Karma Yoga or Selfless service is the foundation for sadhana (spiritual practice)
Question: Should Karma Yoga always take priority over pranayama and asanas?
Swamiji: When I was doing my pranayama, suddenly I heard a cry. I did intense pranayama along with meditation. Suddenly, I am disturbed by a desperate cry of: “Help! Help! Help!” [Swamiji then does loud kapalabhati pumping]. Lord, you help them. [Much laughter]. I didn’t hear, it’s not my problem. [Swamiji laughs].
That’s not pranayama. What’s the purpose of pranayama? What’s the purpose of meditation? It doesn’t matter what sadhana you do: asana, pranayama, meditation, japa, etc. What’s the purpose of all of these?…..
[ANSWERS FROM THE AUDIENCE IN QUOTES]
“To give you energy so that you can serve. To utilize that energy for appropriate and needful purposes.”
“To attain Yoga.” That’s a better answer.
“To get closer to God.” “To become enlightened.” “To purify the mind so you can attain the goal.” I need a better answer.
“To perform any need that is around.” Who cares about other’s needs, I’m just happy to do pranayama.
“To destroy your ego.” A little better.
“Learning to give.” Yoga is uniting with all. There is no individual self. There is only one Self, one God. I and my Father are One. I am in you. You are in me. I am He. Who said that?
“Jesus.” Yes, Jesus taught the same Eastern philosophy. Instead of repeating, “I and my Father are One,” we say “Aham Brahmasmi.”
The man calling for help is me, my own Self. So if I just go on with my pranayama, then I am not identifying with that needy person. If you still didn’t understand….
I have got two hands and ten fingers. Which hand do I use more? Left or right? I’m a right-handed person. So which hand do I use more? Right hand, is it not? You know that I love my right hand more than my left hand. Not only that, but my right hand is always angry with the left hand. He says, “You lazy stupid, I do all the work and you’re lazy. You don’t do anything but just a little work.” All the time the right hand is fighting with the left because the left hand is lazy. Now, suddenly the right hand got injured. The left hand was happy. He thought, “Ah, you stupid fellow. You see, you always scolded me. It’s good what’s happened to you.” Is that what the left hand will say? What will the left hand do now that the right hand is injured? It will help to bandage the right hand and then take over all of the right hand’s work. How did this transformation take place? Before he used to be the lazy hand? Now that the right hand is not working, automatically the left hand will perform all of the duties the right hand used to do to help this body. Even though it cannot do so as efficiently as the right hand, it’ll do it—will it not? Or, will it keep quiet like before saying that this is not his job?
“No, because it has to survive.” That’s correct, the left hand’s survival depends on the survival of the whole body. So, in reality, there is no difference between right hand and left hand. Neither hand gets credit afterwards for doing a great job. The right hand does not send a message: “Thank you left hand, at last you are doing a good thing for me.” They do not send get well cards or thank you cards to each other.
So, the purpose of life is to unite ourselves. Prejudices like: “I am different from you, because you’re English and I’m Indian;” or “You’re Catholic and I’m Protestant;” or “You’re a Muslim and I’m a Jew;” or, “You’re white and I’m black” are distinctions existing only in your mind. Until you remove these distinctions there will be no unity. To cultivate this experience of oneness is called Yoga.
So the question is: Which is important? Should Karma Yoga always take priority? So, I’m doing pranayama with the right hand. [Swamiji demonstrates anuloma viloma.] The left hand is burnt. What is the priority now? Do I continue with my pranayama or do I have to take care of the left hand? The priority is pranayama is it not? [Swamiji chuckles.] Can you imagine the right hand saying, “This is my pranayama,” and letting the left hand get burnt? Who’s going to take care of the body? Do you see? So, think in these terms.
Karma Yoga is not just working. Work is worship. Dedicate it to God. This does not mean that you must work all the time. A bulldozer also works. A bulldozer does more work in less time without expecting anything in return. It’s a good Karma Yogi, is it not? Yes, what does a bulldozer get for its work? Oil and lubrication and some gas—that’s all. It will not get liberation. So with a donkey, a donkey serves. A washerman in India carries the dirty clothes to wash in the river on the donkey’s back in the morning and carries them back home in the evening. The donkey gets what? [Audience] “Food.” He will get just a carrot and possibly a few cashews once in a year. Otherwise, just hay and oats are possible. Or, if we don’t have hay and oats, he must go and eat by himself wherever he can find grass. Even after eating grass from the roadside, he still serves his master. So the donkey will be getting liberation, will he not?
