It’s not necessary. Karma is not necessary for yoga. To transcend karma, yoga is to practice yoga. Karma yoga was created to restore balance within a person. The path of non-doing, which we can call our awareness, love, experience, or glimpses of reality, is very beautiful but very slippery. It is extremely slippery. It is both the easiest and most difficult. Although it’s not difficult, it’s not easy. It is simple, right now, right now. How do you get that here and now? It is not in your hands. It will never be in your hands. It would help if you had something to hold it. Karma yoga is the crutch for this.
Most people won’t be able to walk without a crutch. Only a few people can walk with a crutch. These are rare creatures. To manage your awareness, everyone else needs this crutch. This is what most people need to stay aware of. Karma yoga helps you to temper sadhana by taking the right actions.
Activity – Liberating or Entangling
Karma yoga is often referred to as service
Karma yoga is often referred to as service. Karma yoga is a way to undo the impressions you have made. Karma yoga is when you can joyfully engage in any activity. If you do it with great effort, only karma will come, no Dhyanalinga. This is what he wants to see happen. Let us do it! We can now relax once this is accomplished.” They worked as if their lives depended upon it. They moved from one house to the next, raising funds and providing support. Before they could say “Ooff …”, I had already announced ten other projects. Because people need this kind of action, I will keep it going. They must do what is necessary without worrying about whether they are happy. We are all doing something to help our growth. Let us make it useful for everyone. Let us take sensible action.
Total involvement
You can’t do anything that doesn’t mean anything to anyone, but you must be fully involved
Many masters have created such action. The European elite went to Gurdjieff when he set up his centers in Europe. He would give them a shovel and a pickaxe and say, “Dig trenches.” They stood in the scorching sun and dug. They were not used to any labor. After only a few hours of work, the blisters were all over. He stood there and drove them along. They were starving by late evening but continued digging trenches. He would then look at his watch and say, “Okay. It is seven o’clock.” Looks like dinner time. It’s time to close the trenches once more before we go for dinner.” That was a whole day of work!
You cannot be involved in something that doesn’t mean anything unless you are fully involved. This is what causes the karmic structure to fall apart. Karma means action. Action should not become yoga if it is to be transformed into yoga. Karma is when your activity becomes a way of binding yourself. It is not how many activities you do. It is how you perform the activity that matters. Karma is when you crawl through your work. Karma yoga is when you dance through your work.