This is a problem with which I have come across many times in my relationships with others. Normally we impose our ideas and aspirations in the practice of yoga we ran. If you heard someone say that karma yoga is the yoga of action, without any expectations, trying to execute each action with all perfection, then immediately the ‘I’ of our personality, identity, begins by reviewing what was said. We started exploring how the identity ‘I’ can understand the approach of implementing an action without expectation, with perfection.
Then I begin to think in three ways. The first aspect is the action. I develop my own concept of action. If I am an extrovert person, I consider my activities as field work, kitchen work, work in the office. If I am an introvert person, I will consider that my actions are my behavior, my expressions, the way I treat people, the way I relate to others. And that becomes my concept of action.
Then comes the second aspect, which is not having any expectations. The moment I tell myself, ‘I cannot have any expectations.’, the identity ‘I’ brings the concepts of desire, safety, enjoyment and fulfillment. And then we start thinking, ‘Well, if it supposed not expect anything, what will I gain from this? If it means I have no expectation of the outcome of my actions, how will I fill the void that is created in me to abandon what I wanted to get, what naturally and normally expect as a result? ‘. We say, ‘I live in a world where I have to deal with expectations. I cannot practice karma yoga because i would have to abandon everything. ‘. This is the kind of idea we get.
Then comes the third aspect that is perfection. The concept of perfection is also distorted by the idea of perfection we have in mind. How can I make that each of my actions are perfect when i do not have support or encouragement, when I get no answers from the people around me? In developing this kind of thoughts we create our own images and concepts about the expectation of perfection and action. Anything that does not serve our ideas is not accepted. Simply we reject by saying, ‘No, it is possible for me to do this, I have many things to desire and achieve in my life..’ This is an example.