The Secret of Work A Summary from the lecture of Swami Vivekananda

Different levels of help

• • • Spiritual Help Intelluctual Help Physical Help

Spiritual Help

• • • Why is Spiritual help Superior to other helps?

His wants are removed forever. So helping man spiritually is the highest help that can be given.

Spirituality is the true basis of all our activites in life. A spiritually strong man will be strong in every other aspect if he wishes.

Intellectual Help

• • Why is Intellectual help Superior to physical help?

Life is of little value if it is a life in the dark groping through ignorance and misery .

We must not make a mistake of concluding that physical help is the only help that can be given

Bhagavad Gita on Work

• • • • Commands to work incessantly.

But every has both good and evil.

Good and evil produce effects that return in form of good and evil (karma) and are a bondage to the soul.

Solution reached in Gita is :

non-attachment

to work

Samskara

• • • Samskara translation) Inherent tendency (nearest Any wave that rises in the mind does not die out completely, but leave a mark and a future possibility of its reoccurrence . This is called Samskara The sumtotal of the Samskaras is Character

Different levels of Character

• • • • Bad (bad impressions working. Compelled to do bad ) Bad + good Good ( established like a tortoise + control over sense organs and nerve centers) Desire for liberation ( higher than the above 3) ( golden chain is as much a chain as an iron one )

The way to go about

• • • • Counteract bad tendencies with good ones Then conquer the good tendencies also Thus “ attached ” becomes “ unattached ” Work but not let the action or thought produce a deep impression on the mind.

Attached-Unattached-Master-Slave The Mechanism

• • • • “ The whole of nature is for the soul, not the soul for nature “ (Sankhya Philosophy) We forget this and think we are nature and get attached to it When this attachment comes work forms deep impressions on the mind Deep impressions force us to do things good or bad ( So slavery )

Gist

• Work like a master, not a slave

True love

• • • • • • Every act of love brings happiness Sat-Chit-Ananda – Existence-Knowledge-bliss Existence- becomes relative we see the world Knowledge- knowledge of things of the world Bliss- foundation for all true love known to the heart of a man So true love can never react as to cause pain to either the lover or the beloved

Being unattached- Is it easy??

• • When you have succeeded in loving your husband, your wife, your children, the whole world, the universe in such a manner that there is no reaction of pain or jealousy, no selfish feeling, then you are in a fit state to be unattached.

To attain this unattachment is almost a life-work, but as soon as we attain this point, we have attained the goal of love and become free.

• • Attachment comes only when we expect a return There are two things which guide the conduct of men: might and mercy

Looking upon work as “ Worship ”

• • • • Requirement- belief in personal god Give up all fruits unto the Lord No right to expect anything from the mankind for work we do because that is worship.

The two stories of unselfishness

Conclusion

• • Karma Yoga means ; even at the point of death to help anyone without asking questions Never vaunt of your gifts to the poor or expect their gratitude, but rather be grateful to them for giving you occasion of practicing charity to them