Sincerity Can Show The Path To Ability It Cant Substitute For Ability Gita 02.06

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
To equate sincerity with ability is stupidity. We live in a world where people are often not transparent. That’s why if we meet someone who is sincere, that’s like a breath of fresh air.
We are drawn towards sincerity and we are drawn toward it not just externally in other people, but also internally, not necessarily by being sincere, but by believing that we are being sincere in our beliefs and our actions. Now, even if our presumption that we are sincere is true and there is no guarantee that it is, but even if it is true, sincerity in itself is not the same as ability, and to think that it is, can lead us to stupidity. Suppose a loved one is seriously sick and is in great pain and they need surgery.
Now, if we are not trained in surgery, even if we sincerely want to help them, we can’t. If we think that our sincerity alone is our qualification and we try to operate on them, the results can be tragic. With regard to surgery, specialized skill like surgery, the insufficiency of sincerity is easy to understand.
But in the course of our life, and especially during the pursuit of a spiritually meaningful life, we often think that sincerity alone is enough. We feel that if somebody is sincerely following or teaching a particular path, that path must be right. Or if we ourselves follow a path sincerely, that means we are safe and on the right track.
That needn’t necessarily be so. The inadequacy of sincerity alone is seen in the setting of the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna’s sincerity is evident in the first chapter when he contemplates the upcoming fratricidal war and feels horrified.
He decides that he doesn’t want to fight such a war and cause so much bloodshed just to win a kingdom. Despite his sincerity, the situation is much more complex than what it appears to him and he ends up perplexed as is indicated in 2.6 in the Gita. So he says that should I fight or should I not fight, which is better, which is worse, I can’t make out, I’m confused.
So his sincerity alone doesn’t free him from perplexity. Of course, sincerity is not unimportant. It is because of his sincerity that Arjuna turns toward Krishna and seek guidance as is indicated in the next verse.
And Krishna provides the message of the Bhagavad Gita which helps him to see a situation in spiritual light. He understands that he’s not fighting the war just to win a kingdom. He’s fighting it to establish dharma, to neutralize those who have those anti-social elements, who have unscrupulously grabbed power.
He understands that everyone is an eternal soul, even the vicious Kauravas are souls. And if Arjuna does his duty of fighting responsibly, then the resulting fight would promote everyone’s spiritual evolution, even that of the Kauravas. So thus, it is Arjuna’s sincerity coupled with the Gita’s wisdom that help Arjuna to discern the right path.
The same principle applies in our lives also. When we are seeking to grow spiritually and choose responsibly a path to follow, our sincerity is important. But just by our sincerity doesn’t mean that whatever path we follow is right.
When we complement our sincerity with the Gita’s guidance, then we can move from various forms of shallow spirituality to authentic spirituality, to deep spirituality that heals our hearts and fills our souls with peace, love and joy. Thank you.