Simple Health Cures

   The word “karma” means action or deeds. As we say in English that “Actions speak louder than Words”, so it is believed in Yoga as well. The essence of this form of Yoga is contained inthe book of the “Bhagvad Geeta”. This is the compilation of the words of wisdom that Lord Krishna shared with his disciple Arjun who was faced with the dilemma of fighting his own kin and brethren just before the war began. The Mahabharata is full of such moral choices that an individual must make.

  Here Arjun was fighting on the side of his Pandav brothersfor the injustice done to his eldest brother Yudhistar. However he was faced with the army of the Kauravas which included his cousins, kin and uncles. So he faltered and said he could not fight. This is when Lord Krishna who was his charioteer, having chosen to use no arms in the war, guided him with the principles of Karma Yoga. He said that as long as Arjun was in the right and following Dharma, then he must fight.

   He must do the deeds without worrying about if it will fetch him wealth or fame or any other reward. This is essentially what a follower of Karma Yoga tries to do. The deeds are dedicated to God and usually involve some amount of philanthropic actions as well. Charity is very common when you practice Karma Yoga and a person gives what he can from money to vauables to time. Here the focus is on the actual doing of the dead and not on the reward or punishment that will follow it.

   The aim of this form of Yoga is to purity your thoughts and actions and make you less materialistic. After all the end product of any form of Yoga is Salvation and how can you attain salvation if you are attached to material things. Being materialistic is not restricted to money and things that it can buy but also to feelings of pride associated with doing charitable actions. The honor bestowed on you or the love that the needy and poor feel for you should not influence your actions.

   You must continue to do your selfless actions to serve all those you can. The essence of a Karma Yogi may be summed up as do as much good as you can to as many people as you can. There is a saying in India which well illustrates this point. It roughly translates to “Do good and throw it into the sea”.