Our Life, Our Responsibility
Whatever happens in our life is our responsibility. That means it is our karma, our doing. When we are on the spiritual path and we utter
the word “karma,” it should always refer to ourself. It is a
completely wrong approach to judge someone else who is going through
something nasty and think it is his or her karma. We will lose our
fundamental humanity if we do so. Someone else’s karma is never ever our business.
It is our karma that we have to witness something unpleasant happening
to another human being.
The moment we refer to someone else’s
karma, we will become an evil force. Evil does not always mean by
intent. Evil means we are such that no matter what we do, it will turn
out negatively for people around us. The moment we start thinking
about someone else’s karma, we are moving in that direction.
This is what we are trying to fix in
spirituality, that we realize that no matter what happens, it is we, we are resposible for that.
It happens in our life, so it is our karma. Whether we are suffering
or enjoying people or any thing around us, it is our karma.
So do not worry about any karma that comes
from our family – there is no such thing. “Family” is only in our
mind. The idea of who is our family and who is not, who is dear to us
and who is not, is entirely manufactured in our mind. If we did not
have a mind, the concept of family would not exist for us. We need to realize that whatever
happens in our life, it is we only and we are responsible. Once we are aware of that, we become
an individual. Otherwise, we remain scattered. Because people are so
scattered, so identified with so many things around them, it takes them a
long time to gather themselves into one organic whole. Once that
happens, what we are seeking can be ours in an instant.
Principles of Karma YogaKarma Yoga is one of the four paths of Yoga. In this page are the key components that determine that any action will qualify as being Karma Yoga"Karma Yoga is the selfless devotion of all inner as well as the outer activities as a Sacrifice to the Lord of all works, offered to the eternal as Master of all the soul's energies and austerities."- Bhagavad Gita  -Right Attitude
It's not what you do that counts, it's the attitude while
doing it that determines if a job is a karma yoga job, i.e. a
liberating job, or a binding job. Work is worship. Swami
Sivananda advises us to "give your hands to work, and keep your mind fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord."
Right Motive
Same as attitude. It is not what you do that counts but
your real motive behind it. Your motive must be pure. Swami
Sivananda says: "Man generally plans to get the fruits of his
works before he starts any kind of work. The mind is so framed that it
cannot think of any kind of work without remuneration or reward. A
selfish man cannot do any service. He will weigh the work and
the money in a balance. Selfless Service is unknown to him."
Do Your Duty
Often "duty" is referred to as "righteousness". You will
incur demerit if you shun your duty. Your duty is towards God, or
Self, or the Inner Teacher who teaches you through all the
specific circumstances of your life as they appear.
Do Your Best
Whatever you have to do, do your best. If you know of a
better way to serve, you must use it. Do not hold back because of
fear of effort or because of fear of criticism. Do not work in a
sloppy manner just because no one is watching or because you feel the
work is not for you. Give your best. Try to do such actions that
can bring maximum good and minimum evil. Do Karma Yoga
increasingly.
Give up Results
God is the doer. You are not the doer. You are only the
instrument. You do not know God's intentions or God's plans. God
is the actor. The Self never acts, changes. It is only the 3
Gunas or qualities of nature which are playing. The way to
realize this truth is to constantly work for work's sake and let go
of the results, good or bad. It is the desire for action that binds
the individual. It is the detachment from action that will
dissolve the karmic seeds. Detachment from results also means
detachment from the type of job itself. There is no job that is
inferior or superior to a different job. Don't be attached to your job.
Be ready to give up your job if necessary.
Serve God or the Self in All
Do to others what you would like to be done to yourself.
Love thy neighbor as thyself. Adapt, adjust, accommodate. Bear
insult, bear injury. Unity in Diversity. We are parts of the same
body. Practice humility in action. Beware of power, fame, name, praise,
censure.
Follow the Discipline of the Job
Each job is a teacher of some sort. You can learn
different skills by doing different jobs. Each job has different
requirements in terms of time, degree of concentration, skills or
experience, emotional input, physical energy, will. Try to do whatever
job you are doing, well.
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