Ouspensky on Karma Yoga
The word Yoga can be translated by the word unity or union or subjugation; in the first meaning it corresponds to the word "harnessing,” from the Sanskrit word jug to which corresponds the English word yoke.
One of the meanings of the word "Yoga” is right action.
Thousands of years ago the sages of ancient India knew that the powers of man in all the spheres and provinces of his activity can be greatly increased by means of right training and by accustoming man to control his body, mind, attention, will, emotions and desires.
Man was considered not as a completed entity, but as containing in himself a multitude of latent powers. The idea was that in ordinary life and in ordinary man these powers are dormant but can be awakened and developed by means of a certain mode of life, by certain exercises, by certain work upon oneself. This is what is called Yoga. An acquaintance with the ideas of Yoga enables man first to know himself better, to understand his latent capacities and inclinations, to find out and determine the direction in which they sought to be developed; and second, to awaken his latent capacities and learn how to use them in all paths of life.
Yoga falls into five divisions:
- Raja-Yoga or the Yoga of the development of consciousness.
- Jnana-Yoga (Gnyana or Gnana-Yoga), the Yoga of knowledge.
- Karma-Yoga or the Yoga of right actions.
- Hatha-Yoga, the Yoga of power over the body.
- Bhakti-Yoga, the Yoga of right religious action.
The five Yogas are five paths leading to the same goal, to perfection, to the transition to higher levels of knowledge and life.
The division of the five Yogas depends on the division of types of man, his capacities, preparation, and so on. One man can begin with contemplation, with the study of his own "I." Another needs the objective study of nature. A third must first of all understand the rules of conduct in ordinary life. For a fourth before anything else it is necessary to acquire control over the physical body. For a fifth it is necessary to "learn to pray," to understand his religious feelings and to learn how to govern them.
Each of the “sciences” composing Yoga falls into two parts, the theoretical part and the practical part.
The theoretical part aims at setting forth the fundamental principles and general outline of the given subject as a complete and connected whole, without descending into unnecessary details.
The practical part teaches the methods and ways of the best training for the desired activity, the methods and means of development of latent powers and capacities.
The sciences of Yoga in India were for a long time kept secret, and these methods, which increase the power of man in an almost miraculous way, were the privilege of special schools or the secret of ascetics and hermits who had completely renounced the world. In Indian temples (or in connection with them) there were schools where the pupils, Chelas, who had traversed a long path of tests and preparatory education, were initiated into the science of the Yogis by special teachers, Gurus. The powers which Yoga gives are not limited to the strengthening of the capacity of understanding. Yoga increases the creative capacity of man in all the spheres and domains of life, gives him the possibility of direct penetration into the mysteries of nature, discloses to him the secrets of eternity and the enigmas of existence.
At the same time Yoga increases the powers of man, first, for the struggle with life, that is, with all the physical conditions in which man is born and which are all hostile to him; second, for the struggle with Nature, who always wishes to use man for her own ends; and feeling of the senseless and chaotic nature of life. He begins to understand his aim and to see that his pursuit of this aim brings him into contact with other people going in the same direction.
Yoga does not seek, as its primary object, to guide man. Yoga only increases his powers in any of the directions of his activity. But at the same time, in using the powers given by Yoga man can follow one direction only. Should he change this direction, Yoga itself will turn against him, will stop him, deprive him of all powers, and may possibly even destroy him altogether. Yoga carries enormous power, but this power can be used only in a certain direction. This is a law which becomes clear to any one who studies Yoga.
In everything it touches Yoga teaches man to discriminate between the real and the false, and this capacity for proper discrimination helps man to find hidden truths where hitherto he had seen or supposed nothing hidden.
When a man studying Yoga takes up certain books which he thought he knew quite well, to his profound astonishment he suddenly finds in them an infinite amount that is new. Some hidden depth seems to be revealed to him in these books, and with surprise and awe he feels this depth and understands that until now he has seen nothing but the surface.
Such an effect is produced by many books belonging to the holy scriptures of India. There is no necessity for these books to be kept hidden. They may be all accessible to all yet hidden from all except those who know how to read them. And such hidden books exist in all countries and among all peoples. One of the most occult books, the New Testament, is the most widely known. But of all books this is the one people least know how to read, the one they most distort in their understanding of it.
Yoga teaches how to search for truth and how to find truth in everything. It teaches that there is nothing that could not serve as a starting point for the finding of truth.
Yoga is not accessible all at once in its entirety. It has many degrees of varying difficulty. This is the first thing to be realized by anyone who wishes to study Yoga.
