We have a brilliant community of volunteers who help us at The Tree by giving up some of their time to work with us as Karma Yogis. 

 

Karma yoga is one of the paths of yoga and involves selfless service to others. Many are guests who have enjoyed staying with us and who want to help out and spend extra time at The Tree with like- minded people. It has been a great pleasure to see this group grow over the years and many friendships have been formed as an offshoot of people giving of themselves and of their time.

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Karma Yoga is described by Dr Rishi Vivekananda as "A way of living and working for others and the world, with detachment from personal expectations and the fruits of our efforts, with maximum awareness, concentration and absorption in the task at hand".

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Volunteer helpers, who are known as karma yogis, come to undertake a variety of tasks. Some enjoy working in the kitchen, others in the garden. The Old Chapel would not have been completed now if it hadn’t been for the many hours of help given by our band of willing volunteers. Whilst some helpers may have a preference of which task they might like to do , the role of the karma yogi is actually to fulfil any task willingly, mindfully, with joy and without attachment to the outcome.

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“We are entitled to our actions, but we are not entitled to the fruits of our actions.”

The Bhagavad Gita

 

Karma yogis are usually expected to have stayed at The Tree in the past so that they are aware of how The Tree works from the point of view of a guest. We have found that this way the helper knows the way in which things fit together and how we approach dealing with people in order that they have the most beneficial time.

 

Usually Karma yogis come to help for a couple of days here and there across the year. We always try to work presently, lovingly and mindfully but there are certain times when we also work silently, only engaging in what we call “functional “talk . This helps us to become really present with the task in hand and although it might seem strange at first most people enjoy this absorption in a task and can see how it benefits those behind the scenes and our guests – which is our ultimate aim.

 

There are many benefits of spending time with like- minded people in a supportive and mindful environment. If you have stayed with us as a guest before and fancy helping out please contact clare.kerrigan@thetree.earth and she will give you more details.