Many of us have heard the saying, "Work Is Worship", especially in Hindu Spiritual studies. But what does this really mean?
Does it mean that we should install little altars at our offices? What does it really mean to anyone?
I have found that the wise lines that great and wise people and gurus who coin up these lines, are able to concise lengthy text and understanding of the Scriptures, before they are able to present such lofty thoughts in marvellous bite-size expressions. Yet, the true meaning, of how they came about summarising, through deep cognizance to arrive at their conclusions, will never be known by readers of such wisdom today.
We tend to simply take the meaning of any saying as they are, and think that our brilliant minds have the ability to cognize or understand everything. Wrong. There are two different kinds of minds at work here, – purified and unpurified. The unpurified mind thinks that it can easily work out the thoughts of a purified mind, that of a sage for an example, but it is impossible. They exists in two completely different realms or worlds.
Sages and enlightened people know that the mind is the cause of all of man's problems. Spiritual studies lead a student to recognise this, and to take the steps to do everything to curtail this mind. This means that gurus and spiritual people no longer live-off their minds. The first thing that any student will be told by his guru is that he is not his mind or body. The guru then provides ancient spiritual knowledge to enlighten the student on this fact.
So, the lines of wisdom that we receive these days, and understand them by our unenlightened or unpurified minds, are completely different in meaning of that of the speakers of these lines, who are enlightened beings, such as Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore, who both made similar statements – "Work Is Worship". This is also why everyone needs a spiritual counsellor or guru in his or her life.
Why is work worship, then?
This requires a deeper explanation and understanding, and it is one that should not be taken lightly either. There is an end goal to achieve for all of us. And to get to this goal, we have to perform selfless work. This why we have to consider any work we do as worship.
What is the end goal?
The end goal or "Ultimate Goal", as it is called in the Hindu Scriptures, is "Moksha", or "Liberation". This is a state when the soul is fully liberated and is never to be reborn again. But why do we not want the soul to be reborn? It is because every soul that is on earth is only here to serve Its Karma, it is a punishment. This is why life seems to be a suffering in general, where peace is not a permanent feature in it. The state of Liberation provides Eternal Bliss, and Moksha or Liberation is something we should all achieve while we are alive, and it benefits the hereafter – where the Soul gets to return Home.
"Karma" means "deeds" or "work" in Sanskrit. This means that the reason why we are here on earth is caused by our "misdeeds" or "bad deeds" in our past and present lives. We have had millions of rebirths on earth, but only to suffer. Therefore, if Karma brought us here to suffer, Karma also provides the way out of this suffering, as it is stated in the Hindu Scriptures. By replacing our "bad thoughts and deeds" with "good thoughts and deeds", man gets to exhaust his Karma. Then life on earth, and after, is Nirvana. The end of all suffering and sorrow. 'Karma Yoga' states that inaction is impossible, that man is always performing some kind of action, even if simply breathing.
Now, because we have always been doing work for selfish motifs, which created our Karma, and this happens dues to our selfish desires; we now simply have to do the reverse of all this. We have to perform selfless work, only. This means that every single task or job that we do, even our professional jobs, we should do it to the best of our abilities as if it is a dedication to God. We should be conscious that we are carrying out our tasks or work, only to exhaust our Karma. This is a great time to do 'favours' to every and anybody, even strangers. We exhaust even more Karma when we help people we do not know. While we are performing this "alleged" 'Selfless work', it is good to remember that we are not doing anyone any favours but ourselves, because all these selfless work and actions will only benefit ourselves and no one else, in the end.
But how is it a "worship"?
When it comes to any kind of "worship", there is usually some kind of personality involved. In this case, it is Godhead. The verse in the Bhagavad Gita (Hindu Holy Book) says, "To work alone you have competence, but never to enjoy the fruits thereof". We should not do any work or task with the aim of enjoying the benefits or fruits of our own labour. Now, remember, we are here because of Karma, and the cause of Karma and our suffering is 'selfish work' with an aim for personal benefits ignited by 'desire'. So, the Lord says that we have the ability only to perform our now "righteous actions" only. We should not think, speak, and do harm or hurt anyone or anything that lives. These actions shall be the 'opposite' of our previous actions in all our previous lives, and this shall set man free in his own mind and heart, exhausting all his Karma.
