Karma Yoga is a Sanskrit term which means “work which is done to benefit others”.

During the course we ask every student to do one job while they are here. This will usually take you between 15-20 minutes a day and could be anything from cleaning toilets to recording the teachings, with many possibilities in between (washing dishes, sweeping, window cleaning, assisting with office admin...). We allocate these jobs at check-in, and ask you to be as open and flexible as possible to the job we ask you to do. 

We ask everyone to do this because:

1) Volunteers do much of the work at Tushita. When more people come up to do a course, there is also more work to be done; more dishes, more cleaning... So, we hope that each person staying here or doing a course would contribute a little bit to the Centre by doing a small daily chore. If everyone in the course helps just for 15-20 minutes daily that adds up as a great help and the whole community can function well.

2) If one has an attitude of wanting to help, serve and benefit others, that creates a positive, happy state of mind. If one does the karma yoga with this attitude, one does not only benefit other people in the Centre but also makes oneself happy and content!

3) One can also bring what one has learned during the meditation sessions into the karma yoga. One can try to be aware, mindful and simply observe the present moment. Mindfulness is like extended awareness; one is also aware of ones motivations; whether the action is beneficial or harmful. We are not supposed to have meditation as something separate from the rest of our life but to integrate meditation with our everyday life. In this way meditation supports our life and is much more than just a method to relax. Of course, this is extremely difficult. Normally we remember to stay in the present moment and observe our mind just for a short moment, but slowly one can learn! So, karma yoga can be done as one type of meditation, “karma yoga meditation”. If you gradually learn how to do that, no matter what you do (even going to toilet!) can be a spiritual practice, which at the end helps not only you but all around you!