Why do anything?

Sometimes in the midst of chaos and anxiety and activity and wellness programs and satsangs and sadhanaa, a question like this has to pop up. The mind wants to know why are we doing anything at all. Gita does have an answer. When Arjuna asked Krishna about inaction and action. Krishna replied that there is really no such thing as inaction. Sure, it may seem like you have solved your immediate problem of facing adversity and unpleasantness by withdrawing from the battlefield or picking up a good book and vegging out on the couch but that too is an action. Whatever it is that you are avoiding by ignoring never eally goes away.

 Like Buddha said, even if one person is unhappy in the world, that  will someday come to you or your progeny or what you call home. He went on to instruct his bhikkus that you must act to bring about enlightenment and happiness by ending suffering for all not just yourself. One enlightened being is a very temporary affair and no enlightenment at all.

You may go on further and ask but why even do that i.e. why seek end of suffering. Think deeply on this, even when you avoid trying to end suffering, you are actually trying to end suffering. Acting to end suffering is not an option, you are doing it even when you are not.

But "why do anything" is even a deeper question once you truly realise that you are not the body. Krishna taught another gita called the Uddhava Gita which is the next step, once you have transcended the mind and body. For then, there is truly nothing to do as all actions are in this realm of what Buddha called the conventional reality. However if you delude yourself into thinking that you have transcended the body mind, inaction will be premature and bring suffering. That is not nirvana.