you, because this teaching clarifies that although all thoughts and feelings seem so personal, they generate from the impersonal Causal body. As do all our seemingly personaly vasanas (tendencies), which are also guna-generated.
Looked at through the lens of jnana yoga – the nondual teachings – we can at last truly render non-binding and negate the contents of our conscious and unconscious mind. This is no walk in the park, however. Most obstacles to the nondual teachings assimilating are found here – which is why self-inquiry is an intense and lengthy process. You need to start at the beginning, sign on to the teachings as I mentioned in my last email to you.
Both James and I cover all the whole methodology of self-inquiry as it pertains to Vedanta extensively, with particular emphasis on understanding the jiva, which is where all the ‘work’ of self-inquiry is. Vedanta tells you upfront what your true identity is – ignorance of your true identity – and how to resolve the issue. But we cannot do the work of self-inquiry for you, nor can we qualify you for it. We can only help you understand what is missing and point you in the right direction with the teaching methodology of Vedanta. Self-inquiry is hard work, there is no short cut and no easy fix because the egoic jiva persona is hard wired. Ignorance/the hypnosis of duality, is very tenacious. Again, this is why the qualifications are so important if self-inquiry is to work for you.
I can tell you are very sincere, but do not be in a hurry and jump ahead. You will get stuck, I assure you.
If you would like to arrange a private zoom session, we are happy to oblige, by donation.
Om and prem
Sundari
