Karma Yoga: An NLP Approach To Using Your Life’s Work As A Spiritual Path

© Richard Bolstad

Modelling The Man Of The Millennium

In December 1999, the BBC ran a series of polls asking which people had the greatest impact on the last one thousand years. Respondents ranked Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (known in India as Mahatma, or “great soul”) as the “man of the millennium” (BBC, 2000).

Gandhi’s extraordinary contribution to history is not that of a scientific genius (Leonardo da Vinci was second on the list) or of a great conquering “hero” such as Genghis Khan. His contribution is above all a moral or philosophical one. Gandhi showed us how to apply, in the real world of international politics, non-violence and truth; factors so long cynically preached by the same religions that blessed each army before it marched to war.

For us in the NLP community, Gandhi’s success offers an extraordinary opportunity. His very openness makes him a great candidate for a modelling project. For example, he is very clear about his values (Duncan, ed, p 40-64), ranking satya (truth) as his highest criterion, followed closely by non-possession, fearlessness, tolerance, humility and of course ahimsa (non-violence). He is able to explain in detail the internal processing which leads to each of his actions, such as fasting or handling immediate physical violence (Duncan, ed. P 65-99).

When Gandhi himself seeks to explain either his political success or his personal resourcefulness, it is not the specific strategies or reframes to which he refers. He refers firstly to a metaprogram called Karma yoga (Duncan, ed. P 33-39). This article will offer you the opportunity to install the approach of karma yoga in your daily work, including in personal relationships and business interaction (see Nair, 1994).

Karma Yoga: The Official Definition

When Benedict created the first set of rules for Christian monks around 530AD, their motto was laborare est orare -“to work is to pray” (Fry ed., 1998). It was the Benedictines who spread Christianity through north Europe (frequently at risk of their lives), and set about building the great cathedrals of the middle ages, as they put this motto into practice. A similar approach to work is found in Indian religion, where Hindu teachers state “Work is worship. Work is meditation.” (Sivananda, 1995, p 16). This slogan encapsulates the focus of Karma yoga.

Indian sages such as Sri Ramakrishna (Vivekananda, 1978, p 190-191) tend to identify three core ways that a human being makes a “connection” or yoga (from the same root as the English word yoke) with the source of all life. They are Jnana Yoga (the yoga of meditation and intelligent “knowledge” or discrimination), Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of love, devotion and worship) and Karma Yoga (the yoga of work or action). In India, these three methods are not viewed as mutually exclusive, or as separate “religions”; they are just three different paths, which each occur in all religions. Indeed, most Indian teachers recognise their overlap. When a monk asked the teacher Krishnamurti what he thought of this threefold division, he replied “Sir, what I do is my love, and that is my knowledge.” (Narayan, 2001, p 48).

Previously, I have discussed what such teachers are calling Jnana yoga (see Bolstad, 1998 for example). In this article, I will develop an NLP-compatible model of Karma yoga. The word karma is a nominalisation which comes from the ancient Sanskrit verb kri meaning to act, to initiate, to cause to happen (Coulson, 1976, p 394). From the perspective of karma yoga, human suffering is caused by the fact that life inevitably involves us in acting to reach certain goals. This action itself can be challenging. Even more challenging is the fact that we do not always reach our goals. And when we do, our successes have a way of coming to an eventual end or of creating undesired consequences. These multiple consequences of any action (including the ongoing craving which results from partial or lapsed success) are considered, in Hindu terms, as part of the action the person initiated and hence are also called karma. That is the origin of this word’s colloquial usage in modern English (eg “being deceitful causes bad karma”).

