Vandana Shiva is AMAZING
I had the great fortune of meeting Vandana Shiva while in India. Her writings are all over the web but here is an exerpt from her interview in Yes! magazine. http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=570
Sarah: Let me wrap up with a personal question. Every time I’ve heard you speak or met you, you’ve had so much energy, not only intellectual energy, but personal or spiritual energy. I’m just wondering, what keeps you so alive?
Vandana: Well, it’s always a mystery, because you don’t know why you get depleted or recharged. But, this much I know. I do not allow myself to be overcome by hopelessness, no matter how tough the situation. I believe that if you just do your little bit without thinking of the bigness of what you stand against, if you turn to the enlargement of your own capacities, just that in itself creates new potential.
And I’ve learned from the Bhagavad Gita and other teachings of our culture to detach myself from the results of what I do, because those are not in my hands. The context is not in your control, but your commitment is yours to make, and you can make the deepest commitment with a total detachment about where it will take you. You want it to lead to a better world, and you shape your actions and take full responsibility for them, but then you have detachment. And that combination of deep passion and deep detachment allows me always to take on the next challenge because I don’t cripple myself, I don’t tie myself in knots. I function like a free being. I think getting that freedom is a social duty because I think we owe it to each other not to burden each other with prescription and demands. I think what we owe each other is a celebration of life and to replace fear and hopelessness with fearlessness and joy.
Sarah: Let me wrap up with a personal question. Every time I’ve heard you speak or met you, you’ve had so much energy, not only intellectual energy, but personal or spiritual energy. I’m just wondering, what keeps you so alive?
Vandana: Well, it’s always a mystery, because you don’t know why you get depleted or recharged. But, this much I know. I do not allow myself to be overcome by hopelessness, no matter how tough the situation. I believe that if you just do your little bit without thinking of the bigness of what you stand against, if you turn to the enlargement of your own capacities, just that in itself creates new potential.
And I’ve learned from the Bhagavad Gita and other teachings of our culture to detach myself from the results of what I do, because those are not in my hands. The context is not in your control, but your commitment is yours to make, and you can make the deepest commitment with a total detachment about where it will take you. You want it to lead to a better world, and you shape your actions and take full responsibility for them, but then you have detachment. And that combination of deep passion and deep detachment allows me always to take on the next challenge because I don’t cripple myself, I don’t tie myself in knots. I function like a free being. I think getting that freedom is a social duty because I think we owe it to each other not to burden each other with prescription and demands. I think what we owe each other is a celebration of life and to replace fear and hopelessness with fearlessness and joy.
posted by jerlina at 9:50 PM
1 Comments:
Gita may mislead people, yet people perform better because of their inner convictions and strengths. They may unnessarily innocently attribute it to the advice in Gita. www.bhagavadgitayb.blogspot.com
If you want to see the sages Agastya, Jamadagni, Vasishta, and Visvaamitra, and the king Harischandra performing a yagna, please visit: www.mahabhagavatayb.blogspot.com
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