Karma Yoga: The Yoga of action (art of living)

Swami Vivekananda

2015-08 · editionNEXT.com

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“Karma Yoga” (The Yoga of action) is an English book of Swami Vivekananda, the book was first published in February 1896 from New York. Swami Vivekananda delivered a number of lectures in his rented rooms at 228 W 39th Street in New York City from December in 1895 and January, 1896. In 1895-1895, friends and supporters of Swami Vivekananda hired a professional stenographer Joseph Josiah Goodwin (who later became a follower of Vivekananda). Goodwin recorded some of the lectures of Vivekananda, and those lectures were published as the book Karma Yoga.

It is said in the practice of Vedanta that we have a right to work, but don't have a right to the results of our actions. We have to work as hard as we can, give the work our best quality effort, then step back and let the results take care of themselves. Or in the practice of yoga, offer the results to God.Work purifies the soul. This concept is a bit different than many of us have been taught in the West, but the book offers an interesting approach that can save us from a lot of misery and bring us closer to God. In fact, you don't even need to believe in God to practice this yoga.

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Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendra Nath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk and chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India. Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his speech which began, "Sisters and brothers of America ...," in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893.

Born into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality. He was influenced by his guru, Ramakrishna, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind. After Ramakrishna's death, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India. He later travelled to the United States, representing India at the 1893 Parliament of the World Religions. Vivekananda conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe. In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated there as National Youth Day.