Karma Yoga – The Yoga of daily life

Motto: “In a state of detachment perform what has to be done, no matter what it is, and never wish to assume the fruits of your doings.”

Karma Yoga represents one of the four main classic forms of Yoga. Karma Yoga represents a starting point and is an essential part of the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, this serves as sufficient ground for its authenticity.

Like all other forms of Yoga, the main and final purpose of Karma Yoga is to facilitate and accelerate the spiritual evolution of its persistent practitioner. The main difference from other forms of Yoga is thatKarma Yoga can be practised well from the very beginning, and can be applied all the time, all day long, because it is applicable to all human activities. Compared to Karma Yoga, the continuous daily practice of Bhakti Yoga for example is only available at a very high level of attainment and the practice of Jnana Yoga (with its main form Hatha Yoga) is restricted to specific periods of the day, for a specific interval of time. These arguments lead to the conclusion that Karma Yoga is an instantaneous form of Yoga for the daily life.

From the different traditional definitions of Karma Yoga, the most current and precise, though not yet complete, is the following: “Karma Yoga is the Yoga of deep and thorough fusion with the Divine, through any unselfish action”. Karma Yoga starts from the fact that at any given moment of our daily life, even when we feel forced to act one way or another, we remain free to choose and we bear the whole responsibility of our actions. The use of any spiritual discipline – Yoga, or any other spiritual path – implies the existence of ‘free will’, both in directing one’s life and in the choice of the method for doing that. The main question to whichKarma Yoga helps us to get an answer is: How and why should we choose between two or more courses of action at a given moment? Through persistent practice we can find out thatKarma Yoga gives us more freedom, unbelievable as this may seem to the Western people.

Many contemporary sages, like Sri Ramakrishna or Sri Aurobindo, have shown that Karma Yoga is very well adapted to modern times and suitable for all human beings, even more so than Bhakti Yoga, which suits only those with intense religious inclinations (very rare nowadays). Karma Yoga suits all beings even better than Raja Yoga, which implies an intellectual effort beyond the possibilities of the common individual. Compared to Jnana Yoga,where a strong power of concentration and internalisation is required (currently a very scarce quality), Karma Yoga is easier to practice because it does not require all these talents. Moreover, Karma Yoga suits Westerners extremely well, who are always ready to act and more or less sceptical about the value of spiritual practices, that are taking people away from practical life in a materially oriented society.

I should also emphasise that the practice of Karma Yoga does not exclude the simultaneous practice of one or more of the other forms of Yoga, but will amplify their efficiency. This connection with other forms of Yoga is not essential, because even when practised alone Karma Yoga is sufficient in itself for bringing the highest state of spiritual attainment.Karma Yoga has also a great advantage that is not found in the other forms of Yoga. While Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga and even Jnana Yoga, when practised incorrectly, without the careful supervision and guidance of a competent guru, can bring about serious physical or mental damage. Karma Yoga presents no dangers for its practitioner, even if its knowledge is based just on written teachings.

Regarding this aspect, we will further on quote several contemporary masters:

Swami Vivekananda – “On the Bhakti Yoga path there is the big danger that the receptive soul might start to mistake fleeting emotions for spiritual revelations and might interpret ordinary aspirations for the true spiritual aspirations” (Practical Yoga). “With few exceptions can we learn Raja Yoga without danger, unless directly guided by a genuine spiritual guru” (Foreword to Raja Yoga).

Sri Ramakrishna – “The Jnana yogi says: ‘I am that’, but as long as we consider our body as being our immortal Self, this is ill-fated egotism. It will not help us to progress, but will lead us to ruin” (Teachings of Ramakrishna).

Swami Brahmananda – After his disciples were already purified by the practice of certainasanas and forms of pranayama, he told them: “Regarding the Hatha Yoga practices, avoid them if you don’t want to support painful consequences. Hatha Yoga is a very dangerous path when practised in ignorance, without the guidance of a competent guru” (Spiritual disciplines).

We add here that the Karma Yoga system is almost free of metaphysical or religious concepts and, even in an advanced stage of practice, Karma Yoga does not require the help of any physical discipline and of any diet. However it stands to reason that the Karma yogi should do his best to stay healthy.

The main goal in Karma Yoga

Swami Vivekananda describes the ideal of Karma Yoga as follows: “The ideal human being is the one who amidst the deepest silence and the biggest solitude finds the most intense activity, and the one who amidst the most intense activity finds the silence and solitude of the desert.” “The Karma yogi doesn’t need to believe in any doctrine. He may not even believe in God, he may not ask himself what is the soul and he may not be attracted by any metaphysical speculation at all” (Practical Yoga).