The “law of karma” is simply a systems model of life. Unpleasant karmas (actions+consequences) drive us to ever more desperate karmas (actions+consequences), which create a cycle of suffering. The sufferer keeps hoping that she/he can have the first part of an action (say gorging her/himself with too much food) without the second part (say feeling overfull and becoming obese). To use more subtle examples, we keep hoping that we can be dishonest in a business transaction without it affecting our self-respect, or that we can secretly have an affair without it altering the intimacy in our marriage. But, as Krishnamurti emphasises “Cause and effect are inseparable -in the cause is the effect.” (Mehta, 1997, p 70). Life is systemic! Western interpreters of the “law of karma” have considered it a law of punishment. There is no concept of punishment involved. In fact, teachers of karma point out that the sad thing is that so called “evil” actions are themselves a result of misfortune -they could hardly deserve some divine punishment. We know, for example, that the more violence someone is subjected to in their childhood, the more likely they are to be violent themselves as an adult (Eron et alia, 1987). Should the universe punish people for their misfortune? Swami Sivananda explains “Why does one man possess good moral character? Why does another possess evil character? … These things can be easily explained by the law of action and reaction. Nobody is to be blamed.” (1995, p 48). In Hinduism, the cycle of action-reaction or karma is believed to continue on beyond this lifetime, via reincarnation. That belief is not necessary to use karma yoga as I will discuss it here.

So action (karma) creates a problem for human beings. Does this mean we should withdraw from the world and try to do “nothing”? The central text of Hinduism, the Bhagavad Gita, offers another solution. Mahatma Gandhi, who considered himself first and foremost a karma yogi, explains it thus: “The manner in which the Gita has solved the problem, to my knowledge, is unique. The Gita says ‘Do your allotted work but renounce its fruit – be detached, and work – have no desire for reward, and work.’…. But renunciation of fruit in no way means indifference to the result. In regard to every action, one must know the result that is expected to follow, the means thereto, and the capacity for it. He who, being thus equipped, is without desire for the result, and is yet wholly engrossed in the due fulfilment of the task before him, is said to have renounced the fruits of his action.” (Duncan, ed 1972, p 36). The result of happiness, Gandhi says, is attained “by desireless action; by renouncing the fruits of action; by dedicating all activities to God…”

The Gospel Of Groundhog Day

How does this work? A metaphor will help clarify the Gita’s solution. I am not myself a very “religious” person, but I know a great spiritual work when I see one. In terms of karma yoga, I wonder if the clearest exposition for western humanity is not the Bhagavad Gita, but the 1993 comedy film Groundhog Day, directed by Harold Ramis. If you haven’t seen this film yet, maybe you’d like to get out the video and watch it before reading my commentary, in which I intend to reveal the end of the story.

Groundhog Day tells the story of TV Weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray), his producer Rita (Andie MacDowell) and their cameraman Larry (Chris Elliot). Phil, Rita and Larry are assigned to cover the late winter ceremony of Groundhog Day in the small town of Punxsutawney. On the first day, February 2nd, Phil makes it clear that he hates Punxsutawney, he hates his job at PBH network, and he hates people in general. “People are morons.” he summarises for Rita. A freak blizzard sees the three stuck in town overnight, and the next morning Phil wakes up… to find that it is once again February 2nd. From this point on he is trapped in an endless loop, running through the exact same day, with every external event happening in a predictable sequence. Whatever he does, when he wakes up at 6am the next morning, he is back to square one.

At a bar on the third day, Phil despairingly asks a local “What would you do if you were stuck in one place, and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?” “That about sums it up for me!” agrees the local, making explicit the metaphorical humour of the situation. Of course, from a Hindu perspective, the metaphor has another layer, as Phil reincarnates in life after life, seeking some way to enjoy what was, after all, rather a dull day to begin with. He begins to live recklessly, overeating, driving chaotically etc. He uses his detailed knowledge of the day’s events to steal money, and seduce women.

