Karma Yoga, the  Yoga of Self-less Service

Karma Yoga groups are assigned simple tasks for the duration of the event

One of the six major branches of yoga is Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga, also known self-less service, is not considered work as much as a joyful expression of gratitude, compassionate action, and even as a path towards union with the Divine.

Yogi Bhajan scrubbed the floors of the Golden Temple for four years. To many people this was inscrutable. The Master explained:

I’d like to share something very personal with you. I used to wash the floors of Harimander. [1] I was known as Yogi Baba, and a lot of people used to meditate on me. When they saw me washing those floors, they used to freak out. They asked me, ‘Why are you doing so?’ I asked them, ‘Why do you think I’m doing it?’ They said, ‘We don’t understand it at all. Why do you need this?’ I said, ‘I may have reached God consciousness long ago through meditation, but I have not reached it yet through seva.’ Seva means doing a service of no return. That is how the grace gets multiplied–when you are not seeking any return. I said, ‘By doing this seva at the Guru’s House [2] I want to make a relationship between me and my Guru. Therefore, I feel that serving the House of the Guru is more graceful for me than anything else. -Yogi Bhajan

Karma Yoga Groups

Participants will sign up on-line when they register for a Karma Yoga Group. The Karma Yoga group functions as a family unit, a small tribe and women share their experiences with this group each day. Karma Yoga requires approx. two hours of daily service.

• Kitchen Prep (veggie sorting and chopping)
• Dishes (two sects: outdoor dishwashing set-up and pot and pan detail)
• Green Team (garbage, recycling, and compost)
• Grounds (anything out of place – you put back into place)

Women on service exchange should not sign up for Karma Yoga.

[1] The Golden Temple in Amritsar, India

[2] Gurdwara