Karma Yoga

Ambika di Maria, speaks about karma yoga, the art of dedicating your sense of agency in this world for a higher purpose and letting go of the outcome. We will first get to hear the interesting story of how Ambika came in touch with her yoga teachers through serendipitous events.

Transcript

Have you ever heard about Karma Yoga? Today I'm talking with Ambika, Yoga teacher and blogger from Toronto, About Karma Yoga. Hello Yogi, Welcome to my podcast. I'm Aiko and on this show we explore ways to put spiritual theory into sustainable practice. Welcome Ambika to my podcast. I'm very happy and honored you came here. Thank you very much for having me. Thank you and I have heard you speak on karma yoga and I would like to hear more of your thoughts and experiences about this but first maybe would you like to introduce yourself? Sure. Thank you. So I currently live in Canada, In Toronto, Canada, Where I practice yoga, I teach yoga as well, And I live here with my husband. And before that, We were living in Mexico. We spent, Well, I spent about three years there living in a yoga ashram. So I dedicated those three years to sort of more, I guess, Of an internal spiritual, Kind of inward facing time. To kind of. . . I was, I think what started that was that I was looking for some kind of meaning and purpose that I wasn't. That I wasn't experiencing before that, So. That kind of I guess ignited. Whole stay in the ashram thing. Yeah and how did you get there? Oh that's a long story but it's a very But it's a fun story to tell. I like telling it because it makes me remember. Remember all of the. All of the beautiful coincidences, Or maybe they weren't. Coincidences or whatever they were, They're really, They're really nice. Um. . . I guess I started. Well, I started with yoga. I started practicing yoga in university. It was kind of a way to de-stress. Reduce anxiety and that sort of thing. It was more of the asana practice that I would do. That I would engage in. Um, And so I got really into. Really into the asana practice and then eventually I started to learn about ashtanga and the limbs of yoga, The yamas and the niyamas. All of kind of the more philosophical principles that that went along with the yoga practice and they really, Really, Really called my attention. I was really, Really interested in that and I wanted to learn more about you know, How to make yoga my life, How I could wake up in the morning. And live yoga until I would go to sleep at night and then even while sleeping, You know, Practice yoga. It was, I guess, Search. And I mean, I guess simultaneously while I was searching for that, I was experiencing I guess. A certain insatisfaction with the things that I was doing. I had finished university, I had studied theater, And. . . I had. After that I studied dance for a couple of years and and I I really enjoyed what I was doing, But at the same time. . . I felt like some kind of. Connection was missing some kind of Um. . . I guess. Motivating purpose that that. That went beyond just, You know, The next show or the next next performance or the next, I don't know, Award or that kind of. Whatever those kind of goals are, Which I think are great. I think it's great to have goals. And it's wonderful to be successful, I think, As well. And I think it's important. But there was something missing. There was something missing. And I remember. On my 23rd birthday. I had like my little altar and I was really into like crystals and meditation and all kinds of sort of new age, But then I also had. You know, Pictures of Mother Mary and Jesus and things that I had grown up with as well. It was just kind of an amalgamation of all my inclinations and spiritual beliefs at that time. And I remember I lit a candle. On my birthday and I was. In a really bad place. I was feeling really desperate. About that. About that meaning that I was looking for and not feeling. And I sat in front of this altar and I made a prayer. A very loud prayer, I think, In my heart. Where I said, I think, I don't know what it is that I'm supposed to be doing or what. What I'm really good at or what. Direction it is that I'm supposed to go in but all I all I knew at that time and what I was praying for was that I wanted to serve God. And I was like, That's, I don't know what it is, But that's sort of my. And I guess I had all of the representations and understandings of what God was for me at that time on this altar and I just. Kind of put all of my faith into it. Please, I need to do this. I need to find. Find that connection. Sorry, I don't know if you hear my dog crying in the background. She's just a puppy, She's seven months. I'm just gonna calm me down now, But anyway. So. . . That was in December. Of my of. Well, My my birthday was in December and then. I was planning a trip. To to Brazil because at that time I was studying Brazilian dance. And I had been planning a trip to Brazil because I wanted to go and kind of study a little bit more. Of that culture and dance. And while I was