Yoga demands the whole of man, the whole of his time, all his energy, all his thoughts, all his feelings, the whole of his life. Only Karma-Yoga allows man to remain in the conditions of his ordinary life. All the other Yogas demand immediate and complete withdrawal from life, even if only for a certain time. The study of Yogas, with the exception of Karma-Yoga, is impossible in life circumstances. Equally impossible is the study of Yoga without a teacher, without his constant and incessant watch over the pupil.
The common aim of all the forms of Yoga is the changing of man, the broadening of his consciousness. At the basis of all the Yogas there lies one principle, which is that man as he is born and lives is an uncompleted and imperfect being, but one who can be altered and brought to the development possible to him by means of suitable instruction and training.
The opening up of higher consciousness is the aim of all the Yogas.
KARMA-YOGA
Karma-Yoga teaches right living. Karma-Yoga is the Yoga of activity.
Karma-Yoga teaches the right relation towards people and the right action in the ordinary circumstances of life. Karma-Yoga teaches how to become a Yogi in life without going into the desert or entering a school of Yogis. Karma-Yoga is a necessary supplement to all other Yogas; only with the help of Karma-Yoga can a man always remember his aim and never lose sight of it. Without Karma-Yoga all other Yogas either give no results or degenerate into something opposite to themselves. Raja-Yoga and Hatha-Yoga degenerate into a search for external miracles, for the mysterious, for the terrible, that is, into pseudo-occultism. Bhakti-Yoga degenerates into pseudo-mysticism, into superstition, into a personal adoration or into a striving for personal salvation. Jnana-Yoga degenerates into scholasticism or at best into metaphysics.
Karma-Yoga is always connected with the aim of inner development, of inner improvement. It helps man not to fall asleep inwardly amidst the entangling influences of life, especially in the midst of the hypnotizing influence of activity. It makes him remember that nothing external has any significance; that everything must be done without caring about results. Without Karma-Yoga man becomes absorbed in the nearest, the visible aims, and forgets the chief aim.
Karma-Yoga teaches man to change his fate, to direct it at will. According to the fundamental idea of Karma-Yoga this is attained only by altering the inner attitude of man towards things and towards his own actions.
The same action can be performed differently; one and the same event can be lived through differently. And if a man alters his attitude towards what happens to him, this will in the course of time inevitably change the character of the events which he encounters on his way.
Karma-Yoga teaches man to understand that when it seems to him that he himself is acting, in reality it is not he who acts, but only a power passing through him. Karma-Yoga asserts that a man is not at all what he thinks himself to be, and teaches man to understand that only in very rare cases does he act of himself and independently, and that in most cases he acts only as a part of one or another great whole. This is the "occult” side of Karma-Yoga, the teaching concerning the forces and laws which govern man.
A man who understands the ideas of Karma-Yoga feels all the time that he is but a tiny screw or a tiny wheel in the big machine, and that the success or unsuccess of what he thinks he is doing depends very little on his own actions.
Acting and feeling in this way, a man can never meet with failure in anything, because the greatest failure, the greatest unsuccess, may further success in his inner work, in his struggle with himself, if he only finds the right attitude towards this unsuccess.
A life governed by the principles of Karma-Yoga differs greatly from an ordinary life. In ordinary life, no matter what the conditions may be, the chief aim of man consists in avoiding all unpleasantnesses, difficulties and discomforts, so far as this is possible.
In a life governed by the principles of Karma-Yoga, a man does not seek to avoid unpleasantnesses or discomforts. On the contrary, he welcomes them, for they afford him a chance of overcoming them. From the point of view of Karma-Yoga, if life offered no difficulties it would be necessary to create them artificially. And therefore the difficulties which are met with in life are regarded not as something unpleasant which one must try to avoid, but as very useful conditions for the aims of inner work and inner development.
When a man realizes this and feels it constantly, life itself becomes his teacher.
The chief principle of Karma-Yoga is non-attachment. A man who follows the methods of Karma-Yoga must practice non-attachment always and in everything, whether to good or to evil, to pleasure or to pain. Non-attachment does not mean indifference. It is a certain kind of separation of self from what happens or from what a man is doing. It is not coldness, nor is it the desire to shut oneself off from life. It is the recognition and the constant realization that everything is done according to certain laws and that everything in the world has its own fate.
From an ordinary point of view the following of the principles of Karma-Yoga appears as fatalism. But, it is not fatalism in the sense of the accepting of the exact and unalterable preordination of everything without the possibility of any change whatever. On the contrary, Karma-Yoga teaches how to change the karma — how to influence the karma. But, from the point of view of Karma-Yoga this influencing is an entirely inner process. Karma-Yoga teaches that a man may change the people and events around him by changing his attitude towards them.
