from the lofty heights of Jnana or Bhakti Yoga, which aim at recognizing the infinite Brahman either with or without form, Karma Yoga is a modest path dealing with modest achievements in the relative world, such as acquiring a healthy body, a steady mind, and a luminous intellect — all with the goal of gradually removing the barriers to spiritual liberation. Practitioners achieve these aims by performing the eight limbs of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga. Ashtanga Yoga, then, is the underlying structure or architecture of Karma Yoga.
Although Karma Yoga is a practical, mundane approach to realizing liberation, the concepts essential to Jnana and Bhakti Yoga lie at its core. When practicing the many elaborate techniques of Karma or Ashtanga Yoga, we need to remember that we do this only because we are in essence both infinite consciousness (the heart of Jnana Yoga) and children of God (the essence of Bhakti Yoga). These three paths are, after all, different routes to the same destination.
The Many Modes of Karma Yoga
Whereas there is only one type of Jnana Yoga and one type of Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga has differentiated into many different modes with different names, according to precisely what actions and techniques are suggested. Kriya Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Laya Yoga, Dhyana Yoga, Samadhi Yoga, and Raja Yoga are all different modes of Karma Yoga. In all these modes of yoga, the practitioner performs certain yogic actions intending to derive a direct benefit, such as a stronger, healthier body, a longer life, a smooth flow of prana (and eventually its arrest in the central energy channel), a powerful intellect that can concentrate at will, a penetrating insight that can be directed at objects normally hidden, the ability to know whatever one wishes — and the list goes on.
Western students are often confused by this apparent multiplicity of yogic teachings, which is replicated in the multiplicity of India’s many divine forms and images. We may understand this fact by likening yoga to medicine — as, for example, the Rishi Vyasa did in his commentary on the Yoga Sutra. In medicine we have many different remedies addressing the various ailments that patients can develop. In a similar way, the many different forms of Karma Yoga have developed to address different problems.
Although all people are essentially the same at their divine cores, they vary greatly in their outer layers: the body, mind, ego, and intellect. Because people have very different bodies and minds, different approaches have been developed to remove the different obstacles located therein. Karma Yoga has developed its many modes because it targets these variable aspects of human individuals. Jnana and Bhakti Yoga, in contrast, have not had to differentiate because they address the divine consciousness or true self, which does not vary among individuals.
Ashtanga Yoga: The Architecture of Karma Yoga
The universally accepted form and structure that Karma Yoga takes is the eight-limbed yoga of Patanjali called Ashtanga Yoga. All of the eight limbs are in one form or another represented in all modes of Karma Yoga. The reason for using eight sequential steps may be understood through the following metaphor: Let’s assume for a moment that the goal of yoga, called liberation, is located on the moon and its opposite, the state called bhoga (bondage) is here on Earth. Jnana and Bhakti Yoga hold out the possibility — not a realistic one for most people — of reaching your goal with one giant step. Eight-limbed Karma Yoga, on the other hand, provides you with a spacecraft that you can use to reach your destination, a spacecraft similar to the Saturn V rocket that powered the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. The Saturn V had several stages. The first stage lifted the spacecraft to a certain height, and once its fuel had been exhausted the next stage was fired up. With the final stage the spacecraft had reached a distance far enough from the Earth that it could now “fall” toward the moon, attracted by the moon’s gravitational field. In a similar way, Karma Yoga offers eight successive stages, each one carrying you successively higher toward the natural state of yoga (freedom) and away from the gravitation of bhoga (bondage).
Karma/Ashtanga Yoga gives you the opportunity to take small steps first. When you have done those steps successfully, you feel ready to take the slightly bigger steps that come next. Each step slightly modifies your body, mind, ego, and intellect, preparing them for the next, bigger step. Once you have taken the prescribed eight steps, you are then ready to take the plunge. That plunge is the same one the Bhaktas and Jnanis take, but the Ashtanga approach helps you prepare, organically and holistically, for it.
Let’s take a closer look at the various steps or limbs of Karma/Ashtanga Yoga, focusing mainly on the higher limbs, as they are usually neglected in descriptions. For this purpose we return to the Russian-doll metaphor introduced in the Introduction.
YAMA — RESTRAINT
Yama comprises five restraints. Along with the second limb, niyama (observance), those restraints form the base of Karma Yoga. The five restraints are as follows:
1 Do not harm.
2 Be truthful.
3 Do not steal.
4 Have intercourse only with your lawful partner.
5 Do not give in to greed.
If your resolve to stick to these restraints is not firm, you may abuse the very great powers you gain through yoga. These are not just empty words. A significant number of practitioners in the long history of yoga have gone down that path.
NIYAMA — OBSERVANCE
Once you have made the transforming commitment to adhere to the yama, you adopt the following five niyamas (observances):
1 Inner and outer cleanliness
2 Contentment
3 Simplicity
4 Study of sacred texts
5 Surrender to the Supreme Being10
Of course, niyama will bring you progress only if it is adhered to within the context of the first limb, yama.
PADMASANA: SEAT OF POWER
It is no coincidence that rishis, yogis, deities, and siddhas are usually depicted in Padmasana. You won’t see paintings or carvings of them sitting in chairs. Why? Because Padmasana is the seat of power. Padmasana is named for the padma, or lotus flower, a symbol of divinity in Indian folklore. Indian scriptures commonly refer to the chakras — subtle centers of divine power in the body — as lotuses. Images of deities or sages sitting on lotuses or sitting in Padmasana suggest that the subjects are spiritually empowered. Padmasana is the ideal yoga posture to sit in while doing pranayama (breath retention and extension).
Modern meditation teachers hasten to point out that you don’t need to sit in lotus posture to meditate. That is true; you don’t have to. However, Padmasana seriously empowers all forms of meditation and pranayama. When sitting in Padmasana, the spine effortlessly assumes its natural double-S curve, which is necessary for the ascent of prana (divine energy), sometimes called kundalini. Padmasana also creates a solid tripod for the torso, which prevents the yogi from falling over during surges of prana. In Padmasana, the hands and feet are turned away from the Earth and up toward the sky, which makes them receptive to divine energy rather than conducting energy down into the receptive Earth.
ASANA — POSTURE
Once the practitioner has integrated yama and niyama into her life, she can begin the practice of asana (posture). There are hundreds of yoga postures; practicing them makes the body strong and supple, prepares it for the ascent of prana, and restores the natural balance of the body’s three constitution types, or doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha.11