But finally, he decides that what he really wants… is Rita, his producer. Meticulously, he collects data about her, so he can match her every value and spend the day building total rapport (There’s a special message in here for NLP enthusiasts). Ultimately, he succeeds in getting her to the point of going to bed with him, whereupon she realises the game and confronts him “What are you doing? Are you making some kind of list or something? Did you call up my friends and ask them what I like and what I don’t like? Is this what love is for you?” Frantically, Phil pleads “No; this is real. This is love.” And Rita replies “Stop saying that. You must be crazy. I could never love somebody like you Phil, because you will never love anyone but yourself.” Phil concludes “That’s not true. I don’t even like myself.” But the damage is done. And night after night, despite every trick he can think up, he faces the same rejection. The harder he tries to meet his own goals, the more he fails.

Ultimately, despair sets in. Phil decides to kill himself, throwing away day after day in every conceivable suicide, and always waking up at 6am as if nothing happened. One day, he talks to Rita again, trying to explain how senseless his life has become. She agrees to spend the day with him just to find out what happens. But this time, he has abandoned all interest in seducing her and simply spends his day being with her. Amazingly, he enjoys himself, and she enjoys being with him. Saddened, he tells her “The worst part  is that tomorrow you will have forgotten all about this and you’ll treat me like a jerk again.” “No….” she protests. “It’s alright,” he adds “I am a jerk!”

The next day, a transformation has happened. Phil starts the day by bringing Rita and Larry a cup of coffee in the morning. He pays a street beggar some money and begins to work out how to help others in the town, as they suffer their repeated daily misfortunes. In terms of this article, he has become a karma yogi. He has found a way to live which brings him happiness by serving others. There is one final lesson. That night, he discovers that the bum he gave money to is dying on the street. He takes him in to hospital but he still dies. “Sometimes people just die.” The nurse tells him. “Not today!” he insists. For several nights he tries to save the old man; spending more and more of his energy, only to see him die the same at the end of the day. It is the final lesson in letting go of the fruits of action. He will find happiness if he lives for the joy of loving others, but not if he thinks his love must achieve a certain goal.

Phil’s final Groundhog day is a celebration of helping others and enjoying being with Rita. He concludes by telling her gently, “No matter what happens tomorrow, or for the rest of my life, I’m happy now, because I love you.” This is a precision statement from an accomplished karma yogi. When he wakes in the morning, Rita is still lying beside him, and it is February 3rd. He turns to Rita and asks lovingly, “Is there anything I can do for you today.”

Gandhi’s Karma Yoga

The karma yoga model is saying that each of us begins trapped in our own private Groundhog day. Some of us are trying to use whatever opportunity we have to manipulate the situation to get what we think we want ourselves… and ending up feeling empty because we do not have the one thing that makes life worth living. Some of us, knowing that, have reached despair, and are on self destruct. But some of us are lucky enough to have discovered that it is loving, not “being loved” that brings all happiness. It is serving, not being served, that brings all fulfilment. It is celebrating the beauty of the world, not advertising our own skills, that brings light into each day.

Knowing this does not mean abandoning our goals. What it means is knowing that each action, if done with an attitude of love, is sufficient in itself; so that “No matter what happens tomorrow, or for the rest of my life; I’m happy now.” This is what makes every day new.

This is the secret that Mahatma Gandhi attempted to convey with his life. The unity of his actions and his beliefs was so total, that when an American reporter asked Gandhi what “message” he had for African Americans in their struggle, Gandhi did not define any principles at all. He simply said “My life is its own message.” (Brooks, 1947). Asked another time about his religion, he explained “You must watch my life; how I live, eat, sit, talk, behave in general. The sum total of all those in me is my religion.” (Iyer, 1986, p 395) Could you say that? If someone was able to examine your every act, would that be the message you wanted to teach others? Such is the perfect test of karma yoga.

