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.Rather see those who are constantly engaged in trying to improvetheir lives, the lives of others, helping the environment, and the ani-mals as performing actions leading to spiritual liberation.[Verse24 32]Brahma (eternal Soul) is the offering, Brahma is that offered (oblation), Brahma is the sacri-ficial fire, and Brahma performs the offering.So, by performing actions with this awareness,a person realizes Brahma.[24]Some yogis propitiate the gods; others make offerings into the fire of Brahma by offeringtheir personal self to the eternal Soul.[25]Some offer their senses of hearing and seeing into the fire of self-control; others offer soundand other sense objects into the fire of the senses.[26]Others offer all actions of the senses and their vital energies in the fire of self-control, kindledby wisdom.[27]Some offer wealth as their sacrifice; some offer austerity and yoga; still others offer study ofthe scriptures and wisdom.All follow strict vows and self-control.[28] Bhagavad Gita for Modern Times Chapter 467Still others offer their outgoing breath to the incoming breath and vice versa, to achievecessation of breath; they constantly practice Pranayama.Others regulate their food habits,offering the senses into the breath.[29]All these people know the various forms of sacrifice (offerings).Performing the offeringsburns off their impurities.Partaking of the remnants (prashad) they realize their eternal Soul.[30]O Arjuna, one who doesn t perform selfless actions is not fit for this world, what to say aboutthe heavenly realm.[31]There are various offerings prescribed in the Vedas.Understand that they all arise from ac-tions; by knowing this you will become free.[32]The Best MinistryA common question these days is to ask which form of help is themost useful.Some say it is political, social, or ecological activism,helping the poor, the minorities, the environment, etc.Others say itis meditation, since a person must know his or her true self beforethey can help another person.Still others say that financial dona-tions are the most important.In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says that acting with wisdomis superior to uninformed action even if well-meaning.One suchexample is donating to a charity without knowledge of how they arespending your money.Some charities give more of the money tothe needy while others spend more on administrative fees and fundraising.Knowledge of which charity gives more of your donation tothe intended cause makes your donation more beneficial.Another example is gaining the knowledge of which charities arehelping people actually rise out of poverty compared with thosewho keep throwing money at the situation without changing it.It isimportant to ensure that your time or money are truly helping. Chapter 4 Bhagavad Gita for Modern Times68How to Gain KnowledgeA saint once said that a true seeker learns something from everyoneand everything.To learn from others requires a person to be humbleand sincere and always asking questions to get to the root-cause ofsituations.This can involve hearing all sides of a situation beforecoming to a decision; perhaps both sides have good points that needto be integrated into a more holistically helpful answer.This method of learning equally applies whether learning in school,from a boss or mentor, or from a spiritual guide.Once the root causeof a situation is known; once the false preconceptions and myths aredestroyed, one can move forward to affect positive change, withoutever becoming confused again.In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is confused about the reasons for fight-ing this war.Even today, we ask the same questions when countriesgo to war; why are we fighting? What is the cause of the conflict? Isthere any other way than war to settle this?Dispelling the Myths of Habits of the Poor the War on PovertyHere is a modern-day example of finding the root-cause of issues.In the war on poverty, there are many views of the actual cause.Some say the poor were left behind.Others say the wealthy stoleand enslaved the poor to become rich themselves.There have alsobeen countless policies to help the poor, most notably those by theInternational Monetary Fund and the World Bank.But after decadesof unsuccessful efforts, people began to analyze and strongly ques-tion the effectiveness of these policies
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