However, because the spiritual masters from the Orient whose teachings we have inherited are all profoundly religious, it is not surprising that they interpret Karma Yoga from this perspective. Sri Ramakrishna says: “Karma Yoga is the spontaneous communion with God through action”. From the perspective of Bhakti Yoga system, this interpretation can be seen as the revelation of the Divine through love and from the perspective of the Jïana Yoga system as the pursuit of the awareness of the Absolute Divine. Ramakrishna said als “The supreme goal in Karma Yoga is the same as in all forms of Yoga: the realisation of the Supreme Eternal or the Impersonal Divine.”

Sri Aurobindo: “The detached activity is very often the only necessary instrument for the ineffable union with the Master of Creation.” “To perform all activities in an intimate fusion and in deep communion with the Divine which is in us, in profound harmony with the universal around us and with the transcendental beyond us, not to let us be limited by our often separating and rigid human mind, not to be the slave of its ignorant or aberrant imperatives and of its narrow suggestions, this is Karma Yoga.” (Integral Practical Yoga).

The efficiency of the Karma Yoga system

Irrespective of the way we represent our spiritual goal, this can be attained through one of the forms ofYoga. Enlightenment (mokña), is defined in Hinduism as the communion with the Divine in all forms, the attainment of the divine plane of consciousness, the anchoring of consciousness in the Ultimate Truth, the attainment of a bigger freedom in life. Mokña can be obtained through all forms of Yoga, but it is more easily and readily reached through Karma Yoga. Regarding this here follows quotes from well-known sages. Swami Sivananda: “Many people believe thatKarma Yoga is an inferior type of Yoga, but this is a great error.”

Rabindranath Tagore: “Many of us wrongly think that action is opposing freedom.” “We will never obtain a significant result by trying to reach the Infinite outside of the domain of action.” “If we declare that we would like to realise Brahman (The Supreme Divine) during introspection only and that we leave Him out during our exterior actions, considering that we want to benefit from his presence only through the love that we feel in our hearts during prayer, without any other adoration for Him through other exterior modalities, or if we consider that only the contrary is true, then we are obstructing our work on the long way towards the Truth and we set ourselves for a pitiful failure” (Sadhana).

Sri Ramakrishna: “When performed without attachment the action becomes an easy way to obtain the real goal in life, which is communion with God.”

Swami Vivekananda: “Through detached activity the human being can easily get whereBuddha got only through meditation and Jesus through love and prayers” (Practical Yoga). Even if this formulation may be shocking for some fundamentalist Christians, it shows clearly that for Swami Vivekananda, Karma Yoga is as efficient as Raja Yoga or Bhakti Yogapractised at their highest level.

Ma Ananda Moyi: “He who practices Karma Yoga will quickly realise Brahman (The Supreme) as Absolute Consciousness and will receive the grace of the Divine Mother” (Teachings of Ma Ananda Moyi).

For the careful student of the Hindu spirituality it is obvious that these are objective goals to be reached both in Jïana and Bhakti Yoga.

Swami Ramadas, who reached enlightenment through Bhakti Yoga, says: “Not by ceasing to act, but by acting completely detached can we effortlessly obtain the supreme state of beatitude and enlightenment” (Letters).

Swami Brahmananda, the spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna: “We can obtain the Supreme Knowledge even if we only persistently partake in various activities consecrated to the Divine” (Monastic disciplines).

Ramana Maharishi, the intransigent Jïanayogi: “Action free of desire, with a total detachment from its fruits, is superior to the knowledge combined with practice” “The state in which the performance of the action is free of desire is the way which easily leads towards enlightenment.” (Teachings of Ramana Maharishi).

As a conclusion here we can say that: if performed in the spirit of Karma Yoga any action, no matter how unimportant, can help us to advance towards Enlightenment.

The Specific Technique in Karma Yoga

The theoretical grounds and techniques of action in Karma Yoga are clearly stated by Kåñnain the Bhagavad Gita, with the only observation that the order in which these ideas are presented is not the most convenient for Western people. Briefly, the wise teachings of Kåñnaare:

One can not be without action, even for a second.
One should not make inaction one‘s goal.
Certain actions are obligatory, therefore we cannot escape them.
One should not desire the fruits (or the consequences) of one‘s actions.
One should not be attached to the action itself.
One should not consider oneself as being the author of the action.
Any action, regardless of its nature, will not enchain its performer, if it is done in this way.
In fact, we can say that Karma Yoga is the divine skill (wisdom and non-attachment) in actions.