Karma Yoga is not simply action. It is removing the idea of agency, the thought, “I am the doer.” That must go. You are not the doer. We are not the doer. Within all action, there is infinite power, God’s power working. Can you see? That power makes this body move. Karma Yoga removes the egoism, “I am the doer.” Someone just called, “Help, help, help.” So who is calling? God is calling to test you.
● Karma is action and consequence of action. Action comes from past wrong thoughts or emotions.
● Thoughts repeat themselves, either right or wrong thoughts.
● Karmas repeat themselves; we call them karmic patterns.
● These wrong thoughts or selfish thoughts are like karmic seeds.
● Karmic seeds produce trees.
● The seed of the banana tree creates the banana tree and the apple seed grows into the apple tree. This means that life unfolds exactly according to what we need to experience.
● There are no accidents. Everything happens for a reason, according to the law of cause and effect.
● Life is a learning school. Every event is a learning opportunity.
● Our actions in the present create our future.
● There is no good karma, nor bad karma. There is karma and freedom from karma by right thinking and right action.
● There is no good life or bad life. There is no lucky or unlucky life.
●Life is an opportunity, a learning school.
●Acceptance of our life circumstances and at the same time positive thinking and positive action will free us from karma.
● We are not the victims of our life conditions.
●Unfavorable conditions might be stepping stones to great growth.
●We can change our destiny by self effort.
●In the midst of favorable or unfavorable conditions, we can learn to be responsible for our minds and emotions.
●Human life is a result of mixed karma, good and bad; Do not expect heaven. Learn to bear and detach.
●Do not envy other people’s karmas, mind your business. You are better off with your own karmas then someone else’s.
●Practice gratitude and peace in knowing that every day we are growing into greater awareness through the challenges and the lessons we are learning.
Life is a school. Just as in a school, if you do not pass the exam, you will have to repeat the class; so also, if you do not learn your karmic lessons, you have to repeat the experience again and again until you understand, class after class, until you graduate.
The graduated souls are the teachers who guide us, like Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnu-devananda. These people have finished their Karma; they have learned their lessons.
You have to experience in order to learn. Karma is our specific lessons, and we take on this body and mind with this particular situation and these particular circumstances in order for us to experience–so that we can learn the lesson of that particular experience. To learn, you have to go through the experience without identifying with it. In this way, action can bind you or free you. You have a certain Karma, a certain role to play, and you have to live it, to go through the experience, and at the same time know that it is not you.
It’s not what you do, it is how you do it. One role is no more important than another. You can be a dish-washer or be President of the United States, but it is all still just Karma. We think that if we can change our role and get a different position, things will be better, but that is not it. To move past the karma, you must go through the experience and play the role, whatever it is, yet also remain detached. That is the practice of Karma Yoga.
POINTERS FOR SELFLESS ACTIONS
Right Attitude. The number one thing is attitude. It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. You can be doing charity work with the motive of gaining more name and fame, or with the idea of helping people – this is a huge difference. The attitude behind is what counts, not the action itself.
Pure Motive. If the motive is selfless, to do service, then if somebody praises you, you are fine – if somebody criticizes you, you are also the same. Otherwise, it’s not Karma Yoga. Constantly work to examine your motives and your reactions to see if you are selfless or not. By examining your reactions, you can come to know your true motives.
Open Heart. The moment we start to do something, the thought will come: “What is in it for me?” “What about me?” Most of the time it is like that. Most of the time, if there is not anything for the ‘me’, we will not do it. The Me and the Mine is so strong, because we think that is what will bring us the happiness. But when you let go of “me and mine” you actually start to feel happy. When you can open your heart, when you can think of others and really giving to others, that is when your heart opens and the energy of the Universe can flow through you; you feel so good!
