Want to Be Happier? Jettison Expectations.

Lessons from Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was spiritually omnivorous. He sampled many religious delicacies, from Christianity to Islam, but it was the Hindu Bhagavad Gita that reliably satisfied his hunger.

The spiritual poem opens with Prince Arjuna, a great warrior, poised for battle. But he’s lost his nerve. Not only is he weary of bloodshed, he’s discovered the opposing army includes soldiers from his own clan. How can he fight them? Lord Krishna, disguised as Arjun’s charioteer, counsels him.

The conventional interpretation of the Gita is that it’s an exhortation to duty, even violence,. After all (spoiler alert!), Krishna ultimately convinces Arjuna to wage war against his own kin. Gandhi read it differently. The Gita, he said, is an allegory for “what takes place in the heart of every human being today.” The true battlefield lies within.

One tenet of the Gita is nonattachment to results. “You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work,” Krishna tells Arjuna. “You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction.” Sever effort from outcome, the Gita teaches. Invest 100 percent effort into every endeavor and precisely zero percent into the results. Gandhi summed up this outlook in a single word: “desirelessness.”