An exalted state of motivation called Flow
TweetUpdated May 26, 2007: Having gained a better understanding of Flow, I now believe that it is a new concept and is not connected to the concept of Karma Yoga from the Bhagavad Gita. So please read this post with the idea that Flow and Karma Yoga are somewhat related but not the same.
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s work on a state of motivation, he calls “Flow” has captured the attention of management pundits and by extension several corporations. He has published his theory in the critically acclaimed book – Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. The Wikipedia makes the call correctly that this state of motivation has been known in the east for many millenia. I for one, could not help noting the similarity to a shloka (verse) from Bhagavad Gita. It has been ringing in my ears since I heard it the first time in sixth grade. I am not sure I still completely internalize its meaning, but Flow seems to be very close to this concept in the Gita. The shloka in Sanskrit is
“Karmanyevadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana,
Ma karmaphalaheturbhuma te sangostva karmani”. Loosely translated into English – “Those that focus on the action and not on the fruits obtained by their actions will become truly liberated. But those that are led by desire are bound by attachment to the action’s fruits”
