If I understand that I am the limitless awareness and consciousness, that I am one with the lord, then I don’t need karma yoga. In fact, if I understand this, then I am not a karma yogi, but I am a jnani instead, a wise person, a stithapragnya, described in the second chapter of the Gita. Who is karma yoga for? Karma yoga is for a student who is trying to understand that, who has not yet understood it but has understood Ishwara. Therefore, understanding Ishwara is a big step to understanding that I am that awareness which is the reality behind Ishwara and myself. Why is that necessary? Because I have to live my life till I understand the truth. I have to learn to grow as a person, I have to learn to accept my past, the good, bad, ugly that has happened to me, I have to accept my desires and deal with them, I have to accept what is happening to me right now in society, which may range from the good to the atrocious. Therefore, for all this I need an understanding of Ishwara and an attitude of karma yoga, which will make my mind more balanced, more at ease, more at peace, with which it will be easier for me to understand the truth and own it up.
Once I understand the reality of pure consciousness and own it up in my life, then I don’t need karma yoga. Karma yoga is not for a wise person, karma yoga is meant for the individual who is trying to know the truth. Therefore, this question is mixing up two standpoints—the standpoint of a wise person and the standpoint of a karma yogi. A karma yogi is a person who is developing into a wise person and that takes time and effort. There is no other way to live other than karma yoga unless you want to take up sanyasa, which has been explained in an earlier post. Therefore, this becomes almost inevitable. Your concern also probably stems from a doubt if this understanding of Ishwara will be a conditioning, a block to your understanding of the truth. I’ve never found the understanding of Ishwara a block, because our understanding of Ishwara is in harmony with what the reality is; it is not opposed to that reality.