The Secret of Work
We must all work constantly. Good action will bring good effect and bad action will bring bad effect on us.
If a man continuously hears bad words, thinks bad thoughts, does bad actions, his mind will be full of bad impressions and they will influence his thought and work without his being conscious of this fact. Thus he becomes a bad man; he cannot help it. But the same man, when does so much good work and has thought so many good thoughts, there develops an irresistible tendency in him to do good in spite of himself and even if he wishes to do evil! His mind, as the sum total of his tendencies, will not allow him to do so. When such is the case, a man's good character is said to be established
Work, but let not the action or the thought produce a deep impression on the mind. How can this be done?
Remember that the purpose of nature is to gain knowledge. Nature is a book in which we are to read, and that when we have gained the required knowledge, the book is of no more value to us. But once we consider this nature as ourselves and become attached to it, it binds us down and makes us work like slaves.
You should work like a master and not as a slave. Work constantly, but never do slave's work. Work through love and freedom. If you buy a slave and tie him down in chains and make him work for you, he will work like a drudge, but there will be no love in him. So when we ourselves work for the things of the world as slaves, there can be no love in us.
When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being. Right performance of the duties of any station in life, without attachment to results, leads us to the highest perfection.
[Extracted from Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda - Volume 1 / Karma Yoga / Chapter 3 : The Secret of Work]
Comments
Post a Comment