Action and Egoism

Q: How to do action without desire? How can one be free from action and egoism?

The word “egoism” is used in a very limited sense in English,— it means anything for the self. That which is not done for the self is regarded as unegoistic. But that is not so in yoga. One can do all unselfish actions and have full egoism in him. He will have the egoism of the doer. “Nishkam Karma” means first desirelessness. You have to first establish that condition in which good or bad desires are absent. You must realise that it is the power of God — his Shakti — that does the work in reality. All work, good and bad, in you and in the world is her work.

– Sri Aurobindo