They saw that everyone has to do actions. Even the laziest of men has to do actions, such as eating, drinking, sleeping, et cetera. Therefore, the Masters thought of "action-less actions." That means to do actions, but to do them in such a way that the effect is as if no action was done. If this is done, the past impressions of actions get spent up mentally by experiences of happiness or misery, but no new impressions are created.
Suppose you do an action of helping someone without any thought of self-interest, or you try to protect a woman without self-interest, and while doing so, you are beaten, and the police, on the other hand, arrest you and put you in jail. These happenings spend up some of your old sanskaras, but since you had no self-interest, no fresh sanskaras are formed. This process, however, is so long and complicated that one can attain Manonash through action only after yugas [cycles of time].
So, Masters wanted actions to kill actions; that is, actions done in such a way that the effect thereof is impotent or gives no result leading to any kind of binding. For example, a scorpion by nature wags its tail and stings anyone who comes near it. Now, suppose the scorpion's dangerous stinger is broken and removed. The scorpion goes on wagging its tail and continues to behave as before. But the action is rendered impotent in the matter of its dangerous results; that is, the bad effect of actions is removed. If actions [are] to be without binding, the effect leading to the binding has to be eliminated.
The world and its activities are really worthless. Actions continue, whether they are good or bad, and therefore the Masters said: "Act in such a way that the actions do not bind you and impressions are not created." This is almost an impossible task, as about to be explained. There are three ways by which actions can be done without creating impressions and the consequent bindings:
First: To act, but having absolutely no thought that you are acting. This must be a continuous process. That means that the ego does not give even one moment to the mind to exert its influence. In fact, you act for others, and not for yourself. This selfless action, which is also called selfless service, is also almost impossible because the moment you think, "I am serving others, I must help, I must uplift a certain cause," you are caught. And for leaders it is very risky, unless this thought about themselves is given up 100 percent continuously.