The Art Of How to do work — Karma Yoga

Hey peeps !!! I am back with my second post on how to work in life.

Work and only work is the very basis on which our life and the entire civilization stands upon. Without work there is no life, there is no advancement. No one of us can stay alive for a single moment without work — such is the importance of work. The whole universe is working, our bodies are constantly working so that we live , the entire mankind and civilization is working so that we can fulfill our basic demands in life and keeping marching forward boldly. In fact each and every subatomic particles within this universe are working day and night so that life prevails and there is smooth continuity of life.

But as claimed by myself in my first post that human beings are damn interesting and hence turn complex, we often confuse ourselves on how to do work. So guys reading out there ask yourself again and again this one simple question — Why are you working? Are you working solely for the purpose of getting money, name or fame and hence attaching yourself to the fruits of it? Or are you working unselfishly, incessantly? Are you thinking that your work is your service to the mankind and one day it might impact the organisation that you are working for or the society as a whole? Are you working for the sake of doing work thinking that it is your duty to do it — just like it is the duty of a parent to take care of their children without asking for anything in return? Or do you expect anything in return after you have done your work ?

So let’s take a deep dive into this — I will keep it brief and to the point and cover the main points regarding this.

In this changing world expectation will always hurt. Expectation means attaching yourself to the fruits of your work (be it good and bad). It is a terrible bondage and if not detached, will bring back misery on you. But we as human beings live on hope, faith and our expected dreams/goals , expecting that something good and great will happen to us in the future — I will get into a great company, I will buy a flat in a posh area, I will buy an SUV, I will visit Switzerland during my vacations, I will wear expensive costumes, I will buy an IPhone, I will do this and that and the list goes on — no one knowing when it will end. Well it is completely fine to have these kind of dreams because the people who dream of something and work according to the demand ultimately reaches the destination. Both are very important — the means of doing work and the end goal.

But my point of telling is not to get deeply attached to it. If your expected goal/dream is missed then don’t get dejected. Keep on working till you achieve something. And after achieving continue the work again. It is not advisable to sit back and relax for too long after you have reached the destination you wanted to reach.

Now carefully analyze one thing — What made you achieve all that you have wanted ? The fat pay check, getting admission into your dream college/company etc. You will observe that it was your undivided focus,attention,concentration and energy with which you had done your work. Your continuous effort and incessant work has made you what you are today — that’s it, as simple as that. So the essence is this — Work incessantly without caring about the results. Keep on working and pushing yourself beyond the boundaries so that one day you can be an inspiration for many souls. Whatever situation you are in (good or bad) — keep on moving. Don’t stop. Keep on going — like it is the duty of the earth to revolve around the Sun irrespective of whatever happens to you and me or the entire society. Good work will always bring good results and the same principle holds true for bad work. But we should not be attaching to the results anytime.

Next, Work and energy as a whole don’t discriminate on good and bad. Good work provides good results and bad work provides bad. It is with the good habits that we control the evil habits within us — and when that work is done we should not get too attached again with the good results. Our goal in this life is to gain and realize the knowledge through work and not to gain pleasure from it. This whole nature and all the situations that we face in our life have something to teach us — good or bad. But after the teaching is done we should only take the knowledge from it that might help us in tackling simliar situations in future — but not get too attached to it. We should remember that through doing our work we are moving to Ultimate knowledge — whatever be the work be — whether it is the work of manual scavenging or managing a great company. Work doesn’t discriminate among any individual.

Hence from now on work like a master and not a slave. If we work like a slave, always attaching ourselves to results then there will be misery. It is advisable to work like a master — Be free and deliver your duties without giving a second thought on what other people thinks. Enjoy the work that has been given to you/you have chosen to do and deliver with love and care — just as a mother brings her own children up with utmost care and affection. Think the work before you to be your own child and accomplish it like a master without any expectation of reward. If there is any selfish desire behind any work then that work is not true work and doesnot bring true happiness. There should not be any thought of gain or loss while delivering duties — just work incessantly, that’s it.

Just work and become free. Work unselfishly and enjoy the true love behind it. Real love comes from delivering duties unselfishly.

Given the nature of this world and our thinking these things can be difficult to achieve and it might take an entire life span to reach that stage.But once reached it gives us immense true love and self satisfaction. The feeling that you are working for the humanity without thinking about yourself much is great and is one of the best sacrifices that can be made in this entire lifetime.