Doing Your Specific Duty. Doing your duty means responding appropriately to the demands of the moment. The practice of doing your duty is the practice of not just going with your tendency and following what you like, avoiding what is not attractive. You have to go through with the karma and be responsible in your role, until you understand and really get it. We are constantly scheming to find a way out of the situation or ways to gain more for ourselves–like more time, more position, more pleasure. But that is not the way to work out the karma. Only when you can go through that role, doing your duty even though you do not like it will you make progress. Only then will you be paying up your debts.
Do your best. Doing your best means you have to put in the effort. That means you have to really find all that you know, use all your resources to do the job to the best of your ability.
Give up results – Detachment. This is the key of Karma Yoga. You have to learn to let go of the results of your actions, good or bad, and detach from the sense of doership. You are only the instrument in the hands of the Divine.
Enjoy these inspiring, heartfelt responses from applicants to the Yoga Farm Seva Study program:
What is Karma Yoga?
– I see karma yoga as a way to express gratitude to all people.
– The practitioner forgets their finite self through their service for others and the universe. Yoga for me is freedom.
– It is a service performed to bring one in union with God or their higher self. Personally, I feel there is no better way to burn the ego and have total appreciation and gratitude for one’s life, than to serve others.
– My understanding of karma yoga is that it is an opportunity to live in active “namaste.”
– If I can continually open my heart, and connect to those around me, I am doing the selfless act of giving my complete self to whatever is in my immediate presence.
– I think it’s about achieving a sense of self through a way of life that avoids the complexities triggered by a self-centered paradigm.
– I believe karma yoga to be a path towards true happiness.
Why do you want to come to the Ashram?
– I feel I have made some poor choices. I need some time to reflect and take part in something meaningful so that I may learn that I am important and that what I do matters, but also not think about what I can get out of a situation and just participate in the moment to the best of my ability.
– I have a calling to seek knowledge of a higher way of being in this world. I want to give back to a community that is changing the lives of so many people who are also seeking.
– I hope to continue learning about disciplining the mind and strengthening my connection with the divine.
– What I hope to achieve during my stay is mindfulness, unconditional love for all things, and happiness as that is what we truly are—and to get in touch with my higher self!
– During my stay, I hope to be of help to the ashram in any way I can, and seek guidance in my spiritual path—as a writer and a husband.
– I am SO curious about studying yoga as a way of life.
– I want to learn more about karma yoga to figure out how I can be most useful in changing the world for the better.
– I seek everyday to become selfless—that is, to lose myself, and to experience everything as it is, as One.
– I am searching for an inner stillness that I believe will bring true peace and fill my entire being with love and compassion.
– I must go. The universe has been pulling me on this path for many years—to open up my full heart to give my offerings to God, expansion on the deepest level. The power and knowledge within me can serve a community. It only needs ignition.
– My reasons for wanting to come to the ashram are for personal growth, learning, and exploration into deeper waters than I have been exposed to thus far in life. I consider this a unique and welcome opportunity for a “50-year tune-up” in mind, body, and spirit.
– I think the ashram provides the perfect space for reflection, renewal and a platform to lessen my ego while working with a smile and an open heart.
To apply for a one-month residential Seva Study program, please fill in the online application form.
Karma is your desires that you try to fulfill now in this life.
Dharma is the result of your karma that is playing out now. You have to do it until it exhausts itself.
Sadhana is one step further – it is creating space. You have to squeeze it in; it is what allows you to recognize your past mistakes that created your present situation so you can learn your Karmic lessons and not create new Karma in the future.
Most people live their lives only with the first two, Karma and Dharma; desire and duty. They create a life for themselves based on their desires and past impressions, and then spend the rest of their lives working it out, or performing Dharma, taking care of the result of their desires.
Karma is when you want something.
Dharma is when you no longer want that thing, but you still have to do it.
Sadhana is squeezing your way out.
It is something very rare, that people do Sadhana. Most people do only Karma and Dharma – for example, they get married and create children, and spend the rest of their life working out that Karma, by doing their Dharma – taking care of the kids, relationship, etc., even though at that point they no longer want it.
Sadhana is recognizing the tendencies that created your situation in the first place, and slowly, slowly trying to change, so that you don’t create new Karma. In order to do Sadhana, you have to squeeze it in – it never comes easily. That’s why it’s better not to get there in the first place – try to live your life lightly, fulfilling your Dharma and working with Sadhana so that you do not create new Karma. Then you can be free.
