Yogacharya O’Brian:

 The Gita doesn’t say that we shouldn’t have goals or work 

with intention, but we need to understand that the outcome does not belong to 

us. It is not for our self-gratification. 
Michael Nagler:

 That is the three-fold, simple—not easy—but simple secret. 

Do the right thing. Do it nonviolently. Then step out of the picture. As Thomas 

Merton once said: “We are not required to accomplish anything; we are required to 

do something that God can make something out of.”
Yogacharya O’Brian:

 The Gita has quite a bit to say about doing our work as 

worship, doing it as an offering so it becomes a path to divine remembrance, not 

for self, but for the One. 
Michael Nagler: 

The possibility of restoration—complete happiness—is within 

every one of us. It is within our grasp as long as we can get over this delusion that 

we need to fill ourselves with something outside of us and calm our minds down 

so we can detect the source of joy and wisdom within us. Every single one of us 

can have the greatest joy and the greatest success in life. 

Michael Nagler is the founder and president of the board of the Metta Center for Nonviolence  

Education. He is the author of The Search for a Nonviolent Future, as well as other books on peace  

and spirituality including The Upanishads (with his spiritual teacher Sri Eknath Easwaran).  

www.mettacenter.org 

To hear the entire conversation,  

www.unity.fm/program/theYogaHour

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www.CSEcenter.org