Karma Yoga
Karma Yoga is an introductory yoga that encourages, through an understanding of psychological and causal principles, individuals towards Right Action by developing the "science of work," (e.g., science of action)[1] a carefully reasoned approach designed to move individuals towards alignment, thereby facilitating gradual Reconnection.
List of Connection Frameworks
Arica School, Baha'i, Buddhism, Eupsychian Theory, Gnosticism, Holistic Nursing, Jainism, Karma Yoga, League For Spiritual Discovery, Monastic Christianity, Neo-Hinduism, Sanatana Dharma, Shattari, Sufism, Taoism, The Lightning Path, Theosophy, Transpersonal Psychology, Wicca, Yoga, Zen
Related LP Terms
Non-LP Related Terms
List of Connection Frameworks
Notes
Swami Vivekananda provides an excellent treatise on Karma Yoga[2] which is all about how to work in the world in a way that moves you towards alignment and connection, and away from disjuncture and disconnection.
Karma Yoga encourages one towards Right Thought, Right Action, and the creation of Right Environment, which in turn are the foundation of Healing and Reconnection (the current goal of this planet's Pinnacle Species) by a careful process of observation coupled with reason.
Since action (a.k.a. work) is something that we must undertake to exist and thrive, action, or rather Right Action, is a particular focus for Karma Yoga
Karma yoga uses the concept of Duty to underline the types of actions one should engage in with regards to self, others, and the environment.
Karma yoga emphasizes non-attachment as a key criteria of engaging in Right Action that leads to healing and reconnection.
Acting in an aligned way that encourages connection means paying attention to the multiple consequences of our actions (our Karma), not only for our own physical unit but for all of Creation. Note Karma is NOT punishment.
Karma Yoga also emphasizes work to meet the needs of others[3]
Personally, I think Karma Yoga strains too much over the details, trying to reason out the nature of aligned action in order to give advice on encouraging proper karma (i.e, consequences that lead to alignment and connection). This is understandable. In the past, in an era where information was not accessible at one's fingertips, determining aligned action in regards Creation was much more difficult. Is drinking a Pepsi cola an aligned action likely to lead one towards connection? Ask this question in the 1960s and you would not have been able to give an empirically grounded answer. These days, however, you can easily look up the poisonous qualities of sugar, the labour practices of Pepsi, the horrific plastic waste generated by the soda industry and easily conclude that drinking Pepsi is NOT an aligned action because of the serious damage it does.
Footnotes
- ↑ Vivekananda, Swami. “Karma Yoga.” Collected Works of Swami Vivekananda. Vol. 1. 9 vols. Advaita Ashrama, 2016. https://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/SWAMI-VIVEKANANDA-COMPLETE-WORKS-Vol-1.pdf
- ↑ Vivekananda, Swami. “Karma Yoga.” Collected Works of Swami Vivekananda. Vol. 1. 9 vols. Advaita Ashrama, 2016. https://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/SWAMI-VIVEKANANDA-COMPLETE-WORKS-Vol-1.pdf
- ↑ Ssee Chapter III - The Secret of Work I'm Vivekananda, Swami. “Karma Yoga.” Collected Works of Swami Vivekananda. Vol. 1. 9 vols. Advaita Ashrama, 2016. https://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/SWAMI-VIVEKANANDA-COMPLETE-WORKS-Vol-1.pdf.