Karma Yoga and the sense of responsibility

We have seen that, broadly speaking, the Karma Yoga system can be resumed in four principles:

Do not consider any detached action as being without importance, negligible and incompatible with the role we may think we have to play in life asKarma yogi-s.
Do not egotistically desire or fear the results of your completely detached actions, which you accomplish as divine instrument.
Do not egotistically attach yourself to the action while you detachedly perform it.
Neither during an action nor afterwards should you consider yourself the author of that action, but the instrument through which God manifests.

The last three points, if misunderstood, can easily lead to a state of total lack of interest (which is a manifestation of selfishness!) towards the action that has to be done. In this case we will perform that action superficially, hastily, “it doesn’t matter how”, because now we don’t feel responsible anymore. This is exactly the opposite of what Karma Yoga is in reality. In fact Karma Yogaputs a bigger responsibility on its practitioner. This is obvious in two ways:

The difficult responsibility of choosing from among all the existing possibilities the one which answers best to the highest divine ideal of that given moment. It is impossible to escape from this responsibility or hide from it, behind a dogma or a law;
The obligation to perform, with all your might and in a perfect state of detachment that particular action that was chosen. This implies that, from time to time during that action it is necessary to set aside moments of reflection, andconsecration to the Divine. These moments are necessary in order to accomplish well these two conditions.

As Sri Aurobindo was writing to his disciples: “Laziness must be eradicated, of course, but sometimes it is obvious for me that you went too far in the opposite direction. It is necessary to act completely detached, with all the energy then offered by the Divine, but it is equally necessary sometimes to not act at all” (Practical Integral Yoga). “Too much uninterrupted work is sometimes altering the quality of action, regardless of the experience and the enthusiasm of the one who does it”.

The characteristic difficulty of the Karma Yoga System

We should never imagine that the perfection and the wonderful inner realisation made possible through the Karma Yoga system are easy to attain. Even the correct intellectual understanding of its rules and of their correct application is not easy at all. Kåñnasays in Bhagavad Gita: “Regarding what detached action and inaction are in fact, even sages are sometimes uncertain and some of them are mistaken. We must understand well the concept of detached action, wrong action and inaction. A great wisdom is necessary here because the path of actions is often very complicated”.

Sri Ramakrishna regularly talks about the difficulties in the practice of Karma Yoga: “Nishkama karma (the action that is detached of the selfish desire for its fruits) is very difficult” (Teachings of Ramakrishna). “The total unselfish action is very difficult, especially in our time. To act with no egotistical attachment is extremely difficult”. And Swami Vivekanandaobserves with a certain disappointment: “The person who can act completely detached for five days, or even for five minutes, with no egotistical motive whatsoever, without thinking at all to the future, to the rewards of Heaven, to gratification, to punishments or to any other things of the sort, will instantly become a powerful spiritual giant.” (Practical Integral Yoga).Sri Ramakrishna told his disciples to think as follows: “I imagine that I accomplish my deeds with detachment, but I do not know for sure to what extent this is an illusion and if I don’t actually act somewhat attached. I do charity acts not knowing if in this way I am trying in fact to step forward in the eyes of people.” (Teachings of Ramakrishna). And Sri Aurobindo says: “Karma Yoga is a rapid path, simpler than the Yogic meditation, with the condition that the mind is not fixated upon Karma, but exclusively upon the Divine” (Integral Practical Yoga).

Ma Ananda Moyi adds: “The action that is totally consecrated to God is much more valuable than the action performed under the impulse of our own desire. The former brings about the divine fusion that will lead to Enlightenment, and the latter has as goal the selfish pleasure that will lead to more and more experiences in this world. The only true action is the one who reveals the eternal fusion between the human being and God; the other actions are useless, undignified to be called ‘actions’ and because of that we can say that they are not at all actions”. (Teachings of Ma Ananda Moyi)

Combining Karma Yoga with other forms of Yoga

The practice of the Karma Yoga system can be combined with the practice of other forms of yoga, especially Bhakti Yoga, Haöha Yoga, Raja Yoga,Laya Yoga. This is one of the main themes ofKåñna‘s teachings exposed in Bhagavad Gita. On this subject I will give several quotes:

“Abandon and offer all your works to the Divine.” “No matter what you do, do it detachedly as an offering to me. This way you will be free of the good or bad results which are making chains of the selfish action.” “Do all your actions detached, driven only by your love for me.” “The one who is at the root of all beings and who permeates the entire Universe – only by adoring Him through activity done with detachment, can a person easily obtain perfection”.

