Karma Yoga: The Only Way to Get Through Any Storm Gracefully

Since my childhood, I have seen my mother reading Bhagavad Gita and talking about Karma Yoga. She still tells us to only focus on our actions honestly and leave rest of the things up to God. If you don’t know about it, I would like to mention that the secret of KARMA YOGA is taught by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita.

The principle of Karma Yoga states that ‘pick the right side, perform your duty, and don’t long for the fruits because you’ve no control over them. Karma Yoga also indirectly teaches you to have faith that if you do good, everything will be good to you in the long run even if doesn’t seem to be right now.

What is Karma Yoga

We all know about Karma Yoga described by Lord Krishna in Sri Bhagavad Gita. But if you don’t know, I am explaining it here.

Karma yoga means “yoga of action” which simply tells that your work is worship. You should do your work in the form of prayers. Whatever you do, do it with full devotion because you are destined for it. But do not attach yourself to its results.

Purpose of Karma Yoga

You have been appointed to fulfil your duties, and to do it with all your efforts, your role ends here. Do not worry about its fruits and its results and don’t try to control its consequences. Leave it on to God/ universe.

And, even if you keep worrying, it is just useless. Because the Universe works in such a manner that the results of your actions cannot be controlled by your desires but only by the Supreme.

So, what is not in your control, is not worth giving a try either. It will only create unnecessary havoc.

Karma Yoga also tells, good deeds always brings good results sooner or later. If your actions are good and not hurting others, you never need to worry about their consequences.

But if your actions or intentions are not good, you must have borne the bad consequences also, sooner or later.

In short, Karma Yoga focuses on performing actions without attaching yourself to them or worrying about their results.

About My Personal Experience

It would be unfair to you if I only keep lecturing on Karma Yoga and don’t share my experience with you. My life has never been easy and so I always needed to try & follow this amazing principle. I would like to share my most recent experience in nutshell.

It started 5 months ago, in April 2022. I was lost, devastated, and it all led to losing my patience. I was crying one day and wondering what blunders of mine got me in this stuck situation. I wasn’t able to take any steps to come to get of out it because I hadn’t figured out anything till that date.

In anger and sadness, I had a big fight with my father which led to the family breaking up. Since he was playing victim, it was making me feel wrong. Though I knew my reasons were right, patriarchal society failed to understand our pain.

And our family broke. The house is divided into two portions. It shook my faith in Karma Yoga, in doing good things.

I, my mother, and my sister faced criticism, losing our rights, and whatnot. Krishna Bhagwan has said in Mahabharat if you remain silent on seeing wrong, you also become wrong. Therefore I wasn’t in the mood to keep silent.

But this was also becoming very hard to keep Practicing Karma Yoga. Because I was just focusing to fight against wrong and doing my karma, still things kept getting worse. 

The Bad Things (The Practice Phase of Karma Yoga)

1. The first bad thing that happened was I lost my cool in anger. Though my reasons were right, I shouldn’t have spoken harsh words. That’s not a practical thing to do but they say that it’s the only right thing to do in anger.
2. After the family break up, we, 3 women, tried to shift to a new city and we did too. Things went okay for one week, but some unexpected situations appeared and we had to come back to our house.
3. Things were getting worse & worse in July 2022, and I had to leave my room and adjusted to my sister’s room which had no privacy either.
4. People started blaming only a woman as the culprit for the end of a marriage. Only a few understood that only the opposite was true.
5. Work-life got affected badly. I tried to grow my business on social media but couldn’t continue due to daily fights, lack of privacy, and daily new planning.
6. There are a lot of bad things that happened that I can’t share here. I, once pampered by the whole family, became the biggest villain.
7. I lost my confidence to start over because of no improvement in income.
8. I had no choice but to believe in Karma Yoga, so I continued doing my Karma despite facing a new struggle daily.

And Finally, the Good Things Came (Result of Practicing karma Yoga)

1. Till the end of July, we had seen innumerable worst things, changing faces, and much more. I had decided that I wouldn’t plan anything on my own. If I am right, I should choose faith & my Karma that the Universe will help me. Finally, August month, my birthday month came with some good news.
2. I decided to take my mother on trips which were very relaxing for her.
3. We came to know suddenly that people still were in our support, but surprisingly we didn’t know about it earlier.
4. I found a city I can live for the rest of my life. God made me meet the people who came as angels in my life to show me that there will be less judgement, more freedom, and absolute safety.
5. My mother found the people who readily agreed upon accompanying us to that new city. It was more than a miracle. Certain things happened that brought some families together. She got the due respect for standing right for a longer time. Someone like her son came forward to fight for her rights.
6. Though I am suffering losses this time thanks to disturbances, soon we are shifting to a better place where I can start even with zero. Moreover, we have savings which can last for 3 years easily.
7. And the best thing is my mom decided to start her career at 60. She is a woman with self-respect and she doesn’t want to remain to depend on her daughters after her savings ends. So she is going to start her Youtube channel soon.
8. This makes me trust Karma yoga. I no longer trust people, I trust only doing the right thing even if you see no results at the moment. People can come & leave but your right decisions, your Karma Yoga & faith in God would remain with you forever. 
9. Feeling better every new day though there is a long road to travel I have regained my confidence.

