The true and guaranteed result of an action is the experience,
not any specific result

Action is THE implement through which we experience the universe.

If men think that by knowledge of brahman they will become everything, what then did that Brahman know from whence all this sprang? (Satapata Brahmana 14.4.2)

What did brahman know at the beginning? Nothing. Absolutely no knowledge constructs (a.k.a. Action–>Result correlations) at the beginning.  Right?

Tenet 4: Experience: The True Result

This tenet is very simple, and straightforward … it opines that the true reward for executing an action is the experience that comes with it! Basically, it prompts us to focus on the experience, i.e. the entire path to the goal. This is also the central theme in the popular “now” or “presence” meditations.

To summarize, there are two key techniques that help us with this: to minimize accumulation of unnecessary A(action) → R(result) correlation knowledge resulting from executing actions, and to realize that all the ingredients that go into an action are forms of that (tat or brahman). If executed right, our actions can be the rungs in the ladder for what we had set out to achieve through yoga – to experience “that” (that as in “thou art that” or tat as in “tat twam asi“).

This is the essence of Karma yoga – turning our actions into a stairway to heaven…

This is another big step towards moving the spotlight from obsessive goal-orientation to process-orientation: from just the outcomes to the entire experience. Not that the outcomes are unimportant, but the task execution towards the goal has to be managed in the context of the entire process. Ends don’t always justify the means. Process orientation has also become a significant part of standard corporate practice now-a-days (e.g. Lean Six Sigma) ….

From the viewpoint of our standard “five-sheath” model, this tenet centers around the fourth layer, the knowledge layer (vijnanamaya kosha). When we execute an action, the sensory-motor information passes through the outer layers and gets to the knowledge layer. There, the information gets programmed in as acquired memory patterns (knowledge constructs): primarily the A(action) → R(result) correlations. When we say “to clean up the mind”, getting rid of these knowledge constructs is a significant part. We just want to retain the absolute essentials.

These kind of impressions (both inherited and acquired) drive our behavior every moment by generating constant forecasts. Unfortunately, our target, the “self” is shining like a sun behind this lush forest foliage of such knowledge constructs. When we look for that self, we see the rays once in while, but never with any appreciable strength or consistency. Few blissful moments we experience are the moments that occur when the rays of the “self” leak through that dense knowledge foliage. If we can de-correlate one knowledge construct from “I”, we have one less leaf to block our view of the “self”.

This is what Krishna tells Arjuna: to release those knowledge constructs, as that is a superior practice than any rituals. Here is the verse from the Jnana Yoga chapter (4.33):

श्रेयान्द्रव्यमयाद्यज्ञाज्ज्ञानयज्ञः परन्तप।
सर्वं कर्माखिलं पार्थ ज्ञाने परिसमाप्यते॥३३॥
Śreyāndravyamayādyajñājjñānayajñaḥ parantapa|
Sarvaṁ karmākhilaṁ pārtha jñāne parisamāpyate||33||

Yajña of knowledge (jñāna) is better than yajña of materials. All actions without exception culminate in knowledge.

If all actions culminate in knowledge constructs, then what happens as we age?  This knowledge layer gets crusty old.  We tend to accumulate a lot of useless biases, along with a few useful constructs.

Basically all actions generate “knowledge” and the way to handle that is to offer it back into that from which it originated. We ignore the knowledge generation and storage aspect.  Not to forget, the knowledge gathered through senses is incomplete (lower), and can even lead to very poor judgements in the future.

Yogavasista provides additional detail on this: (will elaborate while discussing the element akasa in future blurbs) There are three kinds of or components of akasa (space element) corresponding to the three bodies referred to in yoga books, namely the Karana (causal), Suksma (subtle) and Sthula (gross). ‘Of the three kinds of Akasa, namely Cidakasa (Akasa of pure consciousness), Citta- kasa (mental Akasa) and Bhutakasa (elemental Akasa), cittakasa is that intermediate state in which the mind is in when it flits from one object to another in the elemental akaisa of objects. When the hosts of samkalpas (intentions towards satisfying desires) in us perish, then the light of cit, which is quiescent and immaculate and manifests itself as the universe, will shine in us.

Pure experience on the other hand, untainted by emotions and impressions, is that absolute joy or bliss we seek. Pure is another way of saying “unconditioned”. Once our mind gets used to this concept, we will shed that also, that’s what is supposed to happen in the state of samadhi (the state of single pointed absorption). The sloka from Siva sutras is more direct:

ज्ञानं बन्ध:
Jnaanam bandhah।।1.2।।
(Lower) Knowledge is bondage, period.

More on the knowledge qualifiers later: lower and higher.

The second part is to look at everything as a form (rῡpa) of that brahman – eventually mind starts to seeing it that way, leading to unitary experiences – awakening as we call it, and have bee seeking! Here is Krishna’s logic to Arjuna (4.24):

ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविः ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम्।
ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्म कर्म समाधिना॥२४॥
Brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma haviḥ brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam|
Brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ brahma karma samādhinā||24||

“The offering is for brahman, the implements and the oblation are brahman, the mediating agent, Agni, is brahman, consumer of the oblation is brahman, then brahman only can be the destination, when one is absorbed in brahman-oriented action.”

Looking at it in another way, when absorbed in brahman-oriented action, all ingredients involved reveal their true nature, which is tat or brahman itself. So the exercise is to look at everything through this unitary lens: to constantly remind ourselves that everything that we are dealing with, including all the challenges life throws at us, is a form of that brahman (that underlying substratum from which everything bubbles up and dissolves back into); we can call that substratum by whatever “name” we are comfortable with.

In summary, this tenet points out that Experience is what should really keep us in the business of undertaking actions – not just the outcomes. Conversely, Action is the very implement through which we experience the universe. This is a very insightful coaching point of yogis: essentially, we are on a short field trip to experience the creation. Let’s enjoy the ride!