No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. we ourselves must walk the path. – Buddha

There are different paths of Yoga few of which are ever taught in yoga classes as understood in the West.  The traditional four paths of yoga as distinct from the different styles of yoga are: –

• Bhakti Yoga – The Path of Devotion.
• Karma Yoga – The Path of Action.
• Jnana Yoga – The Path of Understanding.
• Raga Yoga – The Royal Path.

Each of these paths suit different personalities.  You do not have to travel only one path, but the journey of yoga is not a journey of style (hatha, flow, yin, hot etc) but of paths.

Over the time I have been on the Yoga journey I have travelled each of these four paths.  I would consider myself someone who now treads the path of bhakti and karma yoga in combination.

I start each morning and end each evening with the practice of Yoga Nidra.  Within this practice I set my intention for the day and at the days end. Nothing happens without intention.

It is best if you find your own statement of intention that aligns with your heart felt desire (Sankalpa). The poetic statement of intent shared below is one that I love and feel deeply inspired to follow and allow.

The power of intention is the power of love and receptivity – Dr. Wayne Dyer

This statement of intention which is stated at the end of a 30-minute period of Yoga Nidra. It comes from the lyric of a hymn by the Christian metaphysical poet George Herbert.

Teach me my God and King in all things thee to SEE
And what I do in anything I do it as for thee.

George Herbert

For me this is the ultimate affirmation of one who would travel the path of Karma yoga.

It encompasses all aspects of Karma yoga and combines the foundational aspect of Bhakti Yoga which is the path of devotion.

The path of Karma yoga like all Yoga paths is a path of surrender.  It is the surrender of the personal will to the will of the Divine

I am not a teacher, but an awakener. –Robert Frost

The opening request is inviting the real experience of going to University. This is where you allow yourself to be taught from communion with the Universe.

This is not an invitation to intellectual study but to the experience of revelation.  This is the experience that allows you to live a very different kind of life.

It is a life whereby you become one who lives as Love in action.

There is no need for you to believe in God.  It is better to acknowledge that you do not KNOW God unless you actually abide within that experience to which the word “God” points.

It is better if you remain open to the possibility of having the revelation of the Divine be experienced through you.

Seeing is not Believing – Seeing is KNOWING beyond belief – Tony Cuckson

There is an everyday phrase that declares “Seeing is believing.” There is also the metaphysical teaching that states, “Believe it and you will see it.”

The popular New Age author Dr Wayne Dyer authored a book on the subject entitled You’ll See It When You Believe It.

This focus on “belief” forms the foundation of much of the teaching related to the New Thought Movement that morphed into the popular teaching called The Law of Attraction by way of another popular book entitled Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

The statement “Seeing is believing” should be more properly stated as “Seeing is KNOWING.”

The word “See” as used in the phrase “In all things thee to SEE” isn’t about vision or intellectual knowledge and certainly not about an adherence to any formal belief system.

It is about inner seeing, insight and revelation.

Stop, open up, surrender the beloved blind silence.
Stay there until you see you’re looking at the light
with infinite eyes.

Rumi

The path is long, but self-surrender makes it short; the way is difficult, but perfect trust makes it easy. ― The Mother

The path of Karma Yoga like all other genuine yoga paths is a path of surrender.

It is the surrender of doing from the sense of the personal self to the flow of Being.  It is the surrender of the sense of the personal “I am” to the experience of abiding within the universal “I AM.”

The life of a Karma yogini is a life informed by the flow of Grace.

As a Karma yogini you intentionally live your life in alignment with BEING. Life is less stressful. Your life becomes a flow.  This is not your doing but your allowing yourself to be done through.

You are free of all desire other than your core heart’s desire which is to be a channel for the manifestation of the will of the Divine.  You live the line from the Lord’s prayer that asks.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven – Matthew 6:10

As a Karma yogini you become a channel of Love in action. In the teaching of the Tao Te Ching this is called Wu Wei.  Translated the term “Wu Wei means “action from non-action”

Creating, yet not possessing
Working, yet not taking credit
Work is done, then forgotten
Therefore it lasts forever.