planning the trip, I was thinking. All of a sudden it was really funny. I was thinking, Oh, I want to go to Argentina. I had never once thought about Argentina in my life. It was not even on my radar or anything. You know, I don't have time or money to go to Argentina and Brazil. It's just not going to work out. I just. I'm going to go to Brazil because that's for the specific teacher that I wanted to study with. Teaches her workshops. In January, I found out that that teacher wasn't going to be in Brazil at the time that I was planning my trip for, But she was going to be in Argentina. Oh, So yeah. So I said, Oh, That's perfect. I guess I kind of get to fulfill that purpose. And so while I was planning my trip, I had about. . . I had about 10 days. Before the course started. To decide. What exactly I mean I could do anything in Argentina for those 10 days and at the time I was also really interested you know in finding like a conscious community and and this whole idea of service and. . . I was also, I had recently become a vegetarian and just a more healthy lifestyle and of course I was really into yoga. And a friend of mine, She had directed me to a website that was like. . . Conscious communities. Worldwide sort of thing. You kind of could type in wherever you were going and a bunch of conscious communities. Would appear. So I typed in Argentina and there was only one that popped up and it was an eco-yoga park. That's what it was called, Eco-yoga park. I believe it's also called New Vrindavan now. Yeah, It's actually my yoga school. Really funny. Well, Yeah, It was this eco yoga park and I. Was like, Oh, Well, This kind of all works very perfectly. So I wrote to them, And a devotee, Well, A. . . I didn't know who it was at the time. It just said H-A-R-I, Hadi. But at the time, Like I. . . I read, I read it hairy. I said, Oh, I didn't know people in Argentina were named Harry as well. That was kind of funny, But anyway, I am. I responded and they were really, Really nice and said, Yeah, You know, You can stay here. Volunteer and you know do some mantra meditation and all of these things and you can practice yoga every day and for me it sounded like a dream and I was like yeah this is exactly what I need to do. So I hope I'm not going too long with this. It's a very long story. So then. I was in Argentina, I mean. I left for Argentina in February, So this was two months after. That kind of. Meditation prayer in December. Two months later, I found myself in Argentina. And I really, Really was impacted by my stay there, The 10 days that I was there. That I felt that the people. Who were there were very, I just felt like they were filled with this peace and love. You were just radiating a completely different. Vibe, I guess. And whatever it was, I really wanted a piece of it. I wanted to know kind of how I could, Whatever it was that they were doing, I figured. I need to be doing that. That's kind of. What I would like. To be radiating as well. That's what I would like to imbibe and embody. I got sick while I was there. I got a really bad fever. I think it was a little bit of a kind of helix. Something i don't know what it was but i got really sick and and especially um A few ladies there were really, Really good. Compassionate and warm with me. And on every trip that I would go on, I was used to taking a rosary with me. And I had forgotten my rosary on this trip, Which was also really weird because I never I never forgot my password. But I saw that they were chanting on beads there. I said, Well, It can't be that different from what I'm used to doing. So I asked if they could teach me how, And they did. And for during the time that I was ill, I was just sitting in bed. And chanting. And after a day or two, I felt very different. And a couple days later, You know, I had to continue with my trip. Bye. I remember while I was there, You know, In Argentina, The students or practitioners there, You know, They had also recommended reading the Bhagavad Gita. You know, Maybe the questions that I had could be found there. And I said, Yeah, Eventually I'll kind of look for one. And after leaving Argentina, I did end up going to Brazil. And while I was in Brazil, The house that I was staying in, They had a copy of the Bhagavad Gita in English in the house as well. Dedicate that time to just reading the Bhagavad Gita and I was also listening to an audiobook on the Tao Te Ching and just kind of, I was looking, I was just looking for a bunch of answers, But I got a lot of the answers to the questions that I had. After reading the Bhagavad Gita. And. . . Then after reading it, I said, I need to practice this. Whatever, Everything that it's saying in this book, I need to practice it. This is, I mean, I talked about serving God and how and specifics and very in detail. And I said, This is what I want to do, But I had no idea how to do it. I had no idea. I needed, I felt like I needed guidance. Again, That conscious community that I was looking for. And. . . So this was kind of a