Living the Wisdom of Karma Yoga
Living the Wisdom of Karma Yoga “Between what had happened and what must happen, you are caught. Call it destiny or karma, but never—freedom. First, return to your true being and then act from the heart of love.” –Nisargadatta Maharaj Another year has passed. If we were trees, we would have added one more ring under our quiet bark. It’s just that the tree of our being has its roots in the Eternal Heart. We see every new year as an invitation to fill our lives with resolutions or wishes. This time, let’s try something different. Let’s accept an invitation to empty ourselves of everything that limits us. May our deepest wish not be for a worldly change but for Self-remembrance. We can see the transition from one year to the next as a threshold from illusion to Reality. From the ego-body-mind to the Heart, from promises we make to our personality to the commitment we make to Truth. A Recipe for Action in the New Year—from Time to Timelessness Keeping the good habits of old times, when magazines offered cake recipes for New Year’s celebrations, we’ll also offer a recipe. Of course, it will not be for a cake but a more meaningful feast: a life infused with Self-awareness. This is a Karma Yoga recipe for embracing freedom and love. It doesn’t have toppings or candles, but it will feed our souls. Karma Yoga Recipe Ingredients Add these qualities per the measure of the Heart’s generosity. Properly prepared, this recipe is meant to nourish your soul and fulfill the whole Cosmos. Preparation Beyond this playful recipe, we’ll now share a concise yet comprehensive guide to living in the spirit of Karma Yoga. Consider this practical summary a gift for reflection, with the potential to transform the very fabric of your life. If it feels too much at once, simply take it in small, mindful doses. The Heart is the source of the river of life. Let all your actions flow from its pure waters. A Simple Practice: Tell yourself, “I am Self-aware. I let actions arise from a pure space of freedom and love.” To consecrate our actions is to align our soul with its source, the Supreme Consciousness. It is to tune our hearts to the rhythm of the Cosmos. It is to surrender into the mighty arms of Love. Life becomes sacred not through the greatness of our aims but through the purity of our intentions. When Truth and Love guide our actions, their fruits have the sweet taste of freedom. A Simple Practice: Dive into the most intimate and pure space of the Heart. There, as in front of God, surrender your personal will and all your fears, selfishness, or attachments, remaining in the transparency of perfect authenticity. Allow yourself to be guided in action from that place. Self-awareness is the light of the present moment. It may seem a little spark, but it can bring the conflagration of the ego—the rise of eternity. A Simple Practice: During daily tasks, repeat to yourself, “I am fully present in this action. Therefore, I am.” Detachment seals an action with freedom. This doesn’t mean indifference or neglect. Responsibility without attachment is conscious dedication and love. Humility in service means kneeling before the altar of Life. Such reverence is not submission but an exalted state in which love becomes our main reason and freedom our reward. Enthusiasm is the freedom of the soul skipping like a child in the wonder of the present moment, unburdened by the weight of past or future. It means feeling spanda, the echo of the infinite, pulsating through our hearts and shining further through our actions. A Simple Practice: Connect with the Heart, open to spanda, and let your actions radiate from there. Commit: “I offer myself wholeheartedly to this moment.” Let the purity of intention guide your movements and echo your heart. The river flows to the ocean. It doesn’t know the way; it just trusts and surrenders to its own nature. A Simple Practice: When faced with challenges, bring your right hand to your chest, reconnect with the Heart, and say, “What is this moment teaching me about patience, compassion, or surrender? In Self-awareness, through all these challenges, I feel the freedom of Being.” Persevere and have faith in the rhythms of existence. The butterfly emerges not through force but through surrender to the alchemy of life. The ripples of our actions touch every shore of the ocean of existence. Let them carry love and freedom into the vastness. A Simple Practice: In the intimacy of the soul, ask yourself, “Does this action fully support life, peace, and love? Are there risks that it will ultimately contribute to harm, division, or destruction?” As the ocean’s depth remains unchanged even when wild waves rise and fall, let your actions unfold while you rest in the stillness of Being. How Does Non-Doership Feel? In Non-Doership: A Simple Practice: When engaged in any activity, silently affirm, “I am not the doer. The Divine flows through me. This act is an offering of Love.” “Karma is only a store of unspent energies, of unfulfilled desires and fears not understood. The store is being constantly replenished by new desires and fears. It need not be so forever. Understand the root cause of your fears— estrangement from yourself; and of desires—the longing for the Self, and your karma will dissolve like a dream.” –Nisargadatta Maharaj Time is like a shadow of the Eternal. We move through time, but in that Eternal, we remain. The Now is not a part of time but of Self-Awareness. It takes courage to live in alignment with these truths, especially in a world so often driven by egotistical interests. But courage arises naturally when we rest in the Heart, in the purity of intention and the clarity of discernment. May this year bring us the courage to act and the wisdom to rest in the Stillness from which all actions arise! With Love, Stillness, and Light,