It is a very interesting question and it is difficult to answer. My Guru said that one had to do at least four hours of Karma Yoga before practicing one’s sadhana. His reason was that one had to perform some Seva.

Sadhana was not just about one travelling on a spiritual path. Once we tell ourselves that we are on a spiritual path, we have to change ourselves consciously. How can we work on this change? We have to think about our gunas, tamas, rajas and sattva.

Once we tell ourselves that we are seeking clarity and detachment, we are going back into the tamas and raja’s state. We are self-motivated and our thoughts are like that. The next step is we have to be neutral in our pursuit of tasks and put in our best foot forward.

Let us ask ourselves a few questions honestly.

• What is our attitude to the task?
• Do we put in our best?
• Do we feel that it has to be done and therefore we do it anyway?
• Do we feel resentful and under pressure?

Now next set of questions.

• Do we enjoy, whatever task we perform?
• Do we enjoy, the activity involved in the task?
• What if we do not enjoy what we are doing but we have no choice?

Can we look at this with a different approach?

Yes, we can do that. It involves realizing that since one does not have an option, one should try and dismiss the negative thoughts. Dismissing negative thoughts means that one does not engage with them and encourage them to work on our sympathetic system.

Instead, by practicing breath awareness, we enable the parasympathetic system to take over and put in its best. The outcome is that we have let go of the feeling of defeatism and then we will find that we are in a neutral state of mind.

What is the connection with our sadhana and karma yoga?

I am addressing the practice of karma yoga. Karma Yoga enables one to remain in a state of harmony. It means that we work, without expectation and enjoy the task. We appreciate the work and not complain about it.

Now we come to the sadhana. Our karma yoga bears direct responsibility on the sadhana. We are practicing because we wish to attain a state of harmony.

My Guru said that one’s attitude to work must be positive and then this attitude permeates into our sadhana. Practicing meditation, does not benefit one as the mind is challenged. Meditation is possible when one has an attitude of unconditionality towards work.

We can pride ourselves on meditating and praying but actually have we changed. The crux of the matter is that it is our inherent attitude, which has to be one of a karma yogi.

Dear ones, I started writing today because I read that mindful meditation was causing more harm than good. I was very angry as a great deal of research has gone into this subject. The reason for the problem arising in mindful meditation was that the sadhaka was not guided through the process. Thoughts were interrupting the sadhana. Moreover, without Karma Yoga, meditation is not effective.

It is easy to criticize a practice if the teachers do not take into consideration the state of the seeker.

Aim Hrim Klim

PS. Happy birthday, dear Sukadev.

Photo by Centre for Ageing Better on Unsplash