Work as spiritual unfoldment
By Taru Bahl

WORKING for a living is motivated by a basic physical need. Here, everything can be quantified in real terms, be it success, power, position, authority or money. There may be no time for deriving comfort and happiness from the strides one makes at the workplace. One is too bogged down by the pressures of surviving and getting the better of one’s rivals and contemporaries. There is a mechanical tempo to life as one moves from one goal to the next without stopping longer than is necessary. The thrill of achieving, the beauty of sharing and the possibility of introspecting are all guided by material motives.

Working for pleasure and personal satisfaction is prompted by an emotional and psychological need. This gives a sense of purpose and objective. Since one is not craving recognition and rewards, one achieves a state of happiness and contentment. Here excellence is not a guideline. What matters is that one like what one is doing, irrespective of how much sense it makes or how acceptable it is to others. Haripat Singhania’s and the late JRD Tata’s obsession with flying airplanes in addition to running sprawling business empires is an apt example. Only, in this pursuit of self worth one may face the risk of being a little self-centered, forgetting one’s duty towards others.

Working for spiritual fulfilment is to accord work the highest, most noble stature. This is when work becomes therapy and a kind of catharsis, as in the case of Mother Teresa, who dedicated her entire life to the service of humanity. She was driven by a divine and spiritual force. There was no expectation of recognition or merit. That it came without asking was another matter. All her living hours were consumed by her spiritual need to work to spread her message across the world, and to garner support and goodwill for a cause she believed in. She felt she was a servant of God and was faithfully following His commands. It is this spiritual awakening, and complete commitment that gives people like her a supernatural aura, creating a halo around their personas, and giving them a larger than life appearance. While there is nothing wrong for an average person to work for a living and or for pleasure, there is wisdom in acquiring this dimension of spirituality vis-a-vis one’s work.

People who allow work to unfold myriad spiritual possibilities, understand and accept the fact that there is no division between their daily work and their spiritual unfolding. Every situation, action and deed accelerates their spiritual evolution. Through their work they encounter people and events which enrich them spiritually. Work becomes their greatest teacher. A ‘spiritually sensitive’ musician or writer while composing a piece of music or authoring a literary work would be aware of his personal growth as he finds himself learning much more about his subject, fine tuning skills and acquiring newer insights as compared to the moment when he first began working on the project. At the same time there are those ‘spiritually insensitive’ people who go through an entire life without knowing the true happiness of a job well done or a relationship well shared. They are always left with that feeling of "something missing and incomplete".

All great works are produced because their creators are driven involuntarily. The need to work, create, do something worthwhile, to better oneself, is so overpowering that it overcomes all human logic and reason. It forces the worker to realise his work does not need him, he needs the work. Through his work, his destiny unfolds. He knows that when he is true to his assigned work, his destiny will be true to him. Haven’t we seen desperate situations provoking dramatic action? An executive finds himself being given a golden handshake as his company eliminates his post. Overnight he finds himself unemployed. Pushed into a corner, he decides to set up the business he had always dreamt of but had lacked the courage to opt out of his ‘safe’ job. His business takes off and within a year he has achieved in emotional and spiritual terms what he would have taken a decade to achieve in his earlier job. Life evolves through actions. If we have all the great knowledge at our command but choose to just sit and twiddle our thumbs, our worthlessness, dissatisfaction and stagnation will be entirely our own doing.

When we perform our work we have to be in tune with our inner selves for inspiration, guidance and peace. Each person hears his inner voice differently. To some it comes naturally, others must cultivate that intuition through meditation and spiritual practices. Mozart used to get visions of his music in his sub conscious mind’s eye before he could translate them into fine compositions on the piano. Hitchcock used to get up at odd hours in the night to pen down the flashes of brilliance which raced through his mind. Most of the twists in his tales came from the insights he had in his dreams. Mozart learnt to listen to the music created specially for him by his Maker. He humbly acknowledged that such peaks of creativity were not a result his efforts alone but were a rare gift from his soul.

There lies a lesson to be learnt from the famous story where Hercules makes the critical decision of choosing labour over pleasure. The young and impressionable Hercules is plagued by doubts which question his hard existence as compared to the pleasurable and easy lives of his friends. Immersed in thought he reaches a crossroad where he halts, unable to decide which of the two paths to take. A fair lady approaches him from the path which appears flowery, breezy and fragrant. She tries to persuade him to follow her to a life of ease and comfort where there would be no storms and troubles, only music, mirth, soft couches and rich robes. Meanwhile another fair lady approaches him saying, "I’ve nothing to promise you, save that which you shall win with your own strength. The road will be uneven and you will have to climb over many hills descending into valleys and quagmire. Nevertheless the roads could lead upto blue mountains of endless fame where you can have fruits and flowers as you rise above human follies and foibles, growing each day as an individual, friend and family man." He noticed that the second lady in addition to being beautiful had a countenance, which was pure and gentle. He asked her name, to which she replied, "some call me Labour but most know me as Virtue". He then turned to the first lady and asked her name. She said, "some call me Pleasure but most know me as the Joyous and Happy One." Hercules chooses to take Virtue as his guide, confident that as he pursues the path of labour and honest effort, his heart no longer experiences bitterness, discontent and spiritual vacuum.

Success and achievement can bring only a certain amount of happiness and contentment. For it to permeate fully into one’s subconscious; spreading sunlight and positive energy all around; adding new dimensions to our relationships and endeavours; making us better human beings, we have to go a step forward and allow our work to awaken in us a spirituality, a humbleness and a feeling of being one with the Almighty.

Emerson in one of his poems has said this of great men, "not gold, but only man can make a people great and strong; men who for truth and honour’s sake, stand fast and suffer long. Brave men who work while others sleep, who dare while others fly — they build a nation’s pillars deep and lift them to the sky." Indeed, men who are as brave as this are physically strong and fearless and are no doubt, willing to sweat, labour and toil hard as well, but they are also spiritually enlightened. And that is what sets them apart from the rest. They rise above pettiness and one-upmanship. Work for them is not a tool to prove their superiority to the world or to their ownselves. It is not a chore that has to be painfully endured. It is an inner calling to which they wholeheartedly respond without deception and without expectation. They have reached that stage of maturity from where they can only march forward in their quest for personal and professional excellence.