How to Do Karma Yoga

I answered it on Quora about 3 years ago. In Gita. Arjun’s mind was occupied with negative energy at the time of Mahabharata.

Despite being the best archer of his time, why was he surrounded by negativity?

Answer: Because he didn’t have the knowledge to understand how to do Karma Yoga.

How could he turn his negativity into actions?

Answer: After receiving the Gita Gyan (knowledge) from Lord Krishna who has taught us Karma Yoga.

The same is with us. Whenever we are negative, we forget some absolute truths, facts & predetermined rules of the Universe. Thus we continue to suffer.

And it happens because our brain is in panicking mode.

What are those predetermined rules that come along with Karma Yoga?

Well, you already know them but you forget when you need them most. So, train your mind the way that when adverse situations trigger your mind to think negative, your brain may automatically retrieve those facts and rules.

You can do this by identifying the root cause of your problem.

1. If you are failing to practice Karma Yoga because you are trying hard and not getting results, you forget the rule which says hard work always pays off. Remember Universe has set this for everyone. And nobody can change it. If you work hard enough, you are going the reap fruits too. So why worry? Yes, but sometimes, you probably need to change your ways to accomplish your goals.
2. If you lose focus on doing your karma because everyone is moving ahead in life except you, you are forgetting the absolute truth that nothing is permanent. You are not going to stay here forever. But still, if you are stuck, it’s possibly because the best things take time. Life might be teaching you not to settle down with just ‘good’ but to wait for the ‘best’. It probably wants you to learn ‘patience’.
3. If are not able to do your Karma Yoga because everyone left you & nobody is going to love you ever, you forget the absolute truth that God never leaves you alone. Believe it or not, He is not blind to your sorrows. He will bring justice to your life and make you meet the person who is made for you only- but at the right time.
4. If you are stuck in negative thinking about this Karma principle because life did not bless you with certain things, remember other blessings of yours. You have been gifted with the qualities others don’t have. You just need to find them out and work on them to excellence.
5. If you have lost your money in a business. Remember that you are born with a fighting spirit. This spirit will help you come out of your mess.
6. If You are thinking ‘why me,’ you are forgetting that only warriors can withstand the storm.
7. Next time when you fail to practice Karma Yoga don’t fight with your thoughts. Instead, remind yourself that the rules of the Universe are the same for everyone. If you are right at your place, things must change and work in your favour. And this is the definite truth. It is as true as the fact that Sun Rises in the east. So why worry?
8. If you are looking for some more practical ways to fight negative thinking, this article might interest you:

A Healing Technique

Karma yoga is the most powerful healing technique in the world. It frees your soul from the burden of the fruits of karma. It helps you to address and resolve the Karmic issues attached to the soul.

Karma Yoga says that inaction is also a form of action with consequences and karmic impact, and the nature of human existence is such that we are always performing actions such as eating food, sleeping, taking bath, etc. So, we can never go in non-acting mode.

Karma Yoga teaches you how to perform actions without disturbing yourself. It awakens your soul and your thoughts become powerful with heightened awareness. You know the purpose of your existence, your duties to your society, family and the Universe.

You come to know what your ultimate goal is. This makes you free of all burdens. In short, you work but you free yourself from attachments.

For depression & other mental disorders

• For people who are suffering from schizophrenia, it enlightens the way. It teaches how to acknowledge their souls and their Karma, and neutralize the bad effects of it through Karma Healing.
• If a person is going through anxiety, it calms the mind which has been aggravated due to some effects of Karma.
• If a person is going through depression, he/she occasionally feels an unknown kind of feels fears. It helps in removing negative emotions, traumatic experiences, and fears from the soul
• Improves mental health like Yoga does by giving stability to your emotions (1).
• You remain focused and you develop the ability to take correct decisions.
• You find yourself able to release the suppressed grief/ sadness from your soul.
• It makes you a more sensible, compassionate and a more loving person. So, you improve the bonding and relationship with your family.
• Counters the bad effects of deeds by the ancestors or of previous births.

You can know more about it by reading Bhagavad Gita. If you do not have one, you can go to the market and can purchase it, It’s available in every language.

And, you can also purchase it online.

You may also like,

• 40 positive things to say to yourself daily
• Healthy habits to improve mental health
• How to get peace of mind
• Chant these life mantras daily
• Meditation guide for beginners
• How to control your anger
• X-ray of thoughts
• Lost your peace of mind? Figure out why you are not happy
• Self-acceptance: what it means & how to achieve it
• 30 stress buster activities to help you get mental happiness
• Learn to ignore things & be happy

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