In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches Arjuna yoga. If you’re not familiar with the epic tale, check it out. One of the best things about Krishna yoga classes is that there is a practice for everyone. Better yet, there are four: jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, karma yoga and raja yoga. We may be attracted to just one, but they are all important.
We all have natural inclinations as well as areas that we can develop. The four yoga practices connect us to our higher self, And they change us from the inside. We can then act like yogis in the world.
Jnana Yoga is the yoga of knowledge. If you enjoy reading and studying scripture, philosophy, and thinking about the meaning of life, you might want to look into jnana yoga. Study is practice.
Bhakti yoga is the yoga of devotion. This is the type of yoga you may prefer if you are calmed, inspired, or comforted by worship. Surrendering to a higher power – a deity – through chants and rituals is the practice.
Karma yoga is the yoga of service and the subject of this article, so I will return to it in a moment.
Raja yoga refers to practices like meditation and mind harnessing. Raja means royal, and raja yoga is the starting point where we leave the ego behind and unite with the divine. Meditation is practice.
Relying too heavily on any one of these practices leaves out a lot of important work. As yogis, we seek to understand ourselves, respect something greater, and serve others. Only then can we be in union with all that is.
Karma Yoga requires internal change
For some, karma yoga is the most difficult practice to master. I think this can happen because some religious traditions operate from the outside in, controlling behaviors before there is internal change. So the focus can be on service without truly understanding why and how service is a path to God.
How, then, does karma yoga – the yoga of service – create transformation? It’s easier to understand how to do this when we change how we define service. Usually we view service or giving as an external action – what we do. But what if we understood it as an internal attitude?
In a recent interview, Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace, described giving as “an internal shift from me to we.” To understand this from a spiritual perspective, we can look at the Buddhist concept of interconnectedness. When we understand ourselves – and, more importantly, experience ourselves – as more than individual beings, it becomes clear that serving others means serving the whole, and serving the whole is serving ourselves.
Rather than something imposed by an outside source, service becomes an effortless extension of ourselves. Through this expansion, we evolve into a more joyful and purposeful way of being.
Karma from the inside out
It is sometimes tempting to use spiritual practices to escape the challenges and disappointments of human life. We can withdraw from the world and maybe even stop caring about it. It’s a disaster, after all, isn’t it?
But as we dig deeper, we begin to recognize that something is still missing. Until we return to the whole the peace we have found through meditation, yoga, prayer, and other spiritual practices, we cannot be whole.
Again, we can turn to a Buddhist concept: bodhicitta, a state of mind of kindness, compassion, and connection that arises from the idea that none of us can be free from suffering until we We are not all free from suffering.
Karma Yoga is acting with a lot of love
With this in mind, it becomes clear that, as Mother Theresa said, doing small things with great love is as important as doing big things. It may even be more important. We can’t do all the “big” things, but we can all act with great love.
If we serve for the promise of reward or because we fear punishment if we don’t, we miss out on the transformative joy that only giving from the heart brings. How then can we cultivate an attitude of service? A good place to start is practicing loving-kindness meditation.
We can also be open to the possibility that, as St. Francis of Assisi taught, it is truly by giving that we receive. Try it and see. To receive, we need an open heart and a true understanding of who we are. More specifically, we need to connect to the sacred spiritual aspect of being.
When we do, service becomes as natural and necessary as breathing.
Hi, my name is Maria. I have created yoga circles for you if you want to delve deeper into the philosophy, practice and life-changing effects of yoga. I’m also a writer and editor who helps small business owners, wellness professionals, teachers, and authors publish books, develop marketing strategies, and connect with readers, customers, and students. Visit my website (link below) to learn more. I would love to hear from you!