The ego is the obstacle standing between man and God. Today the notion of "I, me and myself” functions as a huge barrier to God-Realization. Wrong conditioning misleads people into thinking that freedom and happiness is "getting what I want, when I want and how I want it”. Instead of freedom and happiness they are caught in the invisible net of insatiable desires that drain their life-force - and their bank accounts!
Karma Yoga, the yoga of action, is the path that provides the means to overcome this obstacle and to eradicate the gross, constricting, egocentric little self. Everybody can practice it. There are no restrictions or prerequisites and it can be practiced anytime and everywhere. Karma Yoga is the very foundation of all the other paths of yoga.
The law of Karma states: "Every action will have a reaction”, "As you sow, so shall you reap”. This means that depending on how we act, we will either free or enslave ourselves.
Action is prompted by desire. If the desire is selfish and motivated by lust, greed, anger, jealousy, envy, and fear, it creates disturbance and pollution of the mind and so takes us away from the goal of life. Any such action is called karma and leads to more bondage.
Every action prompted by selflessness that promotes love, compassion and forgiveness purifies the mind and takes us closer to the goal. Such action is karma yoga and leads to more freedom.
The truth is that most people are working selflessly but they are not aware of it. They keep working, working, working - but what for? They don’t really know. How much food can they eat? How much money do they need to live? How many cars, houses and TVs can they use? What they are not able to use is for others. Who are these others? Those who they call «my» children, «my» family, «my» husband, «my» friends. They live with «my» and «mine» which is just a label put on other people. This label taints and colours their working and efforts. This identification with «my» and «mine», is what creates the bondage. If we could extend that «my and mine» to the whole world as one family, then we would be working towards liberation instead of bondage. Whatever our station in life, doing our duty in the spirit of Karma Yoga or selfless service will bring freedom, peace and happiness. Every selfless act expands the heart and consciousness. Once we have tasted the sweetness of selfless service, we want to repeat it over and over again, until it becomes our nature to serve. In this way we are transforming ourselves from man into Godman. That is really the objective of Karma Yoga.
Every person must find the field where they can best work out their own karma. By doing your duty and being in contact with the world, you can see where you are in your evolution. Whatever is presented to you at any moment is meant for you to learn and grow from, until you learn the lesson. God in his infinite mercy and love, like loving parents would do, creates many opportunities for us to get rid of our selfishness, to overcome our animal nature and survival instinct and to grow from whatever your state of consciousness is to the point of liberation.
Extract from Yogi Hari's book "Sampoorna Yoga"