Nishkama Karma

The literal meaning of nishkama karma is "desireless action," i.e., selfless action. More generally, it means action performed without desiring or fearing the consequences; action performed with indifference to the outcome. It's used to describe the practice of doing actions without any expectation of the fruits (results or reactions or effects). Nishkama Karma Yoga is another name for Karma Yoga, which is one of the main themes of the Bhagavad Gita.

The following passage records how Sri Ramana Maharshi once demonstrated nishkama karma:
Mr. Rangachari, a Telugu pandit in Voorhees' College of Vellore, asked about nishkama karma. There was no reply. After a time Sri Bhagavan [Ramana] went up the hill and a few followed him, including the pandit. There was a thorny stick lying on the way which Sri Bhagavan picked up; he sat down and began leisurely to work at it [sic]. The thorns were cut off, the knots were made smooth, the whole stick was polished with a rough leaf. The whole operation took about six hours. Everyone was wondering at the fine appearance of the stick made of a spiky material. A shepherd boy put in his appearance on the way as the group moved off. He had lost his stick and was at a loss. Sri Bhagavan immediately gave the new one in his hand to the boy and passed on.
The pandit said that this was the matter-of-fact answer to his question.

Laughter

This is worth considering. It is significant. The first thing to understand is that except for man, no animal is capable of laughter. So laughter shows a very high peak in the evolution of life. If you go out on the street and see a buffalo laughing, you will be scared to death. And if you report it, then nobody will believe that it can happen. It is impossible. Why don't animals laugh? Why can't trees laugh? There is a very deep cause for laughter. Only that animal can laugh which can get bored. Animals and trees are not bored. Boredom and laughter are the polar dualities, these are the polar opposites. They go together. And man is the only animal that is bored. Boredom is the symbol of humanity. Look at dogs and cats; they are never bored. Man seems to be deep in boredom. Why aren't other animals bored? Why does man alone suffer boredom? "The higher the intelligence, the greater is boredom. The lower intelligence is not bored so much. That's why primitives are happier. You will find people in the primi-tive societies are happier than those in civilized ones. Bertrand Russel became jealous when for the first time, he came into contact with some primitive tribes. He started feeling jealous. The aboriginals were so happy, they were not bored at all. Life was a blessing to them. They were poor starved, almost naked. In every way, they had noth-ing. But they were not bored with life.

OSHO

"To decide to be at the level of choice is to take responsibility for your life and to be in control of your life."-Arbie M. Dale

What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action."-Meister Eckhart