Our Eastern Masters have declared again and again, ‘You are bliss. You are love. You are eternal bliss itself.’ When you are bliss itself, what more can you ask for? When you understand and experience this truth, you are enough unto yourself; you are completely satisfied. Nothing exists for you to achieve because you are already the ultimate you can achieve!

Existence has provided, is providing and will provide for each and every one of your needs. Your suffering, your struggle, your incompletion is only because you don’t trust that you are being provided all that you need; because you carry a deep self-doubt and consider yourself separate from Existence, who you think is your enemy.

As of now, you are running behind something out of greed, thinking you will have bliss when you possess it. Either you are running behind something out of greed or you are running away from something out of fear. You are afraid something will take away your joy, your life. Both running towards something and running away from something become irrelevant when you understand you are a part of this loving Existence, taking care of you every moment.

Existence is taking care of you every moment. Do you think you can be alive even for one moment if Existence does not want you to be alive?

The very fact that you are alive proves that Existence wants you here, now, in this form, in this place.

This is the ultimate cause for celebration! What more do you want?

Existence has provided, is providing and will provide for each and every one of your needs. Your suffering, your struggle, your incompletion is only because you don’t trust that you are being provided all that you need; because you carry a deep self-doubt and consider yourself separate from Existence, who you think is your enemy.

People often look at my feet and tell me that I have such smooth and soft feet. They do not know I have wandered thousands of miles barefoot in all types of terrain. When you walk upon Mother Earth with great respect, trust and love, She will simply cherish you. I never wore footwear in the early years of my life. Even now when I enter Tiruvannamalai, my birth town, I don’t wear footwear.

I was once on an elephant safari on a jungle path. The guide showed me a path which was used by humans, alongside the one on which the elephant was walking. The guide’s path had no grass on it. The guide said where man walks, no grass grows, but where the elephant walks, the grass does not die!

As humans we have lost touch with Nature, with Existence. We have fallen out of tune with ourselves and with Nature. That is why we experience Nature unpleasantly. Even in our prayers there is no gratitude, there is only asking. We have become beggars. Also, you are not satisfied with how Existence chooses to take care of your needs. You look at others and have a big list of wants based on what others have. You fail to understand that each of us is unique and each of us has been provided with exactly what we need. Instead, you start looking at what others have and want that also. Greed sets in.

This is how you waste your entire life running behind desires and running away from reality. We are focused only on the outer world. As long as the outer world is responsible for your happiness, there can be no permanent happiness. The person centered in completion does not depend on external causes or people to feel joyful, blissful. Constantly, the fountain of bliss is happening within him. He is enjoyment itself!

Here Kṛṣṇa says a beautiful thing:

King Janaka was a beautiful example of a true karma yogi, a man of selfless authenticity in action with a continuous commitment to enriching life in and around him. He was a king. He ruled a kingdom and yet was unattached, liberated. Just like Kṛṣṇa who ruled a kingdom and yet was a Sannyāsi in the truest sense of the word, Janaka was a model king who was complete unto himself, untouched by the external world.

Once, an ascetic went to the court of King Janaka and saw how Janaka was neck-deep in the activities of his kingdom, living like a king. He then thought to himself, ‘Janaka seems to be a materialistic person. He is entrapped in so many worldly matters.’

Janaka understood what the ascetic was thinking.

Janaka called him and asked him, ‘What kind of an ascetic are you? Instead of being happy and content within yourself you are trying to find fault with others? This is a grave sin especially for an ascetic, a person who is supposed to know about these things. For this, I have to give you the most severe punishment. You will be hanged to death next week.’ Now, the ascetic was terrified. He could not sit in peace. He spent sleepless nights thinking of the gallows. He dreamt daily that his neck was being tied to a rope. He became very thin and pale.

Janaka sent a servant to call him on the day of the execution. The ascetic was unable to stand before the king. He trembled and fell on the ground. Janaka offered him some fruits and a cup of milk. He ate the food, but his mind was on the gallows.

Janaka asked him, ‘How do you like the taste of the milk now? Is it good? Did you relish your food these past seven days?’

The ascetic replied, ‘Oh king! I could not taste the food or milk that you offered me just now. My mind is only on the gallows all the time.’

Janaka said, ‘Just like your mind is always on the gallows, my mind is always fixed on the Divine, even though I am involved in worldly activities. Though I am in this world, I am out of the world. Work for the world, unattached like myself.’

Janaka, though neck-deep in the administration of his kingdom, was completely unattached, liberated.

Once, Janaka was brought news that there was a fire in the city. Ordinarily, a king would have been agitated that a part of his kingdom was in danger.

But Janaka said, ‘My wealth is unlimited and yet I have nothing. Even if the whole of my capital Mithilā is burnt, nothing is lost to me.’ It is not that Janaka was not bothered that there was a fire in his kingdom.

He was completely involved in what he had to do, but at the same time was completely detached from the incident. He was complete in his being, not attached to the world.

Only when you are completely detached can you be completely involved. Otherwise, your very sense of ownership and emotional attachment will be a hindrance to plunging headlong into the task. Only when you work without any incompletion, can you perform the task authentically to your peak possibility, without expectation and without being concerned about the results.

source: chapter 2, Bhagavadgita Decoded verses, 3.17 – 3.20