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Karma Yoga
ОглавлениеThe term karma comes from the verb root kru, “to do,” and Karma Yoga in the original Vedic sense means simply “path of action.” The Karma Kanda of the Veda, which probably goes back more than ten thousand years, contains instructions for actions and rituals that one can perform with a particular goal in mind, such as obtaining wealth or the object of one’s passion, becoming a good person, or achieving spiritual goals.
Approximately five thousand years ago, the Lord Krishna introduced a new form of Karma Yoga to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.6 He described it as surrendering the fruit of one’s actions to the Supreme Being. Note the difference between this definition of Karma Yoga and the idea of karma presented in the Karma Kanda. Krishna tells us not to be interested in the result of our actions but instead to “surrender the fruit of your action to me.” In the Vedas, on the other hand, action (karma) is always used to achieve a particular effect. Lord Krishna actually criticizes the stance of the Vedas when he says, “traigunya vishaya veda nistraygunyo bhavarjuna,” which loosely translates as “The Vedas deal with accumulation only; be you without desire for gain.”7 Today, following on this idea, the term Karma Yoga is commonly used to refer to selfless service to others, such as going to an ashrama and chopping the veggies without pay.8 In this book I will use the term Karma Yoga only in its original Vedic sense and not in its more recent meaning as taught by the Lord Krishna.
An important difference between Karma Yoga and the other two forms of yoga revolves around this issue of renouncing gain. The path of Jnana Yoga is traditionally taught only to those who have renounced the desire for any form of gain or success. Similarly, Bhakti Yoga requires one to internally renounce any gain that may accidentally come one’s way and surrender it to one’s chosen divine form. Karma Yoga, in contrast, requires its followers to give up the idea of gain and success only once the state of “discriminative knowledge” or “knowledge of the difference between self and nonself” is attained. This state is reached only after approximately 95 percent of the journey has been completed.9 Although many of its higher techniques are difficult and demanding, in this regard Karma Yoga is a more “novice” type of yoga; it has lower entry requirements than Jnana and Bhakti Yoga and addresses those who are not yet ready to give up the pursuit of gain for themselves. (It is important here to remember that spiritual gain stands in the traditional Indian view on the same level as material gain; it is still just an attempt to get ahead.)
Seen from the lofty heights of Jnana or Bhakti Yoga, which aim at recognizing the infinite Brahman either with or without form, Karma Yoga is a modest path dealing with modest achievements in the relative world, such as acquiring a healthy body, a steady mind, and a luminous intellect — all with the goal of gradually removing the barriers to spiritual liberation. Practitioners achieve these aims by performing the eight limbs of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga. Ashtanga Yoga, then, is the underlying structure or architecture of Karma Yoga.
Although Karma Yoga is a practical, mundane approach to realizing liberation, the concepts essential to Jnana and Bhakti Yoga lie at its core. When practicing the many elaborate techniques of Karma or Ashtanga Yoga, we need to remember that we do this only because we are in essence both infinite consciousness (the heart of Jnana Yoga) and children of God (the essence of Bhakti Yoga). These three paths are, after all, different routes to the same destination.