desire and something that I would. You know, That was in my heart. And then I went back to Canada. And then some circumstances led me to another trip to Mexico, And I was living in Querétaro in Mexico. And was occasionally taking some day trips to Mexico City. And I had been directed to this ashram in Mexico City that practiced the same. Like they were dedicated to practicing, You know, Bhagavad Gita and all of these. The practices pretty much is the same, The same. The same setup. As what I had found in Argentina, But in Mexico City. I decided that all of the plans that I had made for myself. In Mexico, I kind of abandoned everything. This is what I want to do. Yeah, When I was in the ashram, Just everything that I saw around. That was there, You know, They also had a yoga ashram, Like a yoga studio and they practice not just the asanas but also the philosophical part and you can practice service. There was the practice of daily daily mantra meditation as well with this with this rosary and And I was very much. I felt very much at home. And I said, This is what I need to say. Yeah so that's how i got there thank you so just because you mentioned um a lot about the bhagavad-gita and how it was important for you and somehow give you the answers that you were seeking for so in the bhagavad-gita krishna uses a metaphor to assure arjuna that He will not lose anything by letting go of the result of his actions. And my spiritual master Swami Tripurari comments on this in his Bhagavad Gita. He says, To ask you what's your opinion about it and if you can say also what do you think about karma yoga regarding this point too. Oh, Okay. I am by no means an expert on the pilot key time. I love hearing from you know, People who do understand the Bhagavad Gita on a more you know, Spiritually advanced or realized level. I love hearing from them and hearing their sort of understandings because I mean, In the way that, I mean. By listening and by you know trying to understand what I can and put into practice what I can, Then I feel like I slowly start to understand. What is being said. And even still, That understanding is very, Very limited. Very limited, But I'll try. To again speak from from my own experience yeah from my own experience I guess and and And for me. Karma yoga. I mean, For me, On a very personal level. It kind of starts with. . . Desire, Or kama, That this kind of impulse these desires to want to do something. Um, I feel like in my life I've had a lot of things that I want to do and I still do, You know, And I feel like this has been a very big motivating factor. In my life of projects, Places I want to go, Things I want to do. All of these desires and they're always there. And they're always there. And for a long time, I feel like I would kind of go after these desires and still wasn't feeling satisfied. After kind of fulfilling them and that was very frustrating. Because it's you know wanting something and then completing it and then finishing it and then at the end being like well you know there was so much fire and and burning desire to want to get that thing done or or fulfill this dream or whatever it is. And then at the end, There's this frustration of. I still want more. I still want more. I still feel sad. Well, I mean. I think the wanting more is always going to happen, But I wasn't feeling satisfied from all of the work and effort that I put into what I had just done. Yeah, So that was really frustrating for me. So then, You know, That's what I started to learn also in from the teachings of, You know, More realized. More realized souls and the teachings in the Bhagavad Gita. Is a lot about dharma is, You know, The duty acting out of duty rather than rather than acting out of Um. . . What is the end result? Am I going to be rich after doing this? Am I going to be successful after doing this? Am I going to be liked after doing this? Am I going to be seen or more famous or more interesting or more. Or smarter or more accepted or whatever those kind of I guess motivating factors or end results, You know, That. I feel like, At least on a personal level, I kind of deposit, It's kind of like the pot at the end of the rainbow. Like, If I just do all of these things, Then I'll eventually get this sort of thing, Right? So. I guess this idea of dharma or acting out of dharma becomes more about the process and less about the product, More about the journey and less about the destination, More about what you learn on the way rather than what are you left with at the end sort of thing. For me, It's sort of been this teaching of acting out of. Sincerity, Acting out of acting within my limitations, Acting within my nature, You know, Becoming sincere about who am I and what are these desires and how can I engage in healthy healthy expressions of, Of you know, The pursuit to, You know. Fulfill these ideas and projects and things that I have in my mind, But but not become, But not have. You know, The end result be the maximum. Most important thing in my life, You