KARMA YOGA 30

Where will you seek God if not in the human form? Thus, the Avatar (Divine Incarnation in human form) is worshipped in the Christ-form, in the Buddha-form, in the Krishna-form, in the Chaitanya-form, in the Ramakrishna-form and the like. Thus, the scriptural injunction to serve man as God. The human body is the highest temple of the Divine and service to the human god the highest service, the highest austerity, the highest spirituality. It is this worshipful service to man that is the core of karma yoga and the panacea for all of modern-day ills of human society. Herein lies the importance of this Yoga in this Age.

There are so many problems of modern-day living that makes life so stressful. These all stem from a wrong view of life and living and a terribly erroneous perception of who man is. Is life of two days meant only for self-acquisition or is life of an eternity where such a mad rush for material possession of things is totally uncalled for? Is man only a material entity, a physical self endowed with thinking capacity which is the product of molecular reactions only or is he a higher, nobler being, the Spirit Divine which is self-fulfilled and delights in fulfilling kindred spirits rather than engaging in animal competition for gain and supremacy over others? These are pertinent questions that need addressing if we as a human family are ever to achieve peace and harmony in life on earth.

Wars have left political dissensions unsolved, despite enforced settlements by the victors on the vanquished, and sown the seeds of fresh wars. Peace ever eludes man for peace is the outcome of an integral vision of humankind and not a fractured, distorted view of man. What is needed is the Vedantic vision of the essential oneness of all existence and the divinity of the human being. By this conception the world becomes deified and man is transfigured into the divine. Competition and struggle for gain give way to cooperation and coordination for the welfare of all, mutual help for the uplift of all and not a select few based on racial or nationalistic or ideological preferences, and harmonic living so essential for the flourishing of peace and civilisation, a harmony based on the right view of man and the world. And all this entails the austerity of work, work without ulterior motives, work without selfish ends to serve, work done for self-enlightenment and for the welfare of the world. Such work must be full of the fire of spiritual purity, performed with great reverence for it is the worship of the divine in man and must be totally free of expectation of any personal gain for it is a free gift unto humanity for the common welfare of all. The more selfless the work will be, the closer will it be to the ideal of karma yoga and the greater will its power be to transform human society for the better.

This, my friends, is the only hope for mankind, the lone lingering silver-line bordering the darkening clouds of human ignorance and ideological fanaticism of all denominations, religious or secular, which threaten to annihilate the human race. And what is it? It is the determined performance of welfare work for the benefit of all, sincere, serious, unselfish, worshipful service for the common good without attachment or expectation, sublime service surcharged with love that gives freely and seeks no return. Such worship of the Self in man will transform the worshipper and the worshipped both and usher in a new age of enlightenment. And such service is the essence of karma yoga, the spiritual discipline of the Age.