Importance of Karma Yoga
Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra
Yoga and Total Health, July, 2005
The idea is that actions go on with us all through life. There is not a moment that the individual is not busy doing something. Various physical activities are being carried on.
The person who is acting, is not acting after deliberate thinking. There are past emotions and desires that make for actions. The unthinking kind will initiate behaviour which will have strong reactions in the future.
Actions are important. Actions have to be directed so that they can do good to us. Energy, skills, thinking are there and the person has to use these. To improve one's health, we need nothing more than a positive mind, good sleep, and routines. When a certain person creates a duty sense, there is direction and concentration. A person carries on duty as duty and not with desire. A person carrying out duty without unnecessary desires is right. A person who does not allow negative ideas to come up and does duty with dedication and does not create false emotions is right.
In this world one has to act. Actions may be good or bad. The criteria is duty. Our health is a duty. Caring for near and dear ones is our duty, our duty is to society, to the nation and to the world at large. We are creating necessary sincerity. Person who is prone to action will bring about concentration.
When complaining we are not carrying out our duties and wanting others to do their duties. This can ruin us. People who are constantly criticizing others and the way of the world, are not solving anything. They do not get anywhere. We at that point are not carrying out our duty.
At Hardwar, everyday there is a gathering of saintly people. A wise man approached one of them and said, "Every day I see you talking but I don't see you doing anything". The wise man replied "I will tell you my difficulty. Every day I come with a few of my disciples and start talking about my philosophy. I criticize other systems of philosophy. Listening to my system another group of people sitting nearby start criticizing my system. Then strong arguments follow. By four in the evening there may even be a violent fight. Each defending his systems. Where is the time for good work?"
This is our plight also. We get so involved in criticizing and in useless negativity that we forget what we have to do. It is very important to give a direction, a meaning, a purpose to our lives. To the questions "What did we do in this world? What are the gains?" Only the person who does his duty has his answer.