Gita 13.20

Sadhak: "If prakriti does everything and I only experience, then I'm just a passive witness. What's the point of effort, practice, or discipline?"

Guru: "The effort, practice, and discipline are also prakriti's movements. When sattva predominates in the mind, effort toward liberation arises naturally. When tamas predominates, laziness arises. You don't 'decide' to practice—the conditions for practice either manifest or they don't. Your role is to be present, to witness. But—and this is the paradox—witnessing itself is the highest practice. By being fully present to what happens, you align with sattva and purify the field."

Sadhak: "But then, am I responsible for my actions or not?"

Guru: "From the absolute perspective, prakriti acts and you witness. From the practical perspective, the mind claims ownership—'I did this'—and this claiming creates karma. Responsibility is a function of identification. The more you identify with the mind, the more you inherit its karmic burdens. The less you identify, the more you see actions as impersonal events. So work toward non-identification, and responsibility becomes irrelevant."

Sadhak: "Then why do I feel pain so intensely if I'm not the body?"

Guru: "The purusha is the cause of experiencing, not the cause of pain. The pain is a prakriti-modification—a signal in the nervous system. But without consciousness, that signal would go nowhere. Because you are present, the signal is 'experienced.' The intensity you feel is proportional to your identification with the body. Lessen that identification, and the signal still occurs but it doesn't grip you. You observe pain rather than being pain."