Karma Yoga - The secret is to forget yourself

 

There is no greater yoga than Karma Yoga. From morning to evening you are doing some action, so everything can be Karma Yoga. Everything should be yogic, from the minute you start brushing your teeth to the minute you go to bed. For Karma Yoga there is no time limit, every time is the right time. You can do it anywhere: inside the church, outside the church, in the street, at home, on the train, on the plane, wherever you are. You become a constant practitioner. You are a yogi throughout the day, throughout your life.

Subramuniya Bharati, a great and saintly poet who lived in India earlier in this century wrote, "The essence of scriptures is Karma Yoga. That alone can save us. Service, service, service, that is enough for us." Mere service alone is enough for your yogic or spiritual practice. Even if you don't have time to meditate or do asanas, it doesn't matter. If you have an opportunity to do Karma Yoga, do that first. Through Karma Yoga your heart, mind and body will soon be cleaned. It even takes care of your health. When you serve well, you get real hunger; you eat well, you digest well, and you sleep well. There's peace in the mind and ease in the body.

You can practice all the other yogas with ease, but the most difficult one is Karma Yoga, because the ego will pop up at every moment. But the secret is to forget yourself, to place yourself last and put others first. Then Karma Yoga will be easy. You will be the happiest person.

Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi.

 

Sri Swami Satchidananda