Oh, we are so selfless towards our kids, come on, and then we expect compliance and returns and obedience, basically ROI. It becomes very difficult to explain to the other that, no, you cannot act selflessly, not because of you, but because you are Homo sapiens. Our species is not designed to act selflessly. Therefore, trying to practice Nishkam Karma (selfless action) without knowing what the “Self” is, is actually self-deception, not selflessness.
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Questioner: Acharya Ji, I have a personal question. Whenever I work, my mind keeps running to the result. I get anxious. Will I succeed or fail? What will people say? I have heard that one should work selflessly without expectation. But when my family members call me selfish, it hurts me deeply. Am I truly selfless or just fooling myself while being selfish in disguise?
Acharya Prashant: Please see why we act and how we act. We act from the ego, as per the dictates of the ego. The ego tells us: act in this particular way, and you would be gratified. Go in that direction, and you'll get something. Strike a relationship here, and you'll be fulfilled. Get a new job there, enter that market, and fetch that coveted good, and you will have contentment. All our action is action from the self, for the sake of the self. You could call it selfish action, or action arising out of self-interest. And that's the norm. Why would anybody be an exception to that norm? It seems okay, doesn't it?
I feel like buying this, I'll buy. I feel like reading, I'll read. I feel like sleeping, I'll sleep. If I enter that business, I'll make a profit. So I do. I like that house, I'll stay there. These are the mannerisms that appeal to me. I adopt them. That's the man or the woman I find attractive. So I approach them. That's the usual center. And one doesn't see what's wrong with that. And as long as one doesn't see what's wrong with that, selfless action is obviously impossible.
