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yama (Karma Yoga)

Plunge into the world, and then, after a time, when you have suffered   and enjoyed all that is in it, will renunciation come; then will calmness come. So fulfil your desire for power and everything else, and after you have fulfilled the desire, will come the time when you will know that they are all very little things; but until you have fulfilled this desire, until you have passed through that activity, it is impossible for you to come to the state of calmness, serenity, and self-surrender.

Vivekananda, Swami; Time, Reading. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (p. 83). (Function). Kindle Edition.

It is useless to say that the man who lives out of the world is a greater man than he who lives in the world; it is much more difficult to live in the world and worship God than to give it up and live a free and easy life.

Vivekananda, Swami; Time, Reading. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (p. 85). (Function). Kindle Edition.

What have I done, O Lord, that Thou shouldst bestow any heavenly comfort upon me? I remember not that I have done any good, but have been ever prone to sin and slow to amendment.

Imitation of Christ, Book III, Chapter LIX

  • ahimsa (Non-violence)
  • satya (Truthfulness)
  • asteya (Non-stealing)
  • brahmacharya (Celibacy)
  • aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)

The yamas are the moral restraints that need to be followed as a foundation for the practice of yoga. These also coinside with the practice of Karma Yoga. When selfless service is performed without going after the fruits of the action.

I believe that the practice is benefited by applying the principles outside of spirituality. W Edwards Deming, the father of modern quality management is one example of how the principles of business can be applied to spirituality.

A slow continuous improvement both internally and externally with the goal being that you are not attached to the fruits of the action while performing the action.

The question to always ask is: Is what I am doing selfish?

This question is pretty significant as most everything we do is selfish. Even those things we don’t want to do are selfish: I have a task I like and a task I don’t like. I like to code, I don’t like to clean the toilet. The way forward is to just have a routine and do the task whether you like it or not.

So, Karma Yoga is a form of meditation. You continuously bring the mind back to the task at hand.

However, I think the cheat code that Krishna gave in the Gita is to do your dharma. While we don't have prescribed dharma like Arjuna, we do have a path that we may eventually follow. This path is the dharma that we should be doing, even the boring parts.

Notes:

  • Aspire for Sattvic ideal.
  • Live simply and give as much as possible.
  • Name and fame are poison. Do not aspire for those just make selfless service the default.
  • Thoughts are actions. An impure thought is an impure action.
  • No half assing. Put your entire energy into the task at hand. If you are doing two things say like gardening and listening to scripture you are not doing either well. Make time individually for both. Put your whole heart and mind to the task at hand.
  • “The old Samskaras of vanity, cunningness, crookedness, arrogance, petty-mindedness, fighting nature, pride, self-esteem or thinking too much of one’s self, speaking ill of others, belittling others, may be still lurking in your mind.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
  • “Those who engage themselves frequently in hot debates, vain discussions, wrangling, lingual warfare and intellectual gymnastics cause serious damage to the astral body.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
  • “An aspirant should follow the instructions of his Guru and the teachings of the scriptures to the very letter. No leniency should be allowed to the mind. There can be no half measures in the spiritual path. You cannot say: “I will see to them later on. I can devote more time when I retire. I have followed the instructions as far as possible or more or less.” This ‘more or less’ and ‘as far as possible’ business is disastrous to an aspirant. There is neither ‘exception to the general rule’ nor ‘allowing margin’ nor any ‘discount’ in the practice of spiritual instructions. Exact, implicit, strict obedience to the instructions is expected of you.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
  • “Even slight annoyance and irritability affects the mind and the astral body. Aspirants should not allow these evil Vrittis to manifest in the mind-lake.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
  • “Worry, depression, unholy thoughts, anger and hatred produce a kind of crust or dark layer on the surface of the mind or astral body. This crust or rust or dirt prevents the beneficial influences to get entry inside and allows the evil force or lower influences to operate. Worry does great harm to the astral body and the mind. Energy is wasted by the worry-habit. Nothing is gained by worrying. It causes inflammation of the astral body and drains the vitality of man. It should be eradicated by vigilant introspection and by keeping the mind fully occupied.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
  • “Be ever ready to serve. Serve with pure love, kindness and courtesy. Never grumble or murmur during service. Never show a wry or gloomy face when you serve. The man whom you serve will refuse to accept such service. You will lose an opportunity. Watch for opportunities to serve. Never miss a single chance. Create opportunities. Create field for good service. Create work. Live a life of utter devotion to service. Fill your heart with fervour and enthusiasm for service. Live only to be a blessing to others. If you want to achieve this you will have to refine your mind.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
  • “You must not do any work perfunctorily or in a careless, half-hearted manner, without taking any interest. You cannot evolve if you take this attitude of mind. The whole heart, mind, intellect and soul must be in the work. Then only can you call it Yoga or Isvararpana.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
  • “Do not do anything in a surry scurry, in haste or flurry. Do every bit of work with a cool, unruffled mind. Be perfectly accurate in doing any kind of work. Collect all your scattered thoughts and apply your full mind to the work on hand. Many spoil their work by doing it in haste without reflection or consideration.” -Karma Yoga, Sivananda
  • "A student of Karma Yoga should have an elementary knowledge of Raja Yoga, psychology, Ayurveda, physiology, family medicine, hygiene, Sankhya and Vedanta.", -Karma Yoga, Sivananda

ahimsa (non-violence)​

To be non-violent means to be able to wield violence in the first place. It comes from a place of strength and not weakness. A weak person who says they are non-violent is just weak.

For Indian Hindus who have a tendency towards anger towards Muslins and Christians:

  1. People converted to Islam and Christianity because of the social chains of caste. They were oppressed by the caste system. Muslims and Christians in India are by blood Indian.
  2. Make it so that Sanatana Dharma is appealing to the people who converted by removing the social chains of caste, class and creed.

satya​

Truthfulness comes in two parts:

  • With others.
  • With yourself.

While not lying to others is staightforward, being truthful with yourself is hard. We tend to lie to ourselves. Thankfully, with the wonderful invention of spreadsheets we can track our actions and see if we are being truthful. As a way to keep myself honest I do the following:

  • Routine based on 30 minute chunks. From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep I have a routine that is based on 30 minute chunks. Each chunk has a specific task associated with a specific limb / yoga.
  • Spreadsheet tracking my daily reviews of my progress. Each of the things then has a Deming Control Chart that I track to see how I am doing. The nature of the Patanjali's Limbs is that there are external and internal practices. In business these can be regarded as input and output metrics. The things you can control for are the input metrics and this is what I track.

Bilbiography​