In the Bhagavad Gita, which we mentioned last week on dharma, Krishna says that karma can never be understood by the rational mind. So we're taking a stab at explaining a principle of reality that can't be explained. However, we can still observe and experience something that we can't fully comprehend. So let's observe.
Karma literally translates to action. Karma is the law of cause and effect. Have you heard of the butterfly effect? How everything in the universe is influencing each other? You have no idea how powerful or far reaching the ripples from one tiny action or thought may have. And we take like a billion actions a day. This is how complex and unfathomable karma is.
Karma isn’t inherently good or bad. It’s just what’s happening. It’s what gives us a human experience. It’s a principle of reality. All things are tied together by actions, by cause and effect.
We can only focus on what’s right in front of us and do the best we can… even if we’re reflecting on the past or planning for the future… what's happening while walking the path of karma yoga, is attuning our little ripple to the BIG ripple... this is the Big Bang... the initial action... and look how many effects have unfolded from that one event. You're inextricably part of that process.
We explored bhakti, the path of devotion, a few weeks back, today, we introduce another path -- karma yoga: the path of action.
Yoga manifests itself as 4 major paths. Remember, yoga is all about freeing the mind. As we journey down these paths we become more and more free from the clutches of the ego (not destroying the ego) but freeing us from it's patterns that are distorted or limiting. We are no longer so controlled by its reactions, clinging, identifications, aversions, grasping, and ignorance.
Yoga is about intentionally infusing our evolution with consciousness so that the process becomes... well... conscious. The path of devotion (bhakti yoga) frees us through a desire to love and be loved above all else -- we're willing to sacrifice anything for our beloved... to get closer.
The path of karma yoga is informed by bhakti yoga. The reason you want to act in a certain way is informed by your emotion. As the emotions are purified through bhakti yoga, as natural consequence, the actions become purified as well. And vice-versa, purifying the actions, purifies the emotions.
All these paths are in constant intertwine, when you practice yoga, you are walking all paths simultaneously. However, as students, there are times when recognizing the distinction between these paths, is beneficial in understanding, approaching, and navigating the terrain you're traveling. We'll explore the other two paths in upcoming weeks.
"Yoga manifests itself as four major paths, namely Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Jñana Yoga. These four paths are like the branches of a tree or tributaries of a river. They all have the same source and resting place. In essence, they are all the same. The only thing that differentiates them is that there is a certain aspect of the mind involved in a particular path or practice. In Karma Yoga the active aspect of mind is involved; in Bhakti Yoga, the emotional aspect; in Raja Yoga, the mystical aspect; in Jñana Yoga, the intellectual aspect." -- Swami Sivananda
Life is a dance. The wheel of samsara (which nataraja, the lord of the dance, is within) is aflame with the cycles of karmas. Karma is a process of purification. Fire purifies... transforms... illuminates (we'll talk more about these flames next week). We too, are the cosmic dancers. Nataraja is a metaphor of our own human experience. As we dance throughout this human experience, we dance through cycles of circumstances, seasons, habits, mental patterns, identities, relationships, etc... And all the while, whether we recognize it or not, our actions either keep us stuck within the same cycle, or break us free to a new one. There's no end goal here, it's all about evolution. The journey is the goal... the goal is love, deeper and deeper realization and experience of love... connection. The connection is the reward we're after.
Here's the real secret of karma yoga... you don't act because there's a reward. If you're acting with your eyes fixed on the reward (or as the Gita says "the fruits of your actions") that's not karma yoga. You only get free when you're not worried about the fruits. And doesn't that seem to contradict everything we've been conditioned to believe? I mean, if I pay for a sandwich, I'm expecting the sandwich. If I help me friend, I expect a pat on the back, I expect reciprocation help next time. I expect if I work hard, to make good money, to have amazing relationships... to be healthy and happy and have everything I've ever wanted fulfilled... that's how the mind tends to operate. That's what the capitalism tells us.
Listen, I'm not saying you won't get AMAZING fruits on the path of karma yoga (you actually will probably get better things than you could've expected). The catch is, don't be attached to the fruits of your actions. The teachings say, act simply because it is the dharma (the right action), act simply because you want to serve, act simply because it is an act of love.
The Buddha says desire is the root of all suffering. But I'd like to add a little asterisk here... *attachment to your desire is the root of all suffering. You can't help desiring things. You can't give up desiring things. Your lungs naturally desire air, and that's the dharma. Desire is one of the three inherent principles of the universe (along with knowledge and action -- iccha, jnana, kriya... more on that another week). Desire is a beautiful thing, it's what drives creation, it's what drives growth. Without desire, nothing would happen, evolution would freeze in place.
BUT when we are SOOOO caught up and fixated on the results... we can drive ourselves mad. We're so stuck in the future, that our journey there is only a means to an end. We waste the time getting there and lose the magical details by only being concerned with results. We are not machines meant to simply produce a result. We are humans, we are creators. And creativity is a process. Creativity is not about the end result. It's about the whole damn thing.
Being stuck in the future... to deny any part of your path and say "this is wrong!" just because it is boring or difficult or sad or confusing is to deny yourself.
