Karma-yoga means doing an act with an intention to serve/contribute just because it is one’s duty/nature/swadharma/swabhava/prakrati to do so (the creative potentiality hard wired in us can only be satisfied if it is expressed) without taking the ownership of the result and accepting the result as prasad. Since laws of nature control the outcome, this attitude frees oneself of the pride associated with success or guilt associated with failure and makes one accept any result with grace. Now, what makes Karma-yoga lead to yoga or union? When mind is free from agitations, yoga automatically happens. Mental agitations are primarily caused by inaction and by uncertainty over result of an action due to desire/aversion towards a particular outcome. Karma-yoga prompts one to act and with Karma-yoga attitude the uncertainty over result no longer agitates the mind since any result is accepted with evenness of mind. As mind gradually quitens, yoga happens.
Tag Archives: Samadhi
10 Commandments for Enlightened Living
- The only truth is pure consciousness which is not an individual being but it is more like a unified field.
- Potentiality (maya) is the inherent nature of pure consciousness. Hence, it is the source of creation.
- All creation is made from pure consciousness itself as there is nothing else but it. Potentiality is something that is hard-wired within pure awareness. It is due to the potentiality that pure consciousness keeps on taking various forms. Potentiality keeps on generating ripples in the field of consciousness. Strength of the ripple leads to attachment/false identification creating false, “I”.
- The apparent* creation happens spontaneously as if driven by a set of laws. The set of laws are just like the procedure that a steady mind follows to build something on its own without any specific instructions and sticks to them.
- One of the results of these laws of creation is man. So, man in reality is pure consciousness.
- Suffering is due to the fact that pure consciousness (Self) gets identified/attached with the man who has several instruments of experience and memory. This identification/attachment creates false sense of I, also called individual soul (Jiva).
- Self-Realisation replaces false, “I” (conditioned consciousness or individual consciousness) with true, “I” (pure consciousness).
- For happiness, mind needs purpose/goal. If rajas/tamas drive the life, this would not lead to long-term happiness. There will just be moments of pleasure and sorrow.
- Non-doership, Singing your song (doing Swadharma), realising Self, abiding in Self (separate from the influence of gunas), purifying binding vasanas, attitude of service towards Self is the workable attitude for long-term happiness. This should be the goal of the mind.
- Service should be offered to the Self as per Swadharma. If due to certain reason one is not able to offer Swadharma, Law of Attraction# can be used. The results need to be accepted as they are in any situation as the whole universe has conspired to provide them.
*Strictly speaking there is no world “out” there as everything is made up of consciousness. However, it does appear to Jiva that there is creation. Since, it appears to be a creation hence the word apparent.
#This should be a rare practice as there is nothing called ideal work and there is no limit to more. There can always be a work that one is not aware of that one can do better than the most. It is a better policy to abide in Self while involved in whatever we are doing. After all, we must be reasonably good in whatever we are doing or others would not have accepted us in our current job.