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Enlightenment Journal | Spring 2013

We might think we are moving in one direction but find that the results are not 

what we were looking for. The Gita tells us that all action has consequences and 

that it is not possible to refrain from action. We must act. What practical wisdom 

does the Gita have for us about how to act? 
Michael Nagler: 

How can we carry out what is called a karma act without 

accumulating karma, without the spiritual residue that haunts us? We tend to 

approach this by thinking: What actions should I do and what actions should  

I avoid?
The Gita says it is more subtle than that. Even if you do the action that is 

ordained for you to do, that matches your strengths and weaknesses that the 

world needs, if you think that you are doing it, you are entrapped in illusion.  

That is going to stain you, taint your consciousness. 
Yogacharya O’Brian:

 Because of the fundamental error in perspective—thinking 

that there is a separate self to be the doer. 
Michael Nagler:

 The Buddha will go so far as to say, there is no separate self, it 

is an illusion. In practical terms I cannot disabuse myself of that illusion. I still 

think that I exist after all these years. But what I can do is detach myself from the 

fruits of the action so I no longer allow myself to be driven by the results. I recog-

nize the act is being done through me by a force to the extent that I keep my 

selfish desires out of the picture. Not being attached to the fruits does not mean 

we don’t pay attention to the results. It means we don’t try to personally benefit 

from that. If I were a doctor and someone who is ill comes in to my office and I 

help that person, I am allowed to notice that the treatment worked, feed that in, 

so that I will be a better doctor next time. I am even allowed to be happy that the 

person is better and that I played some role in it. I can pay attention to the fulfill-

ment that I feel from that but I am not going to do that in order to get money or 

to get my colleagues to think I am terrific or any kind of personal benefit that 

doesn’t affect others but only benefits me. 
Yogacharya O’Brian:

 You are describing karma yoga, the selfless yoga. 

Michael Nagler: 

The secret about karma yoga you can boil down to three things: 

To pick the right act; to do it with the right means which almost inevitably means 

nonviolence; and then to not be attached to the personal fruits of the action.