Your freedom, your connection, your ideal "result" doesn't look a specific way. As we discussed last week, the street sweeper's dharma is to sweep the street. And he's living in complete love and peace because he is fully standing exactly where he is. Until it's time to change.
The path of karma yoga is using whatever circumstance is right in front of you, and working with your current circumstances as your gateway to get more free. Remember there's no rush, we're always just trying our best, learning how to listen more accurately, sharpening the sword of our discrimination, polishing the mirror of our mind so we can better reflect what is true. So we can act with more effectiveness, efficiency, kindness, integrity... little by little we refine. This refinement, this purification process is the process of burning through our karmas. As we refine and align our actions to our dharmic path, we learn to walk more straight. We are less and less bound by the old patterns of beliefs, habits, and behaviors that were keeping us stuck or blind or suffering.
Just like a lil baby learning how to walk, we too are constantly learning what works and what doesn't. Our karma yoga is usually not some HUGE mystical experience where suddenly we're in blissful flow with the cosmos... sometimes... but our biggest transformation typically comes from the loving awareness to the details we often want to rush over... like how are you preparing your meals? How are you communicating with your partner? How are you showing up at your job? What kind of media are you consuming? How do you connect with something bigger than yourself? How do you take care of your home? How do you care for your body?
There’s a narrative of "freeing yourself from karma" or "freeing your self from the ego". We're not after destroying the ego or having no more karma… we aim for freedom from within them... your engagement with them change. It’s less suffering more of a dance. If it weren't for the ego and karma, a human experience wouldn't be possible. Even fully realized beings stick around on earth to run through the rest of their karma... there's more actions for them to take -- they have more dharma to fulfill. And they can be totally free while still experiencing karma and ego. Who's behind it all is just now aware.
We can't attain perfection all at once. It's about little by little adjusting... like a radio dial tuning into a clearer reception. The karma yoga path is the path of the householder. It's the path for the average Joe. And most of us, are Joe. We're not ditching society to live in cave for the rest of our lives probably. We're not trying to get free by escaping the human experience, rather, we are getting free from within it. Get free from the inside.
Even if you were totally free, 100p "enlightened"... nothing would change. That's what the great beings say: once you get enlightened, nothing happens. You're just finally seeing clearly what's always been here the entire time. It's like looking out at a landscape and just seeing "ah green, trees, grass" and then you learn what all the plants are and suddenly you're having a totally different experience of the landscape, but nothing really changed. It was just your mind. The Zen Buddists says, "Before moksha (liberation), chop wood carry water. After moksha, chop wood carry water." Same thing is going on, but you have a totally different relationship to it.
And obviously, that's a gross simplification, lots of things can change as your mind gets more free. Some people get powers, visions, ineffable mystical experience. Who knows what may lay in store. But the purpose of those metaphysical events are just also part of getting your mind free. Terence Mckenna says, "Don't be distracted by your astonishment" or something like that. Stay grounded. You're still living out the human thing right now. This is what we signed up for. Be here now, listen, and just do your dharma. That's Karma Yoga. The path of action.
For funsies I just plugged Karma Yoga into Chat GPT (an AI thing). Here were its key focuses:
Selfless Action
Duty and Responsibility
Detachment
Service
Transcending Ego
Purification of the mind
I feel like we touched on all these! I'll expand a bit more. The "selfless" action here is about acting from a more spacious place... where we're no SO stuck in autopilot ego mode. We begin to expand the mind to a wider lens... that understands "right action" as not simply an automatic response to stimuli, but taking into account the laws of cause and effect, the wellbeing of others, our intuition, other sources of subtle guidance, and our future selves. We're not acting only because it'll make us feel better, or probably produce a desired result, or get us what we want. We act simply because it's the right thing to do. It's what the higher Self wants, not always what the little self wants. The higher Self always wants the dharma. The limited self wants to be the richest, most beautiful, most powerful, most admired, immediate gratification. The higher Self wants to love all serve all. These are the intricacies we get honest with ourself about as they arise in our own experience. Dont need to tackle it all at once. It's impossible. Just be present and when something comes up, work with that thing. You often dont need to go searching for things to work on. Work on what's right in front of you.
Duty and responsibility... we discussed that with Dharma. You act because it's your duty! We are detached from the results, non-attached to the fruits of our actions. We act out of service. And this is a process of transcending the ego (the little limited self) so we remember and reintegrate with a more expanded Self. This is how we purify the mind.
Stay grounded and trust. There is a great intelligence to this universe that our minds cannot comprehend. All rivers lead to the ocean.
Let's close out with a simple and beautiful quote from Ram Dass, a great teacher of Karma Yoga, amongst many other paths.
"The next message you need is always right where you are."
here's a very short post on karma yoga by Ram Dass if you're hungry for a bit more: https://www.ramdass.org/why-is-karma-yoga-important/
Do what you do, but offer the fruits of your actions to the big heart of the universe.
go forth in love ॐ
♡ Kat
p.s. Everything I write is a transmission of my own experience. I am just a finger pointing at the moon. Go to the moon yourself. Experience for yourself what is true.
p.p.s. Please don't hesitate to email me or comment below with any of your own insights or questions! I'd love to hear from you :)
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