Karma Yoga

 What is Karma?

The act of accomplishing something is referred to as karma. Karma determines how much a person deserves. People have the ability to shift into anything they want. We are currently feeling the effects of our previous deeds. Given that we can become anything we want in the future based on our current actions, we need to know what to do. Birth-death cycles leave countless karmic imprints.

Karma Yogi

Right behaviour is viewed as a prayer by a karma yogi (a practitioner of Karma Yoga). He is unconcerned about the outcome and works selflessly. His total surrender is for his work, according to him. Selfless devotion to the right cause and like-minded others, with the correct feeling and attitude, is a type of worship and spirituality, according to the Bhagavad Gita.

A Karma yogi should not be concerned with the outcome; he is entirely immersed in his actions and should not be bothered with whether they are successful or unsuccessful. He should be uninterested in any rewards for his actions and must focus on doing what is right.

There is another perception for this, that success or failure depends on how you approach anything. The scale of the results varies from person to person. One person's scale of the result as Success could be considered as a failure for another. 

So a yogi who practices Karma yoga, which means he practices the work he does as his sadhana with full involvement without thinking about any consequences or any appreciations. 

It is hard to do, but according to Vivekanandha in his book (Karma Yoga), the value and the good it brings is enormous. It is the greatest manifestation of power--this tremendous restraint; self-restraint is a manifestation of greater power than all outgoing action.

Any action can have a good as well as a bad karmic imprint with it. The focus of Karma yogi is to detach himself from what he does so that he is not accumulating any Karma in his account thereby while living he reduces his Karma bank till he zeroes it for his liberation.

All the actions that we see in the world, all the movements in human society, all the works that we have around us, are simply the display of thought, the manifestation of the will of man. Machines or instruments, cities, ships, or men-of-war, all these are simply the manifestation of the will of man; and this will is caused by character, and character is manufactured by Karma. As is Karma, so is the manifestation of the will.

-Vivekanandar

Every action usually creates a thought in our mind which is bondage, Swami Vivekananda insists we should not let our minds do this. There should not be any attachment to what you do, because that will create a bond towards it. The main focus of Karma Yogi is to clear the account of Karma that you accumulated(including good or bad). 

Bhagavat Gita also suggested not to attach your soul to what you are doing and only concentrate on the process of doing it. As the result, you will reduce your Karma accumulation and thereby you are liberated from the birth-death cycle.

What is not Karma Yoga?

• A passionate singer can make beautiful songs, and many such works will have a beautiful soul in them. Usually, that kind of wonderful work comes when the singers are entirely into the action. This is not Karma yoga as the singer attaches his soul to singing and thereby he makes karma. 
• If any service is done in return for another service, this is not Karma Yoga.
• Karma Yoga is not working for free in the name of spirituality or humanity.

Karma yoga in Bhagavad Gita

Your work is your responsibility,

not its result.

Never let the fruits of your actions

be your motive.

Nor give in to inaction.

Set firmly in yourself, do your work,

not attached to anything.

Remain evenminded in success,

and in failure.

Evenmindedness is true yoga.

—Bhagavad Gita, 2.47-49

Karma Yoga Benefits

The benefits of karma yoga are numerous. Although some of them are immediately apparent, some can only be realized after a period of regular practice.

• This also creates selfless behaviour.
• One of the main benefits is that it helps to reduce ego. 
• You start to detach your perception of your work which will reduce the pain or extreme happiness towards any actions. 
• Your karma balances without creating new karma when you perform your duties without attachment or ego.