know, If this doesn't happen, You know, If I don't, I don't know, For example, If I don't publish a book, I'm going to be I'm gonna die unfulfilled or something, You know, Like all of these things. Or if I don't. I don't know, Reach 100, 000 followers on Instagram, Then I haven't, You know, Become self realized or whatever it is, You know, Like, Just using silly, Silly example. But but that feel true and ring true. And. I mean, This process of Dharma, I think also. Has to go with Karma Yoga. Because I mean, It has to go with, You know, The word yoga connection. And karma, Which is action, And yoga, Which is connection, But it's connection to what or who, What's on the other side. Kind of thing, What is receiving these actions, You know, If I'm. . . Acting as an offering, You know, Dharmically and like acting. Offering my I guess, My body, My mind, And the faculties that I have. As a a servant, I guess. Who is going to receive that? Am I just kind of throwing it out into the world? And, You know, That was that was kind of something that one of the reasons why the kind of new age philosophy and teachings didn't really work for me, I think, At the time, Because there wasn't really a direction like who's on the other side, Who's receiving this, You know, Who's. . . Where's the back and forth? The interaction, Where is that happening? So with Karma Yoga, I feel like it's. . . That amalgamation or that combination of here is everything that I am and all of my desires and all of the things that I wanted to do that I want to do and I have someone you know, This, I have someone who can receive it, Someone that's receiving this on on the opposite end. And And I mean, You know, When you take it to. You know, When you practice karma yoga, But you know, At the same time, You're practicing bhakti yoga, You know, Those two parallel, I think is very potent, Because then the amalgamation of I mean, When you're kind of practicing bhakti yoga and karma yoga at the same time, Then then the result, That end result, Is a spiritual result. It's where I'm depositing kind of. Like the the maximum, The maximum end sort of thing is is more in my spiritual advancement. And it's more in my, My growth and serve in service. And, And it's more of an intrinsic, An intrinsic value rather than an external an external kind of explosion into nothingness. Yeah, Exactly. Yeah. An external show of everything. So that's kind of been my own experience and it's hard to practice. It's really difficult, But it's worth the effort, I think. Yeah, Because I think there are so many Again, Intrinsic, I guess. I don't know if you want rewards is the right word, But you know, There's not that anxiety at the end of. Um at the end, You know, That the anxiety that comes with thinking, With worrying about the future results, And let me control everything so that I don't suffer at the end. You know, It's not about that anymore. It's more about whatever the result is, You know, It's my offering. It's a loving offering. And it's that love that that gets deposited into the actions that we do that makes the process joyful at the end of it, Right? Bhakti doctor Sridhar Swami, A great teacher that you might know, Says that when we first come in touch with the path of letting go, We will feel like there is a loss and no gain. After some time it will feel like, Okay, There was no loss but still no gain either. But finally we will realize that there was no loss but all gain and I think this is such a beautiful it's just all karma yoga like in one sentence it's just so beautiful like all the concept is there because it is just so so true and real you know there's also like many people say that like the path the journey to the goal is that is the goal you know the journey itself and it's so true and i i really love this concept and as you said it's it's hard And I know because I also try myself, You know. But that's also part of the goal, The challenging, The difficulties. Because without that, We wouldn't be here now with this consciousness, You know. Absolutely. And I, I love that, That, That quote, Actually, I'm glad that you, I'm glad that you shared it. It's nice to remember that and, And And absolutely, I think. There, I mean, Part of that difficulty, I think when, You know, When you just start kind of practicing it. Is is from that fear, That fear of I'm gonna lose everything. Yeah, If I let go of the result sort of thing, It feels very scary. And. . . And I don't know, Maybe it's that fear that makes it so hard to kind of practice. It's kind of like. . . Okay, I'm going to jump into the water, But it's, You know. Yeah, It's going to be cold. What if there is a shark over there? Yeah, Exactly. Exactly. Absolutely. Yeah so like to to conclude i would like to ask you if you can briefly like give your own opinion of a concept of karma yoga and some practical tips for people who would like to put this in practice because there's so much theory you know yeah and the difficult part is to put it in practice once you understand the