Karma Yoga : The Path of Love

Man must work in the objective field of action in such a way that he will manifest, more and more, his inner perfection through his work. At the same time, the subjective attitude towards his work must be such that the work does not bind him, but contributes to his inner development. So , you see, there are two aspects to karma yoga, the subjective and the objective.

Perfection is within. Desire creates disturbances in our consciousness which keep that perfection from manifesting itself. Activity with desire leads to the greed of possession which forges the chain of attachment to “I:” and mine.” Nothing belongs to anyone. Never seek to establish ownership of anyone or anything. Do not even say, “My body”. Say, “The body”. There are several attitudes one may adopt inorder to overcome this idea of possession.

Desire and attachment, the inseparable twins, create the relationship of cause and effect. The chain of cause and effect leads the soul to births and deaths and keeps it limited. Mental karma is even more serious than physical karma because it affects consciousness more deeply. The obstruction, then, is that of desire and attachment. Karma yoga teaches us how to control these. Action with desire, whether physical or mental, creates karma which must exhaust itself by its effects. When the effects are exhausted, man is free. The attempt of the karma yoga is to accelerate this process.

Karma, or actions, may be considered from several aspects. For instance, our thoughts and actions may be classified under two general headings: Action for the achievement of desired ends and the attainment of wishes ( ishta – prapti); action in order to avoid undesired issues ( anishta – parihara), or action done in fear of achieving undesired ends. Regarding man, there is another type of karma called “ compensatory karma” which apparently overlaps the previous two classifications, but which is occasional and unavoidable. The endeavour to compensate bad action by good such as an apology or the making of amends for some previous action, is compensatory karma. Confession in the Catholic Church might be considered under this heading.

From the point of view of results, karma may be classified in several ways: (1) karma that brings the result of desirable ends; (2) karma that brings the result of undesired ends, or unhappiness and sufferings; and (3) karma that is neutral. Our effort in karma yoga is to reduce our actions to this third type of karma. The chain of good and bad action must be neutralized.

There is another type of karma called “involuntary karma”, where in self-consciousness is not involved. This kind of karma does not create any results. But is there really such a thing as involuntary karma? Raja yoga teaches that such involuntary action as the beating of one’s heart can be consciously controlled. If this is so, then that action, seemingly involuntary, is merely a dormant voluntary action. But conscious action always sets in motion a “wave,” good or bad, within the consciousness that creates karma.

Karma, again, may be classified as action that is good and constructive or bad and destructive. What is the criterion of good or bad action? An action is good if it uplifts the doer and produce the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. The reverse of this is considered bad. Essentially, to be good, any action has to uplift the agent. A good action helps you unfold your inner divinity. If, by thought or deed, you put a wall of narrowness around yourself, keeping aloof and separate from the rest of the world, you deny your divine Self, no matter what that action is. I call such action destructive and unspiritual. From the spiritual standpoint, our action is good only when it helps to remove the barrier of egoism and expand the soul, thereby helping us to realize, more and more, that fundamental unity that Oneness which is behind the universe.  Read Previous   Read Next