UNDERSTANDING THE
PATH OF KARMYOG
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The 3 Paths, and
Looking Deeper at KarmYog
There are 3 paths – KarmYog, DnyaanYog, and
BhaktiYog… KarmYog in easy words is focus on the action and not on the results.
Now this means that whatever action you undertake – the results of that action
should not enter into either your conscious or your subconscious or even your
deeper mind; from the antahkaran –the focus should be entirely on the task at
hand. If you are not concerned, right from your innermost being, with the
effect of the action, then it follows that you are also not concerned with the
impact it will have on you as an individual.
Your Tasks and Your
Duties
And, if this action arises as a part of your duty,
your accountable tasks entrusted to you – be it organizational, or
familial or indeed personal – then it
also further follows that all your actions decisions etc will be transparent
and fair subject only to your capability and skills. This also ensures easy
identification of internal flaws and areas needing upgradation – making it
highly practical. And if these actions are within Moral and Legal parameters,
then you cannotgo wrong. That at a very
basic level is the philosophy of Karmyog as per my understanding.
Duty in the Eastern
Form
This is not the western concept of plain duty; I
used it since I could not find an equivalent English word to Dharm / Karm. Duty
here means your core responsibility, for which you are accountable - and do to
the best of your ability, with entire mind heart & body. This isnt just
going through the motion. This is an
eminently practical approach; the moment you do something purely for personal
benefit - one of the possibilities that arises is that you will take shortcuts
or other means to achieve it. Thus, you might have achieved the end result
desired - but have waylaid the process. Meaning, you have actually not done
your true accountable tasks.
Practical
Dimensions
On the other hand, when you operate on a sense of
duty, responsibility for the assigned task - when initial results dont come as
expected - you cant take a short-cut, or unethical means: _you then first
examine your own capabilities, if found wanting - you upgrade skills; else if
that is not the reason- you analyse the environment, find out what has changed,
and take proper accountable decisions within parameters of due process,
responsibility and accountability.
You can do this as _you are not focussed on your
risk, your benefit; your entire focus is on the task you are assigned - be you
a Doctor, or a Production Manager, or an Engineering Shopfloor supervisor, or a
salesperson... Easy? No. Much easier to just take a short cut, or do
half-heartedly. A duty performed half-hearted, or shortcuts, or without due
process is a duty not done. And, as it is half-done, then surely with time, as
organisations have learnt to their chagrin,problems arise from this execution…
Challenges in
following KarmYog
The difficulty in following KarmYog is two-fold. First,
the Geeta is a very deep and involved treatise, it is really difficult to
understand what path is right for you. For every individual, it is a journey of
discovery – and whether you need to proceed on KarmYog, DnyaanYog or BhaktiYog and to what extent; can we walk multiple
paths etc are all very valid questions. To these questions, my answer, basis my
current level of understanding is that there is no answer; each person has to
discover for oneself.
Second, this, in my opinion, {KarmYog} cannot be
achieved without detachment; but the question is what does detachment
mean? It doesn’t mean just forgetting
the result; that is a short term answer. There is the risk that as the task
nears completion or progresses, the prospective results may lead to a rise of
the scepter of the result and its impact on your mind. This new worry of the
result may end up influencing your further actions, for a simple example. Thus,
true detachment is when you forget and leave behind the desire itself,leave
behind the connection between your ambition / desire for the result itself, aasakti hi khatam ho jaani chaajhiye. That at
the root is KarmYog.
Can we walk ony one
path?
Now, at this point let me return to the 3 paths : KarmYog,
DnyaanYog, and KarmYog. Some people say you can walk one of these paths; A
simple reading of the Geeta says that God himself has advocated that. But, at
my current level of understanding, there are many layers in this Holy Book; and
it becomes apparent as you try to walk the path – as I have tried to –that you cannot have one Path without at
least some level of presence on the other. One preferred choice may
predominate; that is all.
BhaktiYog is love for God – You are there for me; DnyaanYOg
means I and God are the same; it is just that my soul is covered with impurities
of desire ego ambition anger greed etc; let me come out of it. Now, coming back
to KarmYog, detachment means at the very basic level – forgetting and rising
above these – namely, impurities of
desire ego ambition anger greed etc. Now how can you rise above these unless you
realize and accept these as impurities?
Thus, you also need to progress on the path of
Dnyaan as well as Bhakti to properly walk on the path of KarmYog. Question here
arises – why is Bhakti important? Because of the world – 99% of the world doesn’t
operate on these high principles; the rest of the world is selfish, greedy etc.
In that scenario, walking on KarmYog will throw challenges in your face, though
it be easier than if you walk on DnyaanYog. Nonetheless, challenges will come.
Here is where BhaktiYog will help; it will ensure you are able to traverse
these difficulties safely.
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