Yoga
Different Styles of Yoga
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Karma Yoga
Karma Yoga - Universal Law Of Karma
The law of Karma is based on a
very simple and thought provoking principle of
Nishkaam Karma or selflessly done actions. The
actions done without any self interest or hidden
motives are the ones that create the basis of law
of karma. The Karma yoga is based on such actions.
The prevalent belief that yoga is a study of
detaching the person from the world and taking him
into a sagely state of existence is just a
misconception. Yoga is actually a methodology that
suggests the path to salvation, but it is not
about renouncing the worldly responsibilities. It
is about doing complete justice to one's duties
and yet remaining detached in a certain way so
that the effect of hunger and thirst, grief and
sorrow and changes in fortune do not affect a
person very deeply and sway him from the path of
uniting him finally with the divine consciousness.
The law of karma is perhaps
best described in the Bhagwat Gita. In the
situation where Arjuna refuses to fight his
brethren on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Lord
Krishna gives him the teachings of Bhagwat Gita.
The essence of these Shlokas very succinctly
defines the paradigm of Karma, which can be
described as the duties of a human being have to
be performed under all circumstances. This is
simply the universal law of karma. The universal law of karma defines karma or all actions to be containing
eternal energy. Even thoughts are considered as
mental actions and they are known to have energy
in them. This energy can be both positive and
negative. All actions are considered to be
embodiment of three factors or processes. These
are desire, knowledge and actual action. These in
Sanskrit are called as Ichcha or desire, Gyana or
knowledge or thought of certain action and Kriya
or performance of actual action. Thus, all karma
is a resultant of these three essential factors.
All karma results in energy
that finally results in fruits of the action. The
person has to take births many times in order to
experience the fruits of his karma. The bad karmas
will result in bad fruits and good karmas will
result likewise in good fruits. This cycle is
never ending. In order to break free from this
cycle the person has to concentrate upon good
karma and reduce bad karma. Constant focus on good
karma will slowly take him closer to the divine
intelligence and ultimately he will be released
from the cycle of births. Good karmas will release
one by giving him the ultimate birth of an angel.
The bad karmas however put him in lower and lower
Yonis or species. The human birth is a resultant
of mixed bag of good and bad karmas. It is a
chance given to enhance the quality of future
karma. This chance is available only to humans and
no other species has the intelligence or the
wisdom to refine his future actions. The law of karma has been
expounded by many ancient texts. Vedanta
philosophy explains the law of karma very simply
by the example of a boy with a quiver full of
arrows. He shoots one arrow and loads another one
on his bow ready to shoot it also. There is a
quiver full of arrows left on his back so he does
not even worry about hitting his target with every
arrow shot. This is a simile used to explain the
law of karma. The quiver of arrows is the karma
which is still not conducted. It is called
Sanchita or accumulated opportunities. The arrow
that has just been shot is called Prarabdha or the
present state of karma or actions. The fresh arrow
that has just been loaded is representative of the
future karma or action and is called Kriyamana. It
has the essence of Agami or Vartamana or the
present that has still not happened but is about
to be executed. An individual has control only
over the Sanchita and Agami, while Prarabdha has
already happened and by no means they can be
changed or even controlled. This example in very
simple terms explains that actions that can be
controlled are the ones that have still not been
implemented.
The doctrine of karma is an
integral part of religious scriptures of many
religions. It has been explained using many
different ways and examples, but the basic
philosophy is of considering actions as the basic
foundation of all that manifests itself in the
society. The principle essentially remains that an
individual reaps so as he sows. The actions result
in consequences and good actions will always
result in good consequences. These days a lot of self help
books and audio-visual educational material is
available. In fact education industry is a booming
business the world ever. The corporate training
patterns are more often than not based on this
universal law of karma. The language used may be
very contemporary but the essence of the message
is always revolving around the age old doctrines
of karma.
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