That we all must work is a given. That said, what is our attitude to work? Do we do it joyously, with love and mindfulness and a desire for perfection, taking the testing times and challenges in our stride? Do we view the vocation as an opportunity to serve and make a difference or do we hate the job or regard it with dread or mixed feelings or consider it a necessary evil?
Many of our scriptures and scholars have talked about work and its purpose and the chance it affords to put spirituality into practice. A friend sent me this extract from Ellen White’s Manuscript Releases, considered an important Christian work:
“Christ has given to all human beings their work, and we are to acknowledge the wisdom of the plan He has made for us. There are many who are not satisfied with the work that God has given them. They are not satisfied to serve Him pleasantly in the place that He has marked out for them, or to do uncomplainingly the work that He has placed in their hands. It is only in a life of service that true happiness is found. Those who live useless, selfish lives are miserable. They are dissatisfied with themselves and with everyone else. True, unselfish, consecrated workers gladly use their highest gifts in the lowliest service. They realise that true service means to see and to perform the duties that God points out.”
Unfortunately, we live in a society which thinks differently and has created its own rankings for jobs. Even the freshest college graduate would like a white collar, IT type job that pays generously. Recently, an institution run by a doctor argued with me that they are a hospital and that their work mattered. Is there any one profession th-at is more important than others? Granted that the medical profession is dealing with healing the sick and some specialties are more critical than others. But can a doctor handle the needs of the world or do his work single-handedly? We have all been witness to what happens when nurses go on strike. The work at the hospital almost grinds to a halt.
So to come back to the earlier point. If a doctor’s work is noble, what about the teacher who influences and shapes minds? Or that of the stay-at-home mom? Or that of the farmer without whom we would go hungry? Or the hairdresser who makes us look good, or the housemaid who takes the drudge out of our lives, or the barber at Tirupati? Isn’t his work also noble for he is tonsuring the heads of pilgrims who are offering their hair as the ultimate sacrifice to the Lord of the Seven Hills?
The bottom line is that there is no profession which is low-ly, menial or unimportant. Everyone of us has our place in the Universe’s scheme of things. The whole world is one big team and everyone is intended to do his or her job well.
Just think about what happens when you don’t get your morning newspaper or the milk doesn’t reach your doorstep? Or when your dhobi or night watchman doesn’t show up when you are leaving for an important meeting or are heading out of town? Or when no judge has been app-ointed at the court where your case is likely to come up? Isn’t it true that your life is thrown out of kilter?
A lot of rancour and bitterness stems from the fact that some professions are poorly paid, while some businesses operate at almost a hundred per cent profit. That is something that we have to deal with separately and so let us not go down that road now.
Those who want the easy life and seek monetary compensation without having to put in the necessary labour should revisit what Mahatma Ga-ndhi, the Father of the Nation, put down while listing out the seven deadly sins — he also included wealth without work in the list.
Let’s now turn to a very basic question — why do we work? For the money it brings, for the actualisation
of our potential, to contribute our bit, to create wealth for the nation, for name, for fame, or to serve or make a difference?
Here is what the Bhagavad Gita says about the ideal attitude to work. “You have the right to work, but for work’s sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either. Perform every action with your heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. Renounce attachment to the fruits. Be even tempered in success and failure; for it is this evenness of temper which is meant by yoga. Work done with anxiety about the results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahman. They who work selfishly for results are miserable.”
There is nothing like having a job you love and which gives you fulfilment and your life meaning.
Earn your living by righteous means. Remain secure in the knowledge that what you do is of consequence and avoid comparisons with others. Treat those who work with you and for you with respect.
In short, remember that when well done, work is actually pure worship.