theory so if you have any tips or yeah I would say the first thing is get a copy of the Bible And look for guidance. Look for guidance because. . . Like I experienced while I was in Brazil and reading the Bhagavad Gita, I said, Yes, This is, You know, Serving. Devotional service, This is what I want to do, And I know that this is the path to fulfillment and true satisfaction, And I can feel it, And I know it's this, But I had no idea how to practice it, And even now I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I feel really fortunate to be here. Um you know, That. That these teachings and the source of these teachings have kind of manifested themselves in my life in the form of, You know, These more spiritually advanced souls that that truly care, That truly care about one's spiritual advancement. And it's really easy to find people in this world, I think, Who. . . Um. . . Maybe want something from you or or that you want something from. So there's kind of like this give and take of what's in it for me, What's in it for you, I'll scratch your back, You scratch mine. It's really, Really easy to find people like that in this world. You know, They're a dime a dozen. And, You know, I consider myself one of those people as well, I think 90% of the time. I don't want to be, I don't want to be like that forever. But which is which is why I practice, You know, This, These teachings as well, Because I'd like to advance myself. But it's really, Really, Really rare. I think to find. To find somebody who wants nothing from you. Who wants nothing from you and they only want your benefit. And who even want your benefit more than you want your own benefit? Yeah, I think if you can kind of detect that. In a guide. And. And really. Kind of come to that with a sense of, You know. . . Humility and a willingness to be taught, Then I think that that is the biggest key in practicing karma yoga. If you have that, You have everything. Yeah, And I guess. From my own, I guess, Understanding of of what Karma Yoga has been, At least in my life. And from what I've practiced and what I've kind of learned is that it connects us to who we really are, To our true identity. And I think there are a lot of layers of who we are, Who we project ourselves to be, Or, Or who people think we are, What we think that other people think we are, And all these kind of external layers, But karma yoga really kind of takes us. Into who we actually are on the inside and puts us on a kind of fast track to to really imbibing that and becoming that. And it also connects, I mean, In knowing our true identity, You know, We also come into contact with our true source because wherever we are. Whoever we are, It must have some connection with. Where we come from and by result is also where we're going. I think it makes us dutiful and stable. I think it brings a lot of stability into our life, Spiritually, Materially, On all levels. And that it does make an effect on us and it transforms us from I guess this exploiting mentality, Exploiting or I mean, It could go two ways and exploiting or just the frustrated mentality. It transformed us from that to. . . Um. . . To a more service mentality, More. Again, That's more in line with who we actually are and what's actually going to make us happy. And keeps us on track. To fulfilling our spiritual goals. Grants us a sense of self that's coherent with our spiritual nature, Which, You know, I heard once, I don't remember where I heard it, But it was something like, Satisfaction comes from. When you think, When you speak, And when you do. Are all in line and what you believe, Like when all of those things are in line, That's when you feel kind of satisfied in that sense. Very beautiful. So how would you define karma yoga? Ah, I would. . . I would probably go to the definition of karma yoga in the Bhagavad Gita, Which I don't have in front of me at this time. Action in a sort of service consciousness, In God consciousness. Action. Action that is dedicated and connects us to our source. Action, Sincere, Sincere action where we can use our faculties and our God-given talents and capabilities. And use them in connection to serving the ultimate good. And I apologize profusely for any errors. Either philosophically or No, Just contextual. It was everything wonderful. Pardon? Yeah. It was everything wonderful. Don't worry. And thank you again for having me. Again, This is also a challenge. Kind of lets me sit with myself and see, Okay, Ambika, What have you learned? Have you really learned anything? No, It was very beautiful. And I was inspired from the video you published on your Instagram. That was also very nice. I'm glad. I was nervous publishing that too. That's very beautiful. I'm glad it led to us being able to connect like this. Thank you. Thank you. I hope this episode fulfilled its purpose of inspiring you. If you liked it, Feel free to share it, Give a review or a rating, Subscribe. And if you have any questions, Please get in touch at aikoyogareiki. Com. Namaste.