Five Ways to Leave Your Karma
Yoga scholar Carlos Pomeda demystified the Bhagavad Gita for us on Sunday, translating the profound and sometimes-cryptic teachings into practical wisdom.
Most useful was Pomeda's discussion of Karma Yoga as described in the Gita.
Karma Yoga is the yoga of action. "Everything you do can be a form of yoga," he reminded us. "From the moment we wake up, every intention, every thought, every word and every action generates karma."
A good reminder, I thought, but eek— that's huge! What about when karma piles up—what to do?
Pomeda read my mind. One solution, he said, is to renounce the world to avoid creating more karma. (Incidentally, Pomeda was a monk for 18 years). Uhhh...I would consider the monastery, but I have another 10 years of grad school loans to pay off first, I rationalized to myself.
Thankfully, though, the Gita says renunciation isn't necessary if you can be skillful in your actions. (phew!)
So what exactly does 'skillful' mean?
According to Pomeda's translation of the Gita, it means you can learn to act in a way as not to generate additional karma. In a nutshell:
Karma Escape Tips
1) Focus on your actions, not the results: don't act as if there is any guarantee that what you do will generate a specific result.
2) Evenness is yoga: become centered, then act
3) Practice detachment: not indifference, but unattachment
4) Act from your Higher Self
5) Perform acts of service to become freed from selfishness
As a bonus, here are some other yogic nuggets of goodness I gathered from the talk:
You are not the activity you do, you are the Knower.
Meditate for at least one hour at a time to give your mind time to unwind.
To see divinity is to see god in everything: Affirm the presence of the Divine wherever you see it.
For more wisdom from Pomeda, check out "The Wisdom of Yoga," his new lecture series on DVD. For a review of the series, see Richard Rosen's review in the February issue of Yoga Journal.
Carlos Pomeda spent 18 years as a monk, studying and practicing in the Siddha Yoga tradition. During this time, he learned the various systems of Indian philosophy and immersed himself in the practice of yoga. He combined this hands-on training with academic work, earning his Masters' degrees in Sanskrit and Religious Studies. He new spends his time teaching workshops on yoga and Indian philosophy.