You have to do Dharma; Dharma is duty. By doing your duty, you can understand the lesson about what created that situation in the first place and prevent yourself from creating new Karma. Dharma is a way to liberation, but it is very, very slow. The progress is very slow. That’s why the Sadhana is so important – you can increase the speed of your evolution. Otherwise, you will live just like most people, create some karma, do your duty and die, and repeat. It is endless, can go on for a long time . . . if you do your duty, you will progress, but it is very, very slow, learning one or two lessons in a lifetime. That’s why you have to struggle, hard – do your duty, but struggle to create the space to get your Sadhana in; that is very difficult, if you are living a householder’s life.
Karma is enjoyment; fulfilling of desire. It comes from the subconscious.
You have a desire, you imagine about it, you want it, and then it comes to pass – after that, the result will be your Dharma; you have to fulfill it, even though you no longer want it.
That’s why the Yogis try as much as possible to eliminate the Karma by increasing the Dharma and really focusing on the Sadhana – then you have a chance to get out. Otherwise it is very slow.
If you are able to make Sadhana the main focus, while still fulfilling your Dharma and not creating new Karma, then you can become a powerful person, because you are more free. You are not so bound up by your past.
People that live as staff or renunciate are enjoying freedom. That is why, for example in the organization, only a handful of staff , can do so much and these people become very powerful because they are free as their life is exclusively based on Sadhana, Dharma secondly and Karma at the end and not the other way around. Therefore, do Sadhana.
Selfishness arises from us failing to realize that we gain more from giving than from taking. Our mistaken belief that we are separate from others leads us to behave selfishly. We fail to consider the deep interconnectedness and oneness of all life, and act from the small perspective of our own egos or personalities, creating more separation. Yoga teaches us to open up our awareness beyond our small and limited perspectives, and to begin to recognize the divine Self that is in all.
In the beginning of my days of being a karma yogi in the Ashram, I did not believe I was selfish, but I was selfish without knowing it. I remember my first reaction: having to serve food to the guests and the students, I thought to myself, “I am not a waitress.”
Having to wash the clothing of the residents in the community I thought, “How terrible that I have to wash peoples’ clothing!” Always there was an “I” that gave judgment to everything, and there was a very strong sense of, “I like this, but I don’t like that.”
Yoga teaches us that we are far more than our ego and the stories we assemble about who we are and what we like or don’t like. It teaches that we are happier when we begin to move out of our egoism and away from these thoughts, beginning to serve others, regardless of whether the mind likes it at first. Through this service, one begins to experience an expansion of his or her sense of self, feeling the deep joy that comes from moving beyond separation.
We all know this great feeling when we manage to let go of our individuality and feel a sense of oneness with another person or a group, and we also know the feeling of separateness that leads us to feel isolated, unsupported or unloved. In life we often strive to define ourselves through our personalities, seeking to stand out in an egoistic way; but this is a mistake that leads to suffering. We forget that the way to get love is to offer love, not to try to be loved based on the limited personality. The more love we give, the more our lives will fill up with love.
Love Selflessly
Therefore, the secret to happiness is to love selflessly. This love in action that leads us beyond selfishness is called Karma-Bhakti Yoga, or the Yoga of Selfless Love in Service.
This conscious service and love redeems our selfish actions from the past. Nothing happens by accident; everything and everyone we encounter in life, the people and circumstances, even if they are difficult, are opportunities for us to serve and to love, and to work out our karma.
In yoga we often speak of moving beyond the bondage of karma. We need to remember this purpose. This means reaching a place where we are completely fulfilled and desireless. This is the state of love without selfishness.
Reflecting on the meaning of life and its sufferings will bring us to the determination to cut through to the root cause of our suffering, which is our spiritual ignorance. This will motivate us to do selfless service for our own sake, and not only for other peoples’ sake.
As we first begin on the path of selfless service, we may think that we do it to serve someone else or to love someone else, but as we grow in selflessness, we experience our true Self, which is the nature of the divine love that liberates us and others from suffering. It is only through experiencing this divine love and oneness that we become liberated. May you all become great servants of humanity!
To understand more about Karma Yoga, please enroll in the Karma Yoga program, as well as apply for the seva study program at the ashram.
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