Revision as of 19:35, 15 September 2016

Karm Yog

The Times of India, Sep 11 2015

P N Vijay

Karma Yoga, our actions and attitudes

Hindu scriptures discuss at length the issue of action and the attitude that one needs to have while performing it. This is broadly termed Karma Yoga; karma means action and yoga in this context means attitude to action. Action is inevitable. Man has to act because that is his very nature. Even if he is still, his mind is active. If we are not active our health will get affected.Hence what actions have to be performed and how they have to be performed is important for both emotional well-being and spiritual development.

Scriptures say that while action is inevitable, it generates fruits or results which bind you and affect your spiritual journey to Self-realisation and liberation. So, how to get around this dilemma? The answer is to perform right actions with a right attitude. But this alone is not enough to get liberated.Action by itself is inert; but detached action is an essential pre-requisite which we cannot do without. It purifies our mind and takes us to the path of knowledge with the right frame of mind. Otherwise scriptural knowledge may lead to cognitive transformation but you will remain emotionally unstable with alternate bouts of happiness and misery.

Knowing that action is inevitable, we should perform right actions. Scriptures divide actions into sattvika karma, raajasika karma and tamasika karma and require us to perform only saatvika actions.

Saatvika karmas are mandatory actions, which result in good for society and you. Mandatory actions are ­ personal cleanliness, eating and sleeping, daily prayers, and doing karmas for one's forefathers. Other saatvika karmas include doing one's job sincerely so as to earn and main tain a family, tending to one's family, caring for the environment, feeding the poor and so on. Working for a living and looking after family is essential for the contin uation of the species and for the good of society and all this will bring you joy. Planting trees and keeping rivers clean are karmas that will lead to well-being of all.

Raajasika karmas may be good for you but not for others; but they do not harm others. These include amassing wealth without giving anything in charity, helping only your family members without doing anything for the community , spending money on your clothes, jewels, holidays and other personal luxuries without giving something to the less fortunate, striving hard for fame and power.

Tamasika actions are those which not only do good only to you but harm others. These include hurting others physically, using your power against others, helping family to the detriment of others, and damaging environment for personal pleasures.

Right actions should be performed with a sense of detachment without desire for results, says the Gita. The world is governed by results and this attitude may seem naïve and impractical.But scriptures teach us that a detached state of mind improves your effectiveness and performance because it removes stress and anxiety. Desire for results and expectations plays havoc, preventing you from realising your full potential.

All we need is a change in mindset.When i was a young lad my cricket coach would say as i went out to bat, “Just don't bother about the score and play your strokes.“ Golf hero Jack Nicklaus says, “Keep a good back swing and hit hard; don't bother about how far it goes.“ Ramana Maharshi said, “Moving from effort to effortlessness releases is cardinal for Self-enquiry.“

Transcending Karm With Sadhana

The Times of India, August 19, 2016

Shri Shri Anandamurti   When the mind is influenced by sattva guna, the sentient principle, Atman, soul or Self is reflected upon the mind. When the mind is influenced by tamoguna, the static principle, it gets embroiled in the mundane world; and when it is influenced by rajoguna, the mutative principle, it reaps the consequences of its actions. When people are goaded by the propensity of mundane enjoyment they become desperate for uninterrupted pleasure, and end up drifting in the flow of the static force.Since this flow is unrestrained, with no opposing force, it directly hits the vasanabhanda or pot of desires, causing a mutative reaction.

We undergo reactions according to the nature of our original actions. If someone harms a sick person, a saint, a refugee, or an honest person, he will immediately undergo a reaction of the same intensity. This is because sick, infirm and saintly people never obstruct the original actions of wrongdoers. Whatever the original actions of a person may be, good or bad, samskaras, reactive moments, are created. Until all these potential reactions are expressed, liberation is impossible.

As long as one has a physical body, one cannot be free from action.Hence sadhakas or spiritual aspirants need to be ever vigilant to ensure that new reactive moments do not enter their vasanabhanda. Through proper cosmic ideation sadhakas can be filled with Consciousness. No new bundle of samskaras will be created while their old samskaras will be exhausted more quickly.