For Sri Aurobindo, Karma Yoga is most efficient when “we abandon our own will and our selfish desires to the Divine will”. (Practical Integral Yoga)

Sri Ramakrishna was telling those who came to consult him: “pray to God to send you His grace and the strength to accomplish your duties with detachment, without hoping for any inner or outer gratification and without fear of a punishment in this world or another”. (Teachings of Ramakrishna).

Significantly, Kåñna insists upon the important role of spiritual knowledge and intelligence (in other words Jïana-Yoga) in the practice of Karma Yoga: “This is the intelligence about which you heard in Samkhya; listen now to what Yoga is teaching you: if you are in the state of Yogathrough this intelligence, O Son of Pritha, you will eliminate forever the slavery of action”. He goes on to say that Karma Yoga completes very well any other type of Yoga, among which are Raja Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Haöha Yoga, Laya Yoga, Bhakti Yoga.

For Sri Aurobindo “the activity done in a completely detached state of mind, as a form of spiritual training is a strong way in any form of Yoga”.

Swami Ramadas states: “Without Karma Yoga the practice of Jïana-Yoga and Bhakti Yoga,Haöha Yoga, Tantra Yoga and Laya Yoga is only an extreme spiritual selfish glorification” (Letters).

Complete freedom through Karma Yoga

Every authentic spiritual path, every religion, every important philosophical system are all expressing in specific forms the fundamental effort of the human being towards Liberation. Consciously or unconsciously, everything in this Universe evolves faster or slower towards the same essential goal.

This Universe, even though it is gigantic, is just a part of an infinite existence. Restrained to a certain form which is subjected to space, time and determination (causality) we are perceiving parts of this Universe with our mind and senses (we can see it, feel it, touch it, hear it), we can draw it from our imagination, we can perceive its subtle force of influence and we can describe its specific principles and laws of manifestation.

The Universe that we perceive, on the background of which our existence unfolds, is reflected in our mind as being finite and limited. This reflection is, in essence, our mental creation. Beyond the limits of this mental creation, in other words beyond our usual mental possibilities, the laws and principles that operate in the objective Universe are having almost no correspondents. In this way, for the wise man it is clear that the fundamental law of action and reaction is perfectly plausible and becomes operative in the limits of “our Universe”.

Beyond its limits our existence is not subjected anymore to this law, because the law of causality does not go beyond the borders of this Universe created by our mind. Thus, it is clear that our existence in this Universe is helplessly subjected to the law of causality (karma).

In this Universe, limited by our own perception, there is from a certain point of view, apparently no free-will, because will, being something that we try to know through our limited resources of “our Universe”, is itself conditioned in its manifestation by space, time and causality. As such, everything that is subjected to the law of causality cannot be completely free because it is influenced by other factors and becomes in its turn a cause.

Nevertheless beyond the limited sphere of this Universe conditioned and limited by our mind, an Absolute Principle is manifested. The manifestation of this Principle is analogous to the manifestation of the human will. This Principle, being beyond the action of the law of causality, is absolutely free from all the laws of the Macrocosmic Harmony.

It is normal to conclude that in order to attain this complete Freedom we must be entirely capable of going beyond the borders of our limited and conditioned Universe. This going beyond is in fact a movement of alteration from our limited level of consciousness to the sphere of supreme eternal essential values, which are infinite and perfectly free. This movement of alteration which gives complete freedom requires a certain inner change based upon knowledge, understanding and elevation above everything that is limited, false, ephemeral in us (all these make our Ego).

For really transcending our Ego it is necessary to know its sphere of manifestation. All that generates new bonds in our being and fixates us in this Universe, represents the field and domain of action of the Ego. Our senses, thoughts, body, mind, attitudes, prejudices and concepts are all of them bearing, in a greater or lesser degree, the imprint of the Ego.

Karma Yoga, through altruistic and completely detached action, is teaching us how to suppress these tendencies that are permanently stretching their tentacles upon us and which are manifesting themselves through our basic selfishness. By gradually renouncing all forms of selfish attachments, by permanently and effortlessly controlling our mental processes, by acting completely detached and never being motivated by selfishness, by striving to offer in full sincerity all the results of our activities to the Divine, offering to Him permanently our small and ephemeral “Ego”, by always being attentive and aware, open and yielding to all phenomena and states that are manifesting in and through us, we will begin to gradually attain this supreme Freedom, because from the moment we leave the Supreme Will to act through us and guide us in all we do, we are instantly getting out of the incidence of the laws of “our Universe” and therefore we resonate with the Supreme Harmony, which is God.