Lao Tzu, The Tao Te Ching: Annotated Edition

You take the red pill, and you see how deep the rabbit hole goes – Morpheus – The Matrix

As a Karma yogini you stop creating the story of the separate personal self which is the main cause of all unnecessary suffering both individually and collectively.

The word Karma comes from the word “action.” Karma is not good or bad. It is action that you are attached too. It is created through your sense of “doing.”

The Karma yogini lives their life by way of the flow of action through non-action.

To be a Karma yogi is to begin to leave the Matrix of collective suffering. You take the red pill, and you have the courage to explore just how far into wonderland you might venture.

This path of yoga leads to a different way of living. You cease all your doing.  You stop creating the do-do of your life and move into a more balanced way of living.

This is the rhythm of life that is do-be-do-be-do.  The first beat of that rhythm moves from Being which is also to say that it moves from KNOWING and SEEING.

People belonging to “the have mode” concentrate on material gains and material benefits while “to be mode” people concentrate on creative and meaningful work. – Eric Fromm – To Have or to Be

The Karma yoga path is ideal for the Western culture with its focus on go-getting and the feeling of never enough. The Western culture has its focus on doing and more doing.

It is never ending because it tries to find fulfilment in the experience of the finite.

The practice of Karma yoga turns this sense of never having enough to a focus on atunement with that which is beyond forever enough.

The Karma yogini lives as the movement of Love in action. They are the non-doers who achieve everything that is intended to be created through them by learning to trust the Universal as it created you to express through you.

The Karma yogini is an outpouring of Divine Intention. Their key focus is to learn how to FEEL what the New Thought Movement teacher Ralph Waldo Trine called being “In Tune with the Infinite.”

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. – Rumi

The journey of Karma Yoga as I suggest you explore it for yourself is as follows: –

• Begin with a clear intention to explore the experience of non-doing by way of surrender.
• Start to explore the practice of Yoga Nidra – a practice of non-doing.
• Commit to finding a phrase or statement that aligns with your intention (Sankalpa)
• Pay attention to the way your life begins to flow and align with that.
• Resistance is an indication that the desires of your personal self has blocked the flow.
• Karma yoga as a practice leads to the development of trust.

We all have to engage in action. Much of this activity is self-centred. The Karma yogini is focused on action in service to the SELF or the Divine.

Action becomes a way of devotion. The difference is that you don’t get burnt out. You get burned up. The difference is that in being metaphorically burned up you are like the mythological Phoenix.

The Phoenix is the symbol of freedom. You are free from the limitation of the separate sense of self.

Rumi says it this way.

You were born with potential.
You were born with goodness and trust.
You were born with ideals and dreams.
You were born with greatness.
You were born with wings.

You are not meant for crawling, so don’t.
You have wings.
Learn to use them and fly.

Rumi

Following the path of Karma Yoga enhances any yoga style that you practice. The difference is that by incorporating this path into your practice it deepens your sense of purpose and meaning.

The very reason for nature’s existence is for the education of the soul. ― Swami Vivekananda, Karma Yoga: the Yoga of Action

Here are some resources that I have referenced in this article, and I have indicated those I highly recommend you explore if the invitation to Kama yoga as a path of Love in action appeals to you.

Books

• Believe it and You Will See it – Dr. Wayne Dyer.
• Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill.
• In Tune with the Infinite – Ralph Waldo Thrine.
• To Have or to Be – Eric Fromm.
• Letting Go – The Pathway of Surrender – Dr David R Hawkins (Highly recommended)
• The Surrender Experiment – Michael Singer – (Recommended)
• Karma Yoga: the Yoga of Action – Swami Vivekananda.

Videos

Thank you for taking the time to read this article on karma yoga examples that I recommend you explore in your own way.