One of his workers once asked Gandhi how he decided what to do. His reply was “I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starved millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melting away.” (Tendulkar, 1961, p 89)

Choosing his goals based on this karma yoga criterion guaranteed Gandhi’s happiness with his life path, but it did not always ensure the specific results he worked for. Throughout his struggle for Indian independence, Gandhi faced the prospect of the country fragmenting in two along religious lines. In 1946, the event he had feared happened. The subcontinent split into India and Pakistan. Gandhi was seventy seven years old. He left the centres of power immediately and personally walked 116 miles over the next sixty days, comforting the victims of inter-religious violence in villages on both sides of the divide. Lord Mountbatten, the British Viceroy, noted that at this time Gandhi achieved in Bengal what it took him a boundary force of 50,000 soldiers to do in the Punjab. But “Sometimes people just die”, as the nurse told Phil Connor, and a united India was not to be. Gandhi accepted the reality.

His final act, as the bullet of an angry Hindu extremist took his life, was to say “Jai Ram” (Glory to God). I’m certain that, in this action too, Gandhi had no regrets.

The Metaprogram Of Karma Yoga

Karma yoga, in NLP terms, can be thought of as a metaprogram for the perceptual position from which ethical decisions are made. Lets explain those terms. A metaprogram is an unconscious sorting mechanism which sifts through our sensory input and determines which things we pay attention to (James and Woodsmall, 1988, p 92; Bodenhamer and Hall, 1997, p 30). For example, some people make decisions based on their emotional response and some people make decisions based on the logical information available. This metaprogram (called in the Myers-Briggs system Thinker-Feeler) is so deeply ingrained that Thinkers will often be convinced that so-called “Feelers” are actually just getting a feeling based on the logical facts they have selected for consideration. Feelers will often be convinced that so-called “Thinkers” are actually just thinking things through until they can feel what’s right for them to do.

Ethical decisions are decisions about what is right or wrong. Such decisions can be made from at least four perceptual positions. Perceptual positions, to use a visual metaphor, are places from which we can imagine looking at an interaction. We can look from our own eyes (First position), from the other person’s eyes (Second position), from a detached observer’s eyes (Third position) or from a perspective that encompasses all three (Fourth position). Imagine that you are walking along the road, and a small child falls out of a tree in front of you (something that happens to Phil Connors each day in Groundhog Day). You could:

1. Put your arms out to catch the child before they hit the ground, because you personally want something from the experience. For example, to avoid the social disapproval if someone saw you let the child fall, to get a sense of gratitude from the child or their parents, to be able to feel proud of yourself). This is action based on what NLP has called the “First Position” (me). This is how Phil Connors behaves at first, as he tries to get the most out of his Groundhog Day. In Hinduism, such action is considered to entangle the actor in various ways, and these entanglements are called karma.
2. Put your hands out to catch the child before they hit the ground, because the child will benefit. This is action based on what NLP has called the “Second position” (you). This is how Phil Connors behaves at first with the old man who is dying. He ignores “the bigger picture” and is determined to meet this other person’s needs. This is closer to the karma yoga position, but not quite there.
3. Walk on, because each person is working out their own life path, and it is best not to interfere. This is action based on the detached observer or “Third position” in NLP terms. This is how Phil Connors behaves when he is in despair. He abandons all intervention in life. In Hinduism abandoning all action is known as sannyasa (renunciation).
4. Put your arms out to catch the child before they hit the ground, because life as a whole would benefit from the experience (eg to save everyone from unnecessary suffering, to create a sense of a loving community amongst everyone living in the area). This might be called “Fourth Position” (we) in NLP (see Bolstad and Hamblett, 1999). This is closer to the karma yoga response that Phil Connors discovers later in the story.

Those committed to first position action will possibly find it hard to believe that second position or fourth position actions exist at all. Just as those running the Thinker metaprogram often suspect that all decisions are really based on thought. So those running the First position ethics metaprogram will tend to suspect that the so-called “altruist” or karma yogi is merely a more self-deluded, self-seeking “hero”.