"Karma" itself is a 'divine' thing, it is not man-made. So, since it is this "divine force" that has brought us here to earth to suffer, then don't you think that it is this same "divine force" that is also capable of removing or exhausting our Karma debts? Yes, it is so.
The "Soul", which is the real identity of a man, was never born and can never die. It is not something that is material, such as the body and the mind – it is 'Spirit'. Hence, this 'Spirit' is formless. This formless spirit never ever took birth and will never ever die, it keeps using all kinds of bodies, including animals and insects, (subject to how nasty we have been to other people), and keeps getting reborn on earth, – only to suffer.
So, when we do any work that we do, we must think of whom we are doing this task for, and as it turns out, since we are all prisoners or Karma, and God is the ultimate 'Taskmaster' and 'Sanctioner', we therefore, have to please Him, by dedicating every single task or job of ours to God.
Now, this is why, "Work Is Worship".
by Joy Nandy
– more stuff worth reading here
What is the end goal?
The end goal or "Ultimate Goal", as it is called in the Hindu Scriptures, is "Moksha", or "Liberation". This is a state when the soul is fully liberated and is never to be reborn again. But why do we not want the soul to be reborn? It is because every soul that is on earth is only here to serve Its Karma, it is a punishment. This is why life seems to be a suffering in general, where peace is not a permanent feature in it. The state of Liberation provides Eternal Bliss, and Moksha or Liberation is something we should all achieve while we are alive, and it benefits the hereafter – where the Soul gets to return Home.
"Karma" means "deeds" or "work" in Sanskrit. This means that the reason why we are here on earth is caused by our "misdeeds" or "bad deeds" in our past and present lives. We have had millions of rebirths on earth, but only to suffer. Therefore, if Karma brought us here to suffer, Karma also provides the way out of this suffering, as it is stated in the Hindu Scriptures. By replacing our "bad thoughts and deeds" with "good thoughts and deeds", man gets to exhaust his Karma. Then life on earth, and after, is Nirvana. The end of all suffering and sorrow. 'Karma Yoga' states that inaction is impossible, that man is always performing some kind of action, even if simply breathing.
Now, because we have always been doing work for selfish motifs, which created our Karma, and this happens dues to our selfish desires; we now simply have to do the reverse of all this. We have to perform selfless work, only. This means that every single task or job that we do, even our professional jobs, we should do it to the best of our abilities as if it is a dedication to God. We should be conscious that we are carrying out our tasks or work, only to exhaust our Karma. This is a great time to do 'favours' to every and anybody, even strangers. We exhaust even more Karma when we help people we do not know. While we are performing this "alleged" 'Selfless work', it is good to remember that we are not doing anyone any favours but ourselves, because all these selfless work and actions will only benefit ourselves and no one else, in the end.
But how is it a "worship"?
When it comes to any kind of "worship", there is usually some kind of personality involved. In this case, it is Godhead. The verse in the Bhagavad Gita (Hindu Holy Book) says, "To work alone you have competence, but never to enjoy the fruits thereof". We should not do any work or task with the aim of enjoying the benefits or fruits of our own labour. Now, remember, we are here because of Karma, and the cause of Karma and our suffering is 'selfish work' with an aim for personal benefits ignited by 'desire'. So, the Lord says that we have the ability only to perform our now "righteous actions" only. We should not think, speak, and do harm or hurt anyone or anything that lives. These actions shall be the 'opposite' of our previous actions in all our previous lives, and this shall set man free in his own mind and heart, exhausting all his Karma.
"Karma" itself is a 'divine' thing, it is not man-made. So, since it is this "divine force" that has brought us here to earth to suffer, then don't you think that it is this same "divine force" that is also capable of removing or exhausting our Karma debts? Yes, it is so.
The "Soul", which is the real identity of a man, was never born and can never die. It is not something that is material, such as the body and the mind – it is 'Spirit'. Hence, this 'Spirit' is formless. This formless spirit never ever took birth and will never ever die, it keeps using all kinds of bodies, including animals and insects, (subject to how nasty we have been to other people), and keeps getting reborn on earth, – only to suffer.
So, when we do any work that we do, we must think of whom we are doing this task for, and as it turns out, since we are all prisoners or Karma, and God is the ultimate 'Taskmaster' and 'Sanctioner', we therefore, have to please Him, by dedicating every single task or job of ours to God.
Now, this is why, "Work Is Worship".
by Joy Nandy
– more stuff worth reading here
