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Karma Yoga transforms karma into Yoga. Karma Yoga never binds you to good or bad results, whereas karma ensures that you must experience the consequences of your actions, whether pleasant or painful. If your actions are good, then you face that in the form of pleasure. If they are bad, you have to face that in the form of pain. But, if you do everything for the sake of others, for the sake of humanity, neither pleasure nor pain affects you.
Instead, everything simply moves through you because you no longer identify as the ‘do-er.’ You are the ‘be-er’ and everything just flows through you. It’s something like becoming a flute. Whatever the flute player plays, passes through the hollow flute. The flute follows no sheet music; it is simply an open, empty instrument through which the music flows. It is no problem for the flute if the music is nice to listen to or hurts the ears.
What is the real difference between karma and Karma Yoga? When you do things for your ego gratification, you get the karma. It becomes Karma Yoga when you are offering your actions as a benefit to others. You don’t get affected by the result of your action if it’s Karma Yoga. Karma is accrued when you do something for your sake and you are affected by the result of it. Whether the result is good or bad that result comes to you and that becomes your karma. You have to face it. You become responsible for it. It’s almost like you cook for yourself, you eat it, you have to then digest it, and later you have to eliminate—so it’s all your job. If you cook it and give it to somebody, you don’t have to worry about it. It becomes their business. Even if they get stomachache, it’s their business.
In a way, that is what is meant by renunciation. A good karma yogi is a good renunciate because whatever they are doing, they are not doing for the sake of their own ego gratification or fruit of their action. They become a true sannyasi. Whoever lives this way is totally free from the turmoil, the push and pull of the dualities—pleasure and pain, desire and aversion.
That’s why Karma Yoga is considered a supreme form of Yoga. In whatever you do, even your meditation can be Karma Yoga. You are not meditating for your sake. That is the reason why, in Integral Yoga after our meditation, we repeat the Kayena Vaacha sloka. That sloka affirms that whatever actions we engage in, we do so as an offering. Daily we say that, but if we don’t really understand it, mean it and follow it, then these are empty words and we don’t receive the benefit.
When the sense of egoic doership dissolves, then we are totally free, free, free from any bondage. Don’t think bondage means only bad, painful things. Even good things can bind. It’s almost like putting a parrot in a golden cage. The cage may be all gold, but it’s still a cage. The freedom is not there. You may have several million dollars but if you are holding onto it for your happiness, if you are constantly worrying about it, investing it, watching the stock market every minute, then, what is that? Freedom? It’s okay to have money and possessions, but if they possess you rather than you using them for the benefit of all, then you may be wealthy, but you are still bound. If you cling to nothing, if you feel that you are an instrument in the hands of a Higher Power who is doing everything through you for the good of all, then, you truly are the richest person, the king of kings, shah of shahs. Why? Because you are totally free. That is Karma Yoga.
