Karma Yoga

How Can I Help? How Can I Serve?

Imagine how different our daily environment would be if everyone asked this of themselves before beginning their day? Instead of heading out into the world each morning thinking about ourselves and what we can achieve, what if we all got out bed with an attitude of selflessness, embarking on a mission to help everyone around us?

Karma Yoga is the yoga of selfless service. The idea is that our actions are performed for the greater good of others without concern for our own personal benefit. Karma yoga transforms our actions from being selfish and goal oriented to selfless and ego free. I am particularly fond of one line from the Wikipedia definition of karma yoga: “acting in accordance with ones duty (dharma) without consideration of personal self-centered desires, likes or dislikes.”

It is a beautiful idea in theory, but easier said than done, right? Forgoing attachment to the outcome of our actions, letting go of personal gain and performing for the benefit of others? At first thought it seems like a big task: changing the way you think and act towards everyone and everything around you? But when you stop and think about all the little ways you can put this into effect it seems a bit more feasible. Taking an extra minute to wish a loved one a good day before you leave the house in the morning. Stopping to hold the door for someone on the way out of a building. Donating a few hours on the weekend to volunteer at a food bank. Helping a neighbor shovel their driveway. What if we all shared a smile with a stranger in attempts to brighten their day? What if we offered a kind word to everyone we came into contact with so that they, in turn, may be inspired to offer a kind word to the next person?

But then, of course, there is the question we cannot ignore: Are there really selfless actions, or is everything we do for our own benefit? How can we be sure we are acting in the best interest of others and not ourselves? Perhaps you recall the Friends episode where Phoebe brings up this very question when Joey is hired to be a host on a PBS telethon. She states that telethons, along with most other seemingly good deeds, are really just “selfishness masquerading as good deeds.” Her reasoning behind this is that if an action makes you feel good inside, or benefits you in any way, then you are receiving benefits from your own action. Thus, it cannot be selfless. She then sets out on a mission to find a selfless act.

Well, if you want my opinion….I think that no matter what your intention is while performing an action and carrying out a duty, if the end result does good for someone or something else, it will make you feel good. If you have a heart, this is unavoidable. To say that because you feel good about it the action is actually a selfish one, is unfair. If you set out to do something good for someone else for the sole purpose of making yourself feel good, then yes, Phoebe would be correct in calling your action selfishness masquerading as a good deed. If you set out to help someone, or do something for the good of others and as a result you end up feeling good yourself… well, I call that a bonus.

Can you call yourself a karma yogi? When you wake up tomorrow morning, start you day by asking, "How can I help? How can I serve?" It is a journey we can embark upon together. One step at a time.