How People Become Altruistic

There is quite a bit of research about people who use the Fourth perceptual position as an ethical starting point. Firstly, as rated by their friends, people are either happy or selfish. The percentage of people who are rated as both is less than 4%. The paradox is that ethically selfish (first position based) behaviour is designed to make the individual happy, but is not perceived to do so (Rimland, 1982). Secondly, there is a strong correlation between the belief that one is in charge of one’s own destiny, and the willingness to help others, and there is a strong correlation between high self esteem and such helping behaviour (this research is tabulated in Midlarsky, 1984, p 299-300; and in Kohn, 1990, p 76-78). Those who help others tend to be those who feel good about themselves and who feel in charge of their own destiny.

The original teachings of karma yoga are very specific about being in charge of one’s own destiny. The Yoga Vasishtha emphasises “There is nothing like destiny other than the effect of our previous efforts” [II-6-4] and “Man determines his own destiny by his thought. He can make those things also happen which were not destined to happen.” [V-24-28] (Sivananda, 1995, p 108). Mahatma Gandhi, for example, took on the seemingly impossible task of defying the world’s largest empire and wresting its biggest colony away. He clearly believed that his destiny was in his own hands. In one of his articles, he quotes a very beautiful letter about this, written to him by a person with limited English. The letter says “Men are born naked. But to them two hands are given. We think God have given paradise upon men, but He have not given it directly upon men. He have given it indirectly upon them by giving two hands – the power to create any and everything – to make paradise itself in the present world. So I think it is the duty of man to make use their hands best.” (Gandhi, 1997, p 84).

At the same time, Gandhi emphasises that he is not “attached” to the end result of the actions he has initiated. In fact, he says, this makes success more likely than if he desperately wanted it. “He who is ever brooding over result often looses nerve in the performance of his duty. He becomes impatient and then gives vent to anger and begins to do unworthy things; he jumps from action to action, never remaining faithful to any.” (in Duncan, 1972, p 36-37). This is quite clear in the story of Groundhog Day. It is once Phil abandons his “need” for a relationship with Rita that he is finally able to create the conditions which make it possible. This paradox explains not only the great successes of a karma yogi, but also the great happiness such a person reports. As John Stuart Mill wrote “Those only are happy… who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some act or pursuit, followed not as a means but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way.” (in Lutz and Lux, 1988, p 41).

What Motivates An Altruist?

The karma yogi is not in second position (“you”). They are not one little individual giving up their time and energy for another little individual. Instead, they experience both themselves and the other individual as part of something much greater. Thus, the Christian apostle Paul says of his God “In him we live and move and have our being.” (Holy Bible, Acts:17.28). Gandhi adds “Wealth, family and body… All these are not ours but God’s. Nothing whatever in this world is ours. Even we ourselves are His.” (in Duncan, 1972, p 45).

While Paul and Gandhi see their karma yoga as centred on God, notice that this is just one metaphor for the process. George Bernard Shaw, himself an atheist, nonetheless believed in the power of the human community. In a clear statement of karma yoga, he says ” This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy….I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can….I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no “brief candle” for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” (Shaw, 1980, Dedicatory letter).

Several large research studies over many decades show that those who believe in a particular religion, or believe in the absolute truth of the Bible, or attend church regularly, are no more and no less likely than confirmed atheists to come to the aid of an injured person or offer to help others (eg see Kohn, 1990, p80; Annis, 1976). Firstly, this tells us that karma yoga can be successfully applied by people of any religious persuasion. Secondly, if a key aim of religion has been to promote compassionate behaviour, this research suggests that the promotion done by religious organisations is not very successful. 

Educationalist Alfie Kohn has researched the attempts to install such values in children. He notes that most education in values, being done in an authoritarian setting, is self contradictory. By over-riding children’s own desires and concerns, the educators demonstrate that they cannot themselves adopt even the second perceptual position (what do you need?), let alone the fourth (what does the group need?). By contrast, Kohn studies the Child Development Project, a California-based program teaching “pro-social” values in a co-operative classroom framework. Their results (Kohn, 1990, p 172-177) are very exciting. Children who have experienced firsthand their teacher’s ability to assist the class to find mutual solutions are far more motivated to do this in their own personal interactions. These results parallel our experience with Transforming Communication training in schools (an NLP based co-operative relationships program; see Bolstad and Hamblett, 2000). In confidential questionnaires, students whose teachers had done this training reported a dramatic drop in the level of insults and bullying amongst their classmates.

