October 9, 2026
I am a man, and as long as there is life, as long as there is consciousness, I know that I am a man, not a woman or a dog. Can I also say, in the same way, that I am irritated all the time? Few of us can say that. I smile sometimes; I am not always angry — I hope not! Therefore, that again is not natural to me. It comes into being only in certain situations. What is natural will be constant and invariable; so this anger is not natural, but is perverse. When I observed this perversity, I see that I am not living a natural life, and that I am therefore I'm not doing my duty.
When life becomes more and more natural, there is duty and great beauty, both together, in one's life. It is then that one goes on to the next inevitable step. If this is natural to me, what is "me"? If I say that this is my nature, then what is ‘me’ in this 'my' nature"? This again leads to self-realization. Therefore, if you learn to do your duty in this way, your heart becomes pure in that pure heart, there is self-realization. This is the essence of Karma yoga. Karma yoga is not doing one's duty as dictated by others; Karma yoga is not doing something, thinking that it is an unselfish action. Karma yoga is to go right down into one's own inner nature to find what the self is.