We often notice that after initiation a sincere sadhaka suddenly experiences tremendous pain or pleasure. Those who suddenly feel tremendous happiness become so absorbed in this blissful state that they completely forget their ideology, and those who suffer immense torture sometimes leave the path due to their inability to face such difficulties. A true sadhaka needs to remain unaffected by both pain and pleasure for it is only through pain and pleasure can one's samskaras be destroyed and a new karmashaya ­ bundle of samskaras ­ dominated by Consciousness be created.

The way to Cosmic Consciousness is to practise Ashtanga Yoga (the eight limbed yoga). Firstly, free your mind from the influence of the pranendriya and motor organs and lead it towards Consciousness. Then, the karmashaya becomes flooded with more and more Consciousness. And through the practice of asanas and pranayama, one could increase the degree of control of the mind over prana. During the first stage of sadhana mind and body become increasingly pure. This is anubhava.

An awareness dawns in the mind: “I am not this body.“ This awareness is called prajina. Sentient prajina is known as prasamkhyana. The effort to make prajina sentient is the second stage of sadhana, when the karmashaya is filled with Consciousness ­ the possibility of a spiritual aspirant's rebirth is destroyed for good. Burnt seeds never sprout. However, even though it is burnt, the seed still exists.

Even though karmashaya is filled with Consciousness, the vasanabhanda has to be offered to Parama Purusha in complete surrender. The only way to merge the vasanabhanda into Consciousness is to ideate on Parama Purusha and forget everything else.This ideation on the Supreme Entity is called purusakhyati ­ ensconcement in the Supreme Cognitive Faculty, when individual identity merges in Parama Purusha.

Breaking free of our Karm

The Times of India, Aug 08 2016

Nayaswami Devi  People frequently ask, “Why have you followed the spiritual path for your whole life?“ There are many answers to that question, but a big one is: “It brings me inner freedom.“ By this i mean, freedom to change negative patterns that have kept me in their clutches; freedom to respond with calmness and kindness even when others are angry or challenging; and, simply , freedom to enjoy whatever life brings. We've all had those painful moments when we look in the mirror and realise that we've actually been the cause of a lot of the problems in our life. Swami Kriyananda would say , “When you see a fault within yourself, don't despair, but rejoice. It's been there all along, but now that you've seen it, you can start working to change it.“

So what are some spiritual tools that help us to break free of our karmic patterns? Karma is simply energy generated by past thoughts or actions that we've steered in a certain direction.This understanding gives us a handle on the subconscious patterns that control our behaviour, and the ability to direct the flow of energy in a positive direction.

With conscious awareness and determination, replace a negative pattern with a positive one. If, for example, you've been critical of others, attracting in turn criticism back to you, use your will power to offer acceptance and support to everyone.Though the battleship of our karma may be slow in changing its course, in time a new direction will be set, heading us now towards the open seas of freedom. Use affirmations repeatedly with deep concentration to change chronic patterns of thinking. Find a prayer or affirmation appropriate to a specific karma that you're working on, and let it be your constant companion.For example, if you have a problem with mindless snacking, use these words of Paramhansa Yogananda whenever temptation comes: “Today I will rise above the consciousness of food and know that I live by the pure peace of silence.“ peace of silence.“

Be patient: The deeper the karma, the longer the time required to change it. Don't constantly dig up the spiritual seeds you're sowing to see if they're taking root. Let them grow in their own time to become mighty plants.

Bring the problem to God in meditation and prayer.

Some years ago i was faced with a test that was causing me a great deal of pain. No hat i did to free myself from matter what i did to free myself from the clutches of this karmic beast, it tenaciously confronted me every day.Finally i went to Swami Kriyananda to ask his advice about how to break free of it.

With wisdom and love, he said, “Everything that you're doing is good, but ultimately it's God's grace that frees us from our karma.“ From his words i understood that our sincere efforts and desire to be free draw the grace that brings release. We have to do our little part, and then God steps in and unties the knots of karma that have kept us bound.

And so it happened in my situation.Though it took some years, ultimately the karma was dissolved in an unexpected, beautiful, and deeply satisfying way that i couldn't have envisioned myself. Through the grace of God and Guru, may we find freedom from all limitations.