In the last post, we saw what is the meaning of Karma (Karma means action) and what prompts us to act. Now, let us look at the word Yoga.
Yoga:
Beside the done to death definition of yoga coming from the root word “yuj” and it means union, the term yoga here means the state of complete awareness and mindfulness. The state in which our mind is completely focused on the task at hand, in exclusion to all other thoughts.
If we observe our mind, we often find that the thoughts are either from the past memories or about future expectations. Yoga is the state of “being” fully in the present moment.
So, if we now look at the term Karma Yoga, it means mindful action.
KARMA YOGA = MINDFUL ACTION
The role of desire :
In the previous post, we saw how desire for a better state of being is the driving force behind all our actions. The key to transforming all our karmas into karma yoga lies in channelizing this desire.
In the case of spiritual seekers, the Masters advice the seekers to hold on to one desire -realization of Self. This one big desire slowly brings a detachment from all other desires and the mind becomes single pointed. The desire prompt of all actions become realization of the Self / realizing who Am I.
When all actions are carried out with the desire to know the Self, the mind becomes fit for contemplation and for sustained meditation when the ignorance is finally and fully dispelled.
Application in everyday life:
Well, I am not a seeker and I have no intention/ inclination to know about my own Self. But I am curious about this Karma Yoga. How do I practice it and what are the benefits of practicing Karma Yoga?
Let us first begin with the benefits of practicing Karma Yoga and hopefully, it will motivate us to actually put the theory into practice.
Why should I practice karma yoga?
- The most important and significant benefit of practicing mindful action is that we become efficient and effective in whatever we do -be it physical work or mental work. Errors are reduced and work gets done faster.
- We can wean away from many compulsive behaviors and habits like binge eating, shopping to reduce stress, addictive habits etc.
- The mind’s ability to focus and concentrate improves with consistent practice of karma yoga
- All our work attains a level of polish and sophistication that comes from giving 100% of our time, skill, focus and abilities to the task at hand
- All actions are seen as just that -actions. It loses its categorization of work that I like, don’t like, enjoy, hate, doing it for others, doing it for myself etc etc.
- The mind becomes quieter and with that, comes peace and joy -which is what we all want anyway.
How do I practice karma yoga?
As seen above, the key to practicing mindful action is to channelize our desires. Whatever be the motivating desire for us to carry out an action, we must first try and encompass it into a bigger desire.
If we truly examine, the one and only desire – the primordial desire behind all our actions is to be happy. Be it earning more money, losing weight, getting that promotion, travel, dining out, helping others, charity, social work, art, cooking, cleaning, marriage, having babies -whatever be it. We do it all to become happier.
However, the catch is, even if we understand that we do all this to be happy, we can’t make this as the principal desire, because it comes with a lot of subjectivity. More often than not, we struggle to understand and make an informed choice about what we want to do, because we stay stuck right in the middle of all the drama and we fail to see the big picture.
Step 1: Detach and dedicate
So what works better is to bring a degree of objectivity and detachment. The easiest way to do this is to dedicate all our thoughts and actions at a higher altar that invokes both love and respect in us. This can be our God / Master / Parents / Mentor / Children / Spouse /Ideology – anything that inspires love and respect.
I am emphasizing on both love AND respect because one without another is not enough to bring the best in us. Let us call this as the “Altar of Devotion”
This attitude of dedication important, because majority of the times, we do things that we don’t like to do, but we have no choice but to do that work. For example- going to a job that we hate, but we have to anyway to feed our family. Dieting to lose weight. I am yet to come across one single person who loves to diet.Detachment helps us raise above the likes/dislikes associated with the action. This brings a degree of quiet and equipoise to the mind, making it fit to perform mindful action.
Step 2: Focus on a simple every day action
To start with, chose one act that we perform everyday. Brushing / bathing (Hopefully), cutting vegetables, washing the dishes, writing the journal -just one act.
Before staring the action, bring forward the “Altar of Devotion” in the mind and offer the action as a token of our love and respect to the altar. It may seem funny to dedicate brushing the teeth to our altar of devotion, but do it nevertheless. It is way of training the mind to constantly evoke that which is our highest inspiration.
When we do this action, keep the mind fully focused on the task in hand. For example, when brushing the teeth, just make the mind watch the act of brushing the teeth. Don’t let it think about the meetings that are in store for the day or worry about paying the bills. Just focus on the act of brushing.
Here are some of the tips to keep the mind focused on the task in hand. One can choose from any of the below.
- Gently repeat the name of the action while performing the action -“brushing”, “bathing” etc.
- Bring the mind to your hands. Hands are the organs of action and make your mind watch your hand
- Watch the breath moving in and out of your body as you carry on that action
- Constantly watch the mind and when it strays into any other thought other that focusing on the task at hand, gently bring it back using any of the above three tricks.
It takes a lot of continuous practice to start doing things mindfully. Start with one simple action, maybe for 5-10 minutes in a day and gradually build it up to longer durations till this mindfulness is carried forward to all our actions.
Step 3: Progress to actions with concrete results and offer the result of action to the Altar of Devotion.
Initially, we will be appalled by the level of chatter that goes on in our mind even when we are doing something -chatter that is completely unrelated to the task at hand. Also, as we start watching our mind, we start feeling a level of intensity in our lives.
Slowly, as we gain mastery in bringing mindfulness in simple every day tasks, we can progress by taking the practice to bigger tasks -like cooking, submitting a report, teaching our children, other professional tasks and so on.
Such tasks need planning and they are executed to achieve a definite end result / desired outcome. Once planning is done, start the execution of the work by invoking the altar of devotion, offering the result of the action to the altar and execute the work with complete mindfulness.
When we offer the result of our work to our altar, we will not be worried about pleasing our boss or clients or our spouse or parents or in laws. When this worry is removed, the work automatically gets done in the best possible way.
Step 4: Live the life of a Karma Yogi
Slowly, we realize that everything that we do, is done as an offering to our Altar of Devotion. In this state, we automatically start doing the right things in the right way. The mind eliminates its unwanted fears, worries and insecurities. Our likes and dislikes starts fading and every act becomes an expression of sheer love and joy.
To summarize
- Bundle up the multiple desire prompts into a single channel of dedication
- Start the work by invoking the Altar of Devotion
- Dedicate the work and its results to the altar
- Make the mind focus on the task in hand -this can be done by watching the breath, repeating the name of action that is performed, making the mind watch the hands
- Start with small simple tasks and extend it to bigger tasks
Instead of our mental faculties getting shattered by the pull of numerous desires, the mind now rests in the altar of our highest devotion and inspiration.
In this state of complete mindfulness, we can experience and enjoy life to its fullest -as action is nothing but an expression of life.