The yogi is not trying to possess these processes. The yogi is not even trying to control them. Because if he tries to control them, then he becomes something else — he becomes the controller of the processes.

So the yogi simply observes. The yogi steps back and remains as the witness.

Clouds move in the sky — let the clouds move. It is part of nature. Thoughts arise in the mind. A sense of identification arises as an experience. Let it be.

What do I have to do with it?

Although there is a sense of identification, I can observe it, knowing that this sense of identification is not who I am. That sense of self is not who I am. I can observe that sense of self.

As we sit here now, each one of us has a sense of himself or herself sitting. But this is not who you are. It is a sense. It is an experience that you are aware of. You are not that.

You may say, “But I feel it.” Yes — because for many, many lifetimes you have become accustomed to identifying with what you feel. But the yogis tell us: what you feel is definitely not who you are. It is an experience. It is not your true Self.

No one can become a yogi, no one can become a real renunciate, without going through this process.

Some may ask, “But why should I do it?”

There is no “should.” Nobody can tell you that you must practice. It comes from within. It begins when a spiritual awakening arises, and from deep within you realize that there is a falsity in this identification.

Even when you begin to see that it is false, it may still compel itself upon you. And only then will you be moved to seek a way out of that compulsion.

Right now, we are all experiencing a compulsory false identification. Some know it, some do not. Some know it and are comfortable with it. Some know it and are not comfortable with it. For those who know it and are not okay with it, yoga is the means.

The path of renunciation is the means.

How do I liberate myself from this compulsory false sense of identification? This is yoga.

Verse three says: for the sage who wishes to attain yoga, action is said to be the means. For the same sage who has attained yoga, inaction is said to be the means.

For one who wants to be liberated from false identification, the means is action — but action done in a very specific way.

Even if you know that you are not the doer, even if you know that this whole sense of self is false, still actions have to be performed, and karmic debts have to be paid. But they must be performed skillfully, in such a way that they do not entangle you, but instead liberate you.

Krishna already explained this in earlier chapters: action must be done as worship, action must be done as offering.

Whatever you do, offer the sense of doership, offer the activities of the senses, offer the fruits of your actions to the One who gifted you the senses, the mind, the prana, and the body.

How do you offer? By recognition.

You do not have to do much outwardly. You offer by recognizing that the credit does not belong to you. You offer by recognizing the Source from which you have received everything, with humbleness and gratitude.

This is the means.

Action performed in this spirit purifies the mind and makes it fit for steady meditation. Not just any action, but dharmic action, done as service, with the credit given back to God. Such action leads to concentration, steadiness, and meditation.

For the one who has truly attained yoga, nothing more needs to be done. Such a being is not obliged to perform action.

He has moved from worship in the state of doing to worship in the state of being.

Simply being established in that consciousness is the highest sacrifice. Simply abiding in supreme realization is the highest worship.

For one who cannot meditate for a long time and cannot keep the mind steady in meditation, action remains the means. But for the sage established in yoga, renunciation of action is the means.

The more perfectly he abstains from action, the steadier and more peaceful the mind becomes, and the more easily it becomes fixed in the Self, in the Absolute Reality, in the Divine, in God — whatever name one uses.

Then comes the practical question: “If I do not act for myself, how will I live? How will I eat? Where will I sleep?”

Krishna has already answered this. He says: the one who dedicates his mind to Me, I dedicate Myself to him. If you give your mind to God, He will take care of your yoga and your kshema — whatever you do not have, He will provide; whatever you truly need to preserve, He will protect.

Most of our thoughts and worries are about these two things: how to get what we do not have, and how to secure what we already have. Krishna says: if you dedicate your mind to objects, your mind will remain full of worry. But if you give your mind to Me, all those worries will be placed on My head.

Many sannyasis testify that this is true. They do not have bank accounts, pensions, or personal securities in the ordinary sense. And yet they are sustained.

Invest your life in the highest — in God. God is the best insurance company. His capital is infinite. And the premium is small: just give your heart. He will take care of everything.

Om.