The great yogi Swami Vivekananda says the following in his book about Karma Yoga:

“Who can live or breath even for an instant if the Almighty does not want it?”

“God is the almighty Providence that is eternally active. Each force of manifestation belongs only to Him and it surrenders only to Him. God is ALL and He is present in ALL. We can only worship Him. Thus, do not strive to collect for yourself the fruits of your work, but perform detachedly the good for the sake of the good. Only then will you truly obtain the perfect detachment. Only then the terrifying handcuffs created by the senses and the mind will be broken and only then will our complete Freedom be re-attained. This Supreme Freedom is the essential goal of the Karma Yoga system.”

Offering help to others from the perspective of the Karma Yoga system

Love, truth, well-being, detachment, complete bliss, freedom, beauty, equality, in one word: wisdom – this is not only a moral code but ultimately the supreme goal of the human being, because they are containing an extraordinary powerful manifestation of his spiritual force received through ineffable resonance from God.

The huge self-mastery required by the altruistic action done according to the Karma Yoga system is simultaneously the expression and the proof of a tremendous spiritual force, which the yogi can manifest, as he considers necessary according to his free will.

To know to whom should you give help, when andwhatkind of help and – very important – to know howshould you give it, how much and the ways through which this help will reach its target – so that it doesn’t generate new binding effects or karmic consequences – represents the clear proof of a wise, detached action, completely integrated in the Divine Harmony. Only in this way will your detached action, born out of a deep understanding of the divine necessity, gradually transform into a gigantic freedom to manifest your spiritual force bestowed upon you by God.

Swami Vivekananda says in his book about Karma Yoga: “To physically help others with detachment, satisfying only their physical needs is indeed a great deed; but it is good to know that the most precious help is the one given for an extremely long period of time. If by an hour of detached action you cover the needs of a man for one month — this is a big help; if this help will cover the man’s needs for one year then this is a huge help indeed. But if the man can be helped forever, in eternity, only this will of course be the biggest divine help which can ever be given to man”.

He adds: “The true spiritual knowledge is the only form of help which can annihilate forever all our sorrows. Any other knowledge will only temporarily satisfy our needs. Only with the help of the true knowledge of the spirit will the roots of suffering be forever destroyed. This is why the spiritual help offered to a human being is the greatest help which can ever be offered.”

The one who offers to people true Spiritual Knowledge is the greatest benefactor of mankind. And we see that always the most powerful and appreciated men were those who helped mankind in its spiritual needs because the Spirit alone is the base for the activity of the whole creation.

The man who is spiritually healthy and strong can easily be strong in all kinds of ways, if he so desires. As long as a man has not yet obtained the spiritual force neither his physical nor psychic or mental needs can be satisfied in the right way”.

These statements lead us to the understanding of the following aspects:

The only true help is that which shows man how to help himself and others to eliminate for good the sufferings and miseries generated by selfishness and ignorance.
This help should always be given by directing man towards a direct knowledge of himself. Only this inner knowledge will allow him to integrate in the right and wise way the play of manifestation. This inner knowledge will confirm the existence of his spiritual nature, and this will help him to break free of the chain of causality by gradually eliminating selfishness and ignorance, which are at the root of his sufferings.
For thoroughly and efficiently giving this help in a detached way, the Karma Yogin must posses this superior divine knowledge in himself, at an experiential level. Only if this condition is fulfilled can the yogi be a true model for the others. “If a blind man will lead another blind man, then there is a big danger of both falling into an abyss” says Jesus.

Sometimes by rigidly trying to apply certain laws or wise principles of action, we arrive at an inner form of inflexibility, which is just a manifestation of a dogmatic attitude. In this way we may hinder ourselves, from a spiritual point of view, by a painful obsession of integrating everything according to the book, unconsciously bringing forth again and again the biblical aphorism: “the letter kills and only the living spirit gives life”.

Knowing to detachedly and instantaneously give the right help at the right moment, beyond any endless theories or analysis, represents the living proof of a real inner spiritual realisation. In this state becomes even more clear the idea that “Detached action is clearly superior to inaction”.

