Without sacrifice, there is no reward. In the world of the spirit, the sacrifice that is asked of us is the ultimate — we are asked to renounce the sense of “doing” that we carry with us all the time, even in sleep. “Though all actions are done by the constituents of nature, the ignorant one, deluded by his egoism, regards himself as the doer”, says Lord Krishna in The Bhagavad Gita. From where and whence we acquired this habit of identifying with our “doing,” we cannot say, but it is the root of misery and constant relentless cycles of births and deaths. No matter how many rituals we engage in, how many sacred texts or postures we master, and how many pilgrimages we rub our feet on — the day we eradicate this doing mentality will be the day that frees us.

It is indeed the hardest to shed, but the rewards that follow are befitting. The journey is painfully excruciating in the beginning, rather heart wrenching, as ‘we’ begin to recede. Our whole sense of survival depends on it. It is all we’ve got! Giving it up, or being made to feel powerless is the most humbling experience one can have. Yet, doing deeds in the spirit of renunciation alone is the way. While engaged in action, operate with detachment, and surrender all actions to the cosmic principle. This is the only means to attain liberation. As we stick to this yogic renunciation, and keep sacrificing ‘mineness’ from our life, we get to view some spectacular landscapes in the Spirit world.