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Swami Vivekananda describes the ideal of Karma yoga as follows: "The ideal human being is the one who amidst the deepest silence and the biggest solitude finds the most intense activity, and the one who amidst the most intense activity finds the silence and solitude of the desert." "The Karma yogi doesn’t need to believe in any doctrine. He may not even believe in God, he may not ask himself what is the soul and he may not be attracted by any metaphysical speculation at all" (Practical Yoga).

However, because the spiritual masters from the Orient whose teachings we have inherited are all profoundly religious, it is not surprising that they interpret Karma Yoga from this perspective. Sri Ramakrishna says: "Karma Yoga is the spontaneous communion with God through action". From the perspective of Bhakti Yoga system, this interpretation can be seen as the revelation of the Divine through love and from the perspective of the Jïana Yoga system as the pursuit of the awareness of the Absolute Divine. Ramakrishna said als "The supreme goal in Karma Yoga is the same as in all forms of Yoga: the realisation of the Supreme Eternal or the Impersonal Divine."

Motto:"In a state of detachment perform what has to be done, no matter what it is, and never wish to assume the fruits of your doings""

Karma yoga represents one of the four main classic forms of Yoga. Karma Yoga represents a starting point and is an essential part of the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, this serves as sufficient ground for its authenticity.

Like all other forms of Yoga, the main and final purpose of Karma Yoga is to facilitate and accelerate the spiritual evolution of its persistent practitioner. The main difference from other forms of Yoga is that Karma Yoga can be practised well from the very beginning, and can be applied all the time, all day long, because it is applicable to all human activities. Compared to Karma Yoga, the continuous daily practice of Bhakti Yoga for example is only available at a very high level of attainment and the practice of Jïana Yoga (with its main form Haöha Yoga) is restricted to specific periods of the day, for a specific interval of time. These arguments lead to the conclusion that Karma Yoga is an instantaneous form of Yoga for the daily life.

“That (the Self) is in motion. The Self is motionless.
The Self is remote. The Self is also close.
The Self is inside everything. The Self is outside of everything.”
ISHA UPANISHAD (1-5)

The Projection of the Spiritual Heart

Meditation on the question “who am I?” is one of the methods that enables the yogi to reveal in themselves the reality of the Immortal Supreme Self Atman. But in what location of our inner self do we have to project this question to find the quickest ineffable answer which transcends any mental understanding? Some recommend the area of the head (Sahashrara - in Shaivism; Ajna Chakra - in Taraka Yoga), others indicate the heart area (Ramana Maharishi, Vedanta etc.).

In reality however, when the concentration is deep, it overcomes the reflex of being attached to a certain area and in the opening which it creates, the meditation seems to stabilise without localisation. From the practical point of view, even if we start by focusing in the heart area, for example, it is necessary we arrive at a global feeling of our being, including the physical body. It is true that focus and balance in such a global sensation is much easier to realise if the initial point of projection was the heart and not the head; the limitation to a bodily reference will be gradually overcome and we will experience the revelation that what we truly are cannot be an object. In this way it reveals inside us a reality from a superior direction, a very intimate presence which we can retrieve every time we return inwards to ourselves, and a presence which we feel is the foundation of every moment of our lives (which we will at least discover every time when through an act of lucidity we will draw near to the truth of our existence). Thus, our experiences will attain what the jnana yogis said: the world and the conjunctures of our life are inside us, but we are not in these conjuctures. This experience is associated with a feeling of distance, of detachment, which makes us realise that everything is perceived by the Consciousness within Consciousness.

Kundalini is the energy that exists in a latent state in man at the base of the spinal column. When this force is “awakened”, it springs upwards (or downwards if the person is practising the headstand position ''Shirshasana''). It moves along the central axis of the body (the spinal column) towards the crown or lotus on the top of the head ( Sahasrara Chakra). Yoga tradition mentions the existence of 7 energetic centres (chakras), whose levels comprise the steps or phases of the process of creation. When rising from one level to another, Kundalini is given different names, according to the chakra where it settles. For instance, in the heart chakra ( Anahata), Kundalini is called Hamsa and in the chakra in the middle of the forehead ( Ajna) it is called Bindu. Sometimes Kundalini can ascend so much that it goes beyond the top of the head. Here it creates a mystical state ofconsciousness of indescribable ecstasy with duality no longer existing.

Kundalini is present in the body of every man as the aspect of Transcendental Power that precedes and penetrates the whole Macrocosmos. This power exists everywhere in the Universe, even in a tiny atom, “coiled” in the nucleus. Matter, life, consciousness and the supra-consciousness are only different degrees (that also manifest as different frequencies of vibration) of the revealation of the dormant power of Kundalini. Divine power (MahaVidya) embodies itself into individual souls, attaining limits in time and space, but also into matter, becoming coiled into itself, or in other words becoming asleep. The transcendental state is only realized when Kundalini completely ascends from the base to its ideal location at the top of the head and beyond it.