As such, we should always try to balance our detached help with the concrete circumstances of the moment and of the being involved, paying great attention to the following elements:

What is the most important aspect or problem that must be solved in that given situation when we try to detachedly give help to a person;
What is actually the most urgent problem with which the respective person is then confronted;
How should our detached effort and support (which comes from the Divine) be directed and focused for the removal or at least the diminishing of the cause that generates at that moment the biggest suffering in the respective person.

This detached support, this help coming from God through us, this offering of ourselves as instrument for the divine manifestation (when we have the necessary spiritual level) can even become a complete offering of our being as a divine channel for detachedly helping others. This is mostly the case of the great spirits of this planet, like Jesus, or of some great spiritual teachers like Buddha or Ramakrishna whose entire lives were a continuous sacrifice detachedly offered for helping and spiritually awakening millions of people.

“The only solution for the total and final removal of the world’s sufferings consists of giving to the people the spiritual knowledge through which the spiritual accomplishment becomes possible. Ignorance is the source of all misfortunes. When people will see the Divine Light of the Spirit, when they will be spiritually pure and strong, only then their suffering will disappear for good” said Swami Vivekananda.

This continuous attitude of giving detached help, of altruistically serving others, has at its roots a profound spiritual and almighty reality, which is in fact Love. The profound knowledge of the Self opens the doors to a divine, heavenly realm where everything which is good, true and beautiful becomes possible. “When love becomes infinite, the impossible becomes easily possible”, says an Eastern proverb.

When true love exists, our being becomes profound and instantly expanded in the blissful infinite. Then we are embracing the Divine Realm that is permanently embracing us. In those moments of embracing expansion we perceive the surrounding beings as being part of ourselves and then their suffering, transferred to us, is torturing us as well. Their helplessness and powerlessness is calling us to remove it, because in that state we are able to help. Through complete empathy, through a deep identification with the others at the level ofAtman, we spontaneously come to embrace everybody at the level of consciousness. We then become simple and natural in everything we do and think. By feeling this way, we realise that the others are becoming a part of us and this makes our giving stronger and our detachment complete because now we realise that in fact God is offering everything through us.

Being most of the time filled with love and compassion, our actions will also be filled with love and compassion. This completely detached action filled with divine love and released from all selfishness will gradually bring us an infinite bliss. The divine, detached help that we are now giving to others is in fact our own happy being, our own existence freed from conditionings.

Becoming in this way a divine triumphant force, loving now in a divine and detached way, our power of action becomes infinite. This is the moment when we feel omnipresent and when everything feels as being in us, because our whole being has already become a divine channel for the force which is surrounding and impelling the one who needs help. In this state we know for sure that this circumstance is favourable both for us and for him and that our divine help which manifests itself in and through us will faultlessly reach its target.

The thoroughly divine, blissful state which we are experiencing when this divine help is manifesting through us and reaches its target, is generating the alchemical miracle of our own transmutation, sublimation and inner transformation. In essence, by detachedly helping others we are simultaneously helping ourselves. In such enlightened moments we understand the words of Jesus: “The one who has will be given more”. In this state we experience an amazing inner richness, a feeling of complete fullness and spiritual fulfilment which is overwhelming and which makes us recognise God in everything around us.

To be able to help others detachedly is a divine privilege granted to us only when we fully deserve it. An intense state of gratefulness toward the Divine then grows in us. Blessed is the one who receives the divine help as well as the one who offers that which is offered to him by God.

Be always deeply grateful to the Divine for being able to detachedly manifest love, compassion, charity, generosity and justice. Because you are offering what in fact the Divine, in its infinite kindness, is offering through you a hundred fold, and through it you are becoming pure and perfect.

By thoroughly understanding that in fact the whole manifestation is impregnated by the divine kindness, love and intelligence of the Supreme and by understanding that all external circumstances are generated to offer to man the possibility of knowing God in all that exists, how could we then still hold in us doubt, suspicion, lack of trust, hatred, ignorance and suffering?

By constantly acting this way we realise that nothing in this Universe is dependent on us, because in fact we have nothing. Not even a beggar depends on our charity. Nothing and absolutely no being ever depends on our help; in fact all is coming from God. These ideas will help us remove that painful and subtle form of Ego, which leads us to think that in fact the wellbeing of others depends only upon us and that without our support, love and spiritual force they will continuously suffer.

Especially for the wise one, God is the profound wisdom. God is infinite love in continuous action, which is only manifested in and through us.

Let’s open our mind and soul as wide as we can for letting ourselves be penetrated entirely by the Love and Wisdom of God, for coming to know how we can serve Him in eternity, becoming one with Him for reaching thus the Supreme Liberation.

By yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru