Altruism (Karma Yoga), a Wonderful Way to Start the New Year!

by Ram

The Rescue by Pablo Picasso*

The underlying principle of the Yoga philosophy is the well-being of an individual at the level of body and mind and helping an individual re-connect to his/her true nature through direct and personal experience. One of the methods by which Yoga prepares the body and mind of the individual for the eventual liberation and enlightenment is through Karma Yoga, which is the yoga of selfless-action. Altruism aka Karma Yoga aka seva in Sanskrit translates as a selfless service without expectations for service provided. Any individual can achieve mind-body awareness and ultimately attain enlightenment by practicing seva/Karma yoga without any personal expectation. A Karma Yogi—an individual rendering selfless service—gets rid of all egoistic tendencies while offering such a service and puts the well-being of others as a top priority ahead of his/her personal gain or achievement.

Selfless service requires an individual to perform any service without attachment or expectation, and remain unaffected by the results of such service. At the same time such an individual needs to cultivate a loving attitude towards the selfless task, without developing any stress from it, no matter what the outcome is. Performing a task without any expectation, letting go of all results, whether good or bad, and focusing on the selfless action alone is the essence of Karma Yoga. In the light of non-attachment, the selfless doer attains freedom from emotional disturbances, including but not limited to desires, ambitions, fear, worry, anxiety, judgment, and rage. This leads to true happiness.

In one of my older posts Caregivers: The True Karma Yogis I extolled the selfless service of caregivers. In my opinion, caregivers are true Karma Yogis since they perform their duties selflessly as a service without looking to reap any benefits. Caregivers provide a wide variety of selfless services to a recipient, including assisting with daily tasks like personal care, providing meals, helping the recipient with their daily physical activities, administering medications, meeting with healthcare providers, coordinating treatment regimens, managing the recipient’s medical care and health insurance among other duties. Mother Teresa also comes to my mind as a true Karma Yogi, who declared that, “As to my calling, I belong to the world”. Mother Teresa kept reiterating the inner joy and well-being that she experienced through her selfless service.

A recent research study Motives for volunteering are associated with mortality risk in older adults  on selfless service and its effects on longevity confirm the importance of these acts. People who volunteer, and whose reasons for volunteering are to help others rather than themselves, may live longer than those who volunteer for selfish gains. The reasons why volunteering with an altruistic attitude helps an individual to live longer are manifold including among others:

1. When helping others, the body releases an important hormone called oxytocin which assists in buffering out stressful thought.
2. Merely thinking of a selfless service releases certain “feel-good” chemicals that reduces stress providing stability to the min.
3. The feel-good chemicals in turn also improves cardiovascular health.
4. Self-esteem builds and confidence levels grow when you are passionate about helping others in need, resulting in a stronger mind.

Yoga philosophy describes in detail how altruism is one of the many qualities needed to reverse pain and overcome mental afflictions (vrittis). BKS Iyengar alludes to altruism when he elaborates on karuna (compassion). Karuna is not just displaying pity or shedding tears over a miserable situation. True compassion is when you couple it with a selfless action that relieves the misery or suffering. A true karma yogi is one who without any expectation or reward:

• uses all the available resources to mitigate pain, misery and suffering
• provides courage and strength to the weak
• provides shelter to all

Providing selfless help without attaching any benefits provide Karma Yogis the greatest joy and a sense of fulfillment. It is of no surprise that the authors of a recent research study Volunteerism, health, and civic engagement among older adults compiled empirical evidence on the benefits of selfless service, concluding that adult volunteers may enjoy good health and longevity because being useful to others instills a sense of being needed and valued.

With several research studies to back the philosophy of Karma Yoga, how about committing to selfless acts on a regular basis to achieve a longer health span and using this extended life to foster sincere relationships and bring greater fulfillment to your life? I cannot think of a better resolution for Y2015!

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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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