The idea of this is very clear. Every man from his birth is surrounded by a certain karma, by certain people and certain events. And in accordance with his nature, education, tastes and habits he adopts a certain definite attitude towards things, people and events. So long as his attitude remains unchanged, people, things and events also remain unchanged, that is, corresponding to his karma. If he is not satisfied with his karma, if he wants something new and unknown he must challenge his attitude towards what he has and then the new events will come.
Karma-Yoga gives freedom to the prisoner in a jail and to the king on a throne; if only they can feel that they are actors playing their roles.
From A New Model of the Universe by P. D. Ouspensky
Neal’s Commentary on Karma-Yoga
It all started as I listened to the lecture. Once again I was being told that I had to have a “spiritual practice” to move forward in life. I had to meditate consistently. I had to do yoga stretches. I had to go to the Zen retreat. I had to go to church. I had to pray at a certain time every day, I had to set up an altar, I had to tithe…
Well, I don’t know about you but my life is pretty busy. And, my attention deficit disorder makes it really hard to sit down and meditate. It probably is what I need to do since it is so hard. But, I kept thinking that I AM leading a spiritual life. In fact I don’t limit my spiritual time to twice a day for twenty minutes. It is something I try to do 24x7.
I strive to see the Devine in everyone I meet. I strive to carry appreciation with me at all times. I strive to see beauty and truth in whatever I look at. I strive to lead a moral life. I strive to give charitably. I strive to turn the seven mortal sins into the seven virtues. Granted I’m not 100% successful at this, far from it. But, how is that any different than sitting down to meditate and then having intrusive thoughts continuing to interrupt me? The key in meditation is to continue to refocus your mind back to quietude, and with years of practice it becomes quieter inside. You don’t beat yourself up when you have a thought while meditating; you just refocus on quiet without judgment. Well, that is what I try to do with each of the practices I mentioned above. I just keep reminding myself to come back to center and keep practicing them. When I don’t live up to my ideals it is a reminder that I need more practice, not a condemnation that I am evil or unspiritual.
Then, one day I heard about Karma-Yoga. What I had discovered for myself has been known for thousands of years in the Hindu tradition. Kind of validating, I thought. Here, one of the five paths to enlightenment was something I had already discovered on my own. And, it’s OK! Maybe I was not the spiritual scofflaw that I was worried about after all. Maybe my path is just another way to get to the same place. Cool!
So, what have I learned about some of the principles of Karma-Yoga. Let’s start with non-attachment. What does this mean anyway? We Americans have a tendency to towards narcissism. We think the Universe revolves around us, the Sun comes up for us…and, why not we deserve it, because we are so entitled. We let our egos define us. We think our value is somehow related to the kind of car we drive and the house we live in, and the watch we wear on our wrist. Our job title defines us to others. A lot of Americans are taking a second look at these assumptions thanks to the recent crash in the economy. I just knew there had to be some good that would come out of this precarious economic situation because I have noticed that almost nothing happens by accident.
That is the first observation one makes when opening up to a larger spiritual perspective. The Universe is ordered. There are no accidents. There is no randomness. Only our inability to figure out the pattern with our little monkey brains. But, we can begin to tune in to the spiritual wisdom by watching for synchronicities, those little meaningful coincidences that happen to us all the time. Once we see enough synchronicities to be convinced that this is a real phenomenon we can start to see that we are just a little cog in a huge spiritual machine, a little neuron in a huge spiritual brain. From this realization it becomes clear that we are not going to be all that effective in getting our own way, and still have the world work for everyone else.
We may realize that it is easier to ride the canoe in the direction the river is already going, and enjoy the ride, than to try to paddle sideways or upstream through the currents. Sure, you could paddle upstream but you are just asking for struggle and fatigue.
In the human body cells go rogue all the time. They just decide they are special and want to do their own thing. The immune system is set up to round up those cells and destroy them. I think God’s Universe works the same way. You have free will to go your own way, but you will meet with a whole lot of resistance at some point. Think about that next time your life isn’t working so well. Maybe, just maybe, it’s the result of going rogue and letting your ego run away with itself. Maybe you are in violation of the rules of the Universe and the rules are exerting influence on you to pull you back into cooperation.
In life you can watch for synchronicities and listen to your heart and start to figure out which way is God’s direction and then try to go that way. You can usually gauge if you’re going the right way by how much resistance you meet. What I’ve discovered so far is that the way of my ego, the way that makes me look good at others expense is not the direction the Universe is going. My prayers are more like, “Not my will be done, but Thy will be done.” I don’t have to be right all the time anymore. I don’t have to get my way all the time. I can meet life on its own terms and not have to shoe-horn it into my picture. This is non-attachment. And, to the extent that I allow this and embrace it, I have observed that I have much better odds of getting what my heart desires. Of course, it also has a way of changing what my heart desires.
So, the next time you think you are too busy to have a spiritual practice why don’t you consider giving Karma-Yoga a try!
