Bhagavad Gita 18.16

tatraivaṁ sati kartāram

ātmānaṁ kevalaṁ tu yaḥ

paśyaty akṛta-buddhitvān

na sa paśyati durmatiḥ

 

When causes five shape every deed,

Yet one thinks, “I alone proceed”;

From ignorance springs this notion,

Such a one lacks true perception.

 

My dear Lord, help me avoid the extremes of both giving in to ego and self-importance, as well as insecurity and worthlessness.

O all-powerful Lord, help me appreciate that whenever I succeed in life, there are many factors beyond me that contribute to that success. This is especially evident in creative endeavors, where something beyond me seems to move me in ways that I can neither readily replicate nor easily evaluate. Let such experiences strengthen within me the humble conviction that I can never take sole credit for whatever successes I achieve in life.

O omnipresent Lord, please help me appreciate that while the inspiration that moves me to do wonderful things comes from a source beyond me—from a divine source, from you—I need to be ready to receive and transmit that inspiration. This happens only through my efforts to make my consciousness ready and receptive. Let me not downplay or devalue my efforts to make my head and heart ready to serve as transmitters for your potency to work in me and through me.

O Lord of all mysticism, help me see in all my major endeavors the marriage of the methodical and the mystical—my methodical efforts and your higher potency to elevate whatever I do, by your own discretion, from routine to remarkable, from ordinary to extraordinary, from normal to magical. Help me be both a resourceful worker and a grateful witness as worthwhile and wonderful things happen through my humble harmony with you.

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18.16 Therefore one who thinks himself the only doer, not considering the five factors, is certainly not very intelligent and cannot see things as they are.