Doing all of one’s actions for others that is the way to liberation. The great people of the world have tried to go with the law of karma by doing their actions skillfully, selflessly, and lovingly, and by surrendering the fruits of their actions to others so that the fruits would not create bondage for them. But ordinary people do not do that. They get attached to the fruits and create a whirlpool for themselves.

The whirlpool of karma, which is created by our own ignorance, wants to annihilate our inborn desire for freedom, and many in this world are swept away by the glittering nature of the objects of the world. The Upanishads say, “Tene tyaktena bhunjitha“—”Therefore enjoy the objects of the world with renunciation.” That is the difference between the ordinary person and the great person. Great is he who does all deeds selflessly for others. Petty and ignorant is he who does deeds for himself and gets attached and creates a whirlpool of misery for himself. When one applies the formula: “All the things of the world are for me, and I should learn to enjoy them and to use them, but they do not belong to me,” then doing one’s duty will not become an obstacle in the path of liberation. In such a case, the objects of the world do not create obstacles; they become means.

Editor’s Note

This is an excerpt from Choosing a Path by Swami Rama, published in 1996, The Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of USA, pp. 100