Karma Yoga Opportunities

by Nina

Yoga for Healthy Aging Subscriber Tama Blough by Corey Nguyen

3.3 In this world, O Arjuna, a twofold path of Sadhana has been stated by Me in the past. The path of Self-knowledge (Jnana-yoga) for the contemplative,
 And the path of unselfish work (Karma-yoga) for the active. —Bhagavad Gita

Although the Yoga Sutras describes an eight-fold path of yoga that focuses on contemplative practices (see Ashtanga Yoga: Following the Eight-Fold Path), the Bhagavad Gita presents a second path to enlightenment, the path of karma yoga, which means “unselfish work” or “action of the Yogis.” In his post Caregivers: The True Karma Yogis, Ram defines karma yoga as a path of yoga that allows for an individual to carry out his/her duties selflessly as a service without looking to reap any benefits from such service. He also has written that:

"Any individual can achieve mind-body awareness and ultimately attain enlightenment by practicing self-less service (seva), without expectations for service provided. As a result, the practitioner’s heart and mind become pure, the ego is subdued and the light of divinity shines through them."

I actually really surprised a friend recently by saying that Mohandas K. Gandhi was the greatest yogi of the 20th century because of his work for social justice. In my friend’s mind, unless you were following the path described in the Yoga Sutras, including asana and meditation, you weren’t practicing yoga. But Gandhi referred to himself as a “yogi.” And he called the Bhagavad Gita his “mother” because he was guided by the Gita in his practice of karma yoga. (He did his own translation of the Bhagavad Gita, and it’s worth reading his essay in that book on the Gita's message. You can also find Gandhi’s essay in Stephen Mitchell’s translation of the Gita.)

I’ve been thinking about karma yoga the last week because I’ve been involved in helping a friend, Tama Blough, who is a subscriber to this blog. Tama has terminal cancer, and because she lives alone and can’t work, she needs financial assistance for living expenses and caregiving. One thing I’ve learned about myself over the years is that even though I’m a great believer in social justice, I’m just not the kind of person who’s going to lead protests, go off to Africa to help take care of people with Ebola, or even spend time volunteering at my local food bank. Sure, I give money to causes I believe in. Honestly, I can’t say I like this about myself—that I'm not out there in the trenches—but I’ve come to realize that I’m just better at helping individuals who I know. I don’t live close enough to go over to Tama’s apartment and give her hands-on help very often, so for Tama, I created a fundraising site at Give Forward, and then used my mad social media skills to spread the word. And I’m very happy to say my team and I are well on our way to raising enough money to help keep Tama comfortable in her own home as long as possible.

I recently read that your station in life tells you many important things about your karma yoga duties. If you are a son or a daughter, a brother or sister, or a parent, then you should fulfill these roles well. Obviously, the same goes for being a friend. And Ram has written in his post Caregivers: The True Karma Yogis that "a sister, brother, parent, relative, friend, or neighbor who provides care and assistance to a recipient without receiving any payment for such services" is a true karma yogi.

So, if you're interested, please visit the fundraising site for our subscriber, Tama. Another good way to practice karma yoga this week would be to join the Veterans Yoga Project that Baxter described in his post Supporting Our Veterans: Veterans Yoga Project. Or, you can simply take some time to figure out what skills and talents you have to contribute, and then look for opportunities that best fit your station in life as well as your personality.

And I’d love to hear from you in the comments section or on Facebook about the kinds of karma yoga that you are practicing—or intend to practice.

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