Actual experiences teach the fourth perceptual position far more successfully than moralistic teaching. Consider how Mahatma Gandhi made the decision to become a karma yogi. He was a young lawyer travelling in a first class compartment on a South African train, when a conductor told him that, as a “coloured”, he had to leave. When Gandhi protested that he had a first class ticket, he was thrown off the train. Continuing on his journey by stage coach, he was now asked to sit on the floor so that a white passenger could use his outside seat to smoke. Gandhi refused, and the man began to beat him. Finally, passengers intervened, and Gandhi was permitted to stay on his seat. It occurred to Gandhi that racial prejudice was a kind of “social disease” and he decided “I should try, if possible, to root out the disease and suffer hardships in the process.” (Gandhi, 1957, p 503). It is also clear that, in his first attempt to “root out the disease” he moved the hearts of the Afrikaner passengers who observed him. This simple “positive” experience confirmed the pattern of Gandhi’s life for the next fifty years.

Installing the karma yoga metaprogram is best done by setting oneself some actual tasks which evoke it. The sense of delight which such tasks bring then spreads to other relationships. Acting from this perspective, the Hindu teachers say, creates a gradual transformation in the cognitive response (jnana) of the karma yogi. By acting as if they are one with all that is, the practitioner begins to think of themselves as one with all that is. Furthermore, it creates an emotional change (called bhakti or devotion) as the practitioner develops a sense of love and gratitude to the greater wholeness that they serve. One can feel that love and gratitude in George Bernard Shaw’s quote above.

The Benefits of Karma Yoga: Compassion, Forgiveness and Gratitude

There is now a great deal of research showing that the benefits of karma yoga, flowing from this emotional state of love and gratitude, are profound. “Don’t be afraid of doing good. It’s another name for happiness, for all that is dear and delightful.” says the Buddha in the Itivuttaka Sutta (Bancroft, 2001, p 175). Barbara Frederickson, from the University of Michigan, suggests that natural selection has favoured doing good, as well as the positive emotions that go with it, such as compassion, ensuring that groups who care for each other survive longer (Frederickson, 2000).

Dr. Richard Davidson, director of the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin used an fMRI machine to map the brain of over 175 people, showing that he could accurately predict their level of happiness by checking the level of activity in a specific area of the brain – the left prefrontal cortex. When he studied Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard (Oser), with 30 years experience in “compassion meditation”, Davidson found something dramatic. Ricard’s left frontal cortex was way off the scale. Daniel Goleman explains, “While Oser was generating a state of compassion during meditation, he showed a remarkable leftward shift in this parameter of prefrontal function… In short, Oser’s brain shift during compassion seemed to reflect an extremely pleasant mood. The very act of concern for others’ well-being, it seems, creates a greater sense of well-being within oneself.” (Goleman, 2003, p.12)

How quickly can these results be duplicated? A tentative answer to that question comes from a study undertaken by Dr. Davidson, in collaboration with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. After 3 hours of Buddhist meditation a week, for two months, volunteers trained by Kabat-Zinn produced a dramatic shift towards brain-measured happiness. Their immune functioning was also boosted, as were their subjective reports of calmness and happiness.

