Karma Yoga – In Gita Verse 3.7 On the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga without attachment, he is by far superior.

Krishna here gave the distinction of Karma Yoga. In Bhagavad Gita Verse 3.3, Krishna explains to us Gyan Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. In this verse he speaks regarding Karma Yoga. Till we are alive in the body, our body will act, there will be action through our body. But when we act, from where our actions come, that makes the whole difference.

Just recollect moments in your life when you are angry, your action is anger, when you are loving your action is loving, affectionate, if you replay this incidence again and again you will realize that you were unconscious when your anger or love emotion was present in your action. You were self-unconscious. Even if you realize such a small thing you will find a certain space is opening in you, which you may name as empty like canvas. 

But like in our education, unless we were introduced to ‘A’ we will not know the ‘A’, the same way this empty space is who we are, not introduced to us. So we are unknown and ignorant towards ourselves. Many times during the day we come across this space but because we have not got proper education to recognize ourselves we are unknown to this. Krishna says unless you act from this empty space, which has got no judgements, emotions, thinking, your act cannot come from non-attachment. This empty space is our subjectivity, our soul. We are ignorant regarding our empty space as all the religion has taught us scriptures but not introduce us to this space, which is Who We Are.

What Krishna says you don’t have a choice for action but you have a choice whether you want to act from your unconsciousness or consciousness, your attachments or non-attachments. If your actions are from non-attachment then you are liberated.

To ‘Karma Yoga’ Sufis call it “the watcher on the hills.” The valleys go on changing but the watcher remains on the top of the hill. Sometimes the valley is dark and sometimes the valley is light and sometimes there is dancing and singing and sometimes there is weeping and crying – and the watcher sits on the hill-top and just goes on watching.

By and by the content of consciousness does not matter, only consciousness becomes significant. That is the essential foundation of all true religion. And this is the understanding of the Sufis.

There are four ways to approach truth, to be connected with truth.

The first is known in the East as karma yoga – the way of action. Man has three dimensions in him: action, knowing, feeling. So three ways use these three directions: action, knowing, feeling. You can act, and you can act with total absorption, and you can offer your act to God. You can act without becoming a doer. That is the first way – karma yoga: being in action without being a doer. You let God do. You let God be in you. You efface yourself.

In this, the path of action, consciousness changes the content. These two things have to be understood: consciousness and content. This is all that your life consists of. There is something which is the knower in you and something which is the known. For example, you are listening to music. Now two things are there: whatsoever music plays will be the content, and whatsoever you are inside, listening, watching, that is the consciousness. You are looking at instruments, through which music is played. Then the instrument in your eyes is the content and you, who are looking at that instrument in the eye, are consciousness – the object and the subject.

On the path of action, consciousness changes the content. That is what action is. You see a rock. Somebody may stumble upon it – because it is getting dark, night is falling. so you remove the rock from the path. This is action. What have you done? 

Consciousness has changed the content.

On the path of action, content is important and has to be changed. If somebody is ill and you go and serve him and you give him medicine, you are changing the content. If somebody has fallen in the river and is drowning, you jump in and you save him from drowning. You have changed the content.

Action is content-directed. Action is will – something has to be done. Of course, if the will remains ego-oriented, then you will not be religious. You will be a great doer, but not religious. And your path will be of action but not towards God. When you allow God to become your will, when you say, “Let thy will be mine,” when you surrender your will to the feet of God and his will starts flowing through you, then it is the path of action – karma yoga.

The goal of karma yoga is freedom, moksha – to change the contents so much that nothing antagonistic is left there, nothing harmful is left there; to change the content according to your heart’s desire, so that you can be free of limitations. This is the path of Jainism, yoga, and all action-oriented philosophies.

Krishna tells Arjuna that you will be liberated if you do your part of action aligned with the universal will, God’s will, your act will be non-attached. So just focus on your assignment of the Universe, Fight Without Enmity.

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