Karma Yogi

My Friend,

Welcome to a new nugget! No matter how many times we may have failed, most of us start 1st January each year thinking of resolutions we wish to undertake for the year. And while resolutions too often end up with an elaborate list of 'to dos', research tells us that happiness isn't so much in what we do externally as it is in who we're becoming internally through what we do externally. So the real question to ask is "Who Do I Aspire To Become Internally?". This brings us to the topic of today which elaborates on the aspiration for inner state we can all have in mind as we live 2023. That ideal is called a 'Karma Yogi'.

Wait, isn't Karma related to past deeds? And isn't Yogi a monk? Unfortunately, the meanings of both the words 'karma' and 'yogi' have been lost in translation. Karma, while carrying different connotations, simply means 'action'. Yogi comes from the original root of 'Yog' which also, while having different connotations today, simply means 'union'. Karma Yogi therefore is just someone who is completely united in whatever action they take. Okay, But What Does it Mean To Be a Karma Yogi? And Why is it An Ideal? The reason you're reading this newsletter is because you chose to. But as you're reading this newsletter, it's possible you intermittently get distracted towards checking WhatsApp for 'Happy New year' messages. Or to open Instagram and play a few reels of cute cats. Neither of those 'distractions' aligned to your original consciously chosen purpose of reading the newsletter. Those distractions however hijacked you making you a slave to those impulses. Becoming a Karma Yogi is about increasingly having the capacity to control our mind & actions so it is united in whatever purpose we consciously choose without being a slave to impulses that take us away from our purpose. For if we could be in complete control of our mind, we would stop becoming a football to external events and distractions. This control is what is the difference b/w the stress and happiness levels of 2 people: For stress and happiness has little to do with the circumstance. It's all about how much a circumstance has the power to control our mind. No wonder, we see people around us all the time who despite being in less favourable life circumstances, are always smiling and happy.

So, What Would It Mean To Be a Karma Yogi This Year? "Start With What?". This is the part where goals become important. Not because setting goals help determine the end we want to reach. But because goals are the means to the end - the end being 'living the present moment fully in line with a conscious purpose I have chosen'. Suppose you have 3 major goals for the rest of 2023 - Getting 6-Pack Abs, Increasing Your Social Media Followership by 100%, Ensuring All Medical Parameters for Your Parent/Spouse Return To Normal. Once the goals are decided, you make those goals your 'duties' each day. A Karma Yogi has little prescription on his duties - the only prescription is that once the duties have been set, dedicating each moment towards achieving them no matter what distractions show up. Every day. So How To Be a Karma Yogi Today?

As I started writing this newsletter, that was my singular duty (or goal). But then my mind kept getting distracted. Every time I yielded to an external distraction, I became a slave to externalities. Every time I resisted external distractions, I became a master of externalities. In the same spirit, if you can identify your purpose for each hour of today and then no matter what externalities or distractions come up, you stay determined to be with that purpose, that's when you're becoming a Karma Yogi i.e. united with purposeful action. A recent news, just 2 days back exemplifies this well. The PM of India, Narendra Modi, fulfilled his duty as a son in the morning by cremating his mother. And then 2 hours later, fulfilled his duty as a PM by flagging off an infrastructure project. What's more important is that, as video footage shows, he was completely involved in both those events. That is the idea of being a Karma Yogi today. Being united with whatever we're doing in alignment with the goals & duties we've given to ourselves.

Is It Easy To Become a Karma Yogi? Unfortunately, no. But fortunately, we can practice being closer and closer to this aspiration. How? By continuously practicing bringing ourselves back to the purpose (or duty). We may not have control over the mind but we do have autonomy over the habits we practice. Let's take this newsletter again for example. Did my mind get distracted while writing? Of course yes. But what determines my inner growth is if I promise myself to not get up from the chair or open a new instagram reel or check WhatsApp until I get done with it. And if I slowly did that with everything in life, I slowly become adept at having my mind in my control aligned to a goal I choose. So much so that despite suffering a huge personal loss in the morning, 2 hours later I can get back to giving a speech about an infrastructure project with all my energy.

As we end this nugget, I hope we recognize why a disciplined mind is the pathway to a happier rest of 2023. For only with control of our inner world by dedicating it each moment to a purpose we have defined, do we truly grow in peace. :) Shishir Arya