Similar positive benefits can be shown for the emotion of forgiveness, which emerges from letting go of the results of our activities. Everett Worthington, professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, has demonstrated that people who are less able to forgive are more prone to stress, have lower immune function, higher rates of clinical depression, higher rates of heart disease, and higher divorce rates. “Research now suggests that those who take a forgiving attitude towards others not only make better friends, neighbours and co-workers – anyone would guess that – but are themselves happier, healthier people who live longer than others and know more success in life. Are they more forgiving because happiness makes them more magnanimous, or does forgiving improve their wellbeing, bringing about the happiness? Studies suggest the latter. Even when someone wrongs you, feeling fury or experiencing hate only causes your life to descend into unhappiness and resentment. Then you are the one who suffers, not the person with whom you are angry. Perhaps when Buddha, Jesus, Baha’ullah and other great spiritual figures taught followers to forgive those who sin against them, this wasn’t only a pronouncement of holy philosophy – they were giving practical, down-to-earth life advice.” (Easterbrook, 2003, p 229 and p 231).

Psychologist, Kenneth Pargament, of Bowling Green State University, has shown that forgiveness counselling (either based on religious or on secular principles) is dramatically more effective than anger management and traditional counselling, in reducing anxiety and depression amongst those who suffer serious and “potentially traumatic” grievances. Once again, the beneficial results of forgiveness can be reached in a few short sessions.

The very first words of the central Buddhist text, the Dhammapada, sum up this understanding with utter clarity. “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world…. Speak or act with a pure mind and happiness will follow you as your shadow, unshakable. Look how he abused me and beat me, how he threw me down and robbed me. Live with such thoughts and you live in hate. Abandon such thoughts and live in love. In this world hate never yet dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate. This is the law, ancient and inexhaustible.” (Byrom, 1993, p 1-2). In the light of research, we can see that the Buddha’s teaching is not a moralistic threat. It is a compassionate attempt to explain a fundamental truth which can set us free from suffering: Love alone leads to happiness. Jesus’ suggestion is similar in the central Christian texts: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times: but seventy seven times.”” (Common Bible, Matthew, Chapter 18, Verse 21).

Happiness means wanting what you get (success, the usual focus of NLP, simply means getting what you want), and so it’s easy to see that gratefulness and happiness are one and the same. Robert Emmons, of the University of California at Davis, has studied research on people who report being grateful in their lives. He finds that grateful people tend to be well aware of life’s challenges, but choose not to focus on that. They have a strong sense of the interconnectedness of life, and are less motivated by material possessions than the general population. In life results, they tend to have more vitality, less stress, less clinical depression and feel more optimistic.

College students, asked to keep a gratitude journal begin to experience these effects quickly, reported within a few weeks that they had more happiness, better health, more frequent exercise (a strong correlate of happiness anyway), and more optimism about the future. Emmons explains “To say we should feel grateful is not to say that everything in our lives is necessarily good. It just means that if you only think about your disappointments and unsatisfied wants, you may be prone to unhappiness. If you’re fully aware of your disappointments but at the same time thankful of the good that has happened and for your chance to live, you may show higher indices of well-being.” (quoted in Easterbrook, 2003, p 240). He restates “All this matters not as a moralising sermon but a matter of self-interest, owing to the findings of positive psychology.” (Easterbrook, 2003, p 238).

Summarising

Karma yoga is a metaprogram where ethical decisions are made from the Fourth Perceptual position (“we”). A person using this metaprogram identifies their goals and takes action towards them, and yet does not have a sense of personally “owning” the results they achieve. They act for the joy of acting, having discovered that happiness is a by-product of love. Their actions (“karma” in Hindi) are a way of celebrating their sense of being a part of something greater than themselves. This metaprogram was used by Mahatma Gandhi, and he considered it the source of his success in the campaign for a free India. Personal experiences of co-operative success are powerful motivators which encourage people to adopt this attitude. Karma yoga assumes and creates an emotional state of compassion, forgiveness and gratitude. The benefits are phenomenal, even if we check the personal results. Compassion, Forgiveness and Gratitude are all strongly correlated with happiness, and attention to each of these three qualities quickly delivers increased happiness.

Jai Ram

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Richard Bolstad is an NLP trainer and teacher of Chinese meditation (chi kung). He can be contacted at richard@transformations.org.nz or by mail at PO Box 35111, Browns Bay, Auckland 0753, New Zealand