Topical Musings

Swami Vivekananda proposes a new philosophy of work, which has tremendous relevance for the modern man. He says that all aspects of our work cannot be monetized. There will always be some aspects of the work we do that can never be converted into money. In the present day mercenary work environment, aspects of our work, such as loyalty, sincerity, integrity, punctuality, are progressively ignored since they do not translate into money at all. Swamiji says that these aspects of our work can be converted into something amazing in our personality, if we only know the technique of converting it. It converts into character. And what is that technique?

Swami Vivekananda tells the story of the monk and the chaste housewife in his seminal book Karma-Yoga 1 . A monk registers some progress after years of strict discipline and meditation, while he meets a lady who is far ahead of him in spiritual life, leading the humdrum life of a housewife. When he asks her about the Yoga (spiritual path) she has followed, she says, ‘I know of no Yoga. I am an ordinary housewife. This much however is true; I have always struggled to perform the duties of my station in life, with a sense of purity 2 , and in an un-attached manner.’

Work done with these two conditions – a sense of purity, and non-attachment – transforms into Yoga; karma becomes Karma-Yoga. Work becomes worship only when these two conditions are fulfilled.

Who amongst us doesn’t work? Yet, how many of us have become illumined? Where lies the fault? These two conditions have not been fulfilled. Therefore, it is important to understand these two conditions clearly. Sense of Purity

If the advent of science and technology has done any harm to human society, it is undoubtedly this – it has done away with this sense of holiness, this sense of purity, from our lives. Nothing is sacred anymore. It is fashionable to be hedonistic, bohemian, atheistic, even immoral. Therefore, all the finer qualities of human life such as marital fidelity, loyalty to employer, and personal integrity are vanishing from our personality. In other words, all idealism is washed away from our lives as unnecessary and it is usurped by crass utilitarianism and gross materialism. Our education system fosters this perverse attitude in us. Our nuclear family structure engenders it all the more forcefully in us. The knowing ones are at their wits end as to how to bring back this one vital sense into peoples’ lives. Swami Vivekananda says: ‘The life of the practical is in the ideal. It is the ideal that has penetrated the whole of our lives, whether we philosophize, or perform the hard, everyday duties of life. The rays of the ideal, reflected and refracted in various straight or tortuous lines, are pouring in through every aperture and wind-hole, and consciously or unconsciously, every function has to be performed in its light, every object has to be seen transformed, heightened, or deformed by it. It is the ideal that has made us what we are, and will make us what we are going to be. It is the power of the ideal that has enshrouded us, and is felt in our joys or sorrows, in our great acts or mean doings, in our virtues and vices.

‘… truth of the ideal is in the practical. … That the ideal is there is a proof of the existence of the practical somehow, somewhere. … The power of the ideal is in the practical. Its work on us is in and through the practical. Through the Our Sadhana

practical, the ideal is brought down to our sense-perception, changed into a form fit for our assimilation. Of the practical we make the steps to rise to the ideal. On that we build our hopes; it gives us courage to work.’ 3

Will it come as a surprise to you if we say that Oneness is purity? Look at the argument given by Swamiji here:

‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ 4 ‘The different stages of growth are absolutely necessary to the attainment of purity and perfection.’ 5 ‘So long as there is one that breathes throughout the universe, I live in that one. I am not this limited little being, I am the universal. I am the life of all the sons of the past. I am the soul of Buddha, of Jesus, of Mohammed. I am the soul of the teachers, and I am all the robbers that robbed, and all the murderers that were hanged, I am the universal. Stand up then; this is the highest worship. You are one with the universe. That only is humility — not crawling upon all fours and calling yourself a sinner. That is the highest evolution when this veil of differentiation is torn off. The highest creed is Oneness. I am soand-so is a limited idea, not true of the real “I”. I am the universal; stand upon that and ever worship the Highest through the highest form, for God is Spirit and should be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Through lower forms of worship, man’s material thoughts rise to spiritual worship and the Universal Infinite One

is at last worshipped in and through the spirit. That which is limited is material. The Spirit alone is infinite. God is Spirit, is infinite; man is Spirit and, therefore, infinite, and the Infinite alone can worship the Infinite. We will worship the Infinite; that is the highest spiritual worship.’ 6

Can we work, keeping in mind this idea of Oneness of all existence? Then the first condition of the sadhana for the modern age is fulfilled.

While purity actually means absolute control over all senses, which is epitomized by complete sexual continence, its root lies in this idea of Oneness. The work we do, no matter how small, is indeed deeply connected with everything that exists. This sense has to be nurtured. We remember a revered sannyasi telling a devotee who was a government employee, ‘Do the work of a clerk, but with the mind of the President of India.’ It may be an insignificant work you are doing, but, can you not see all the ramifications of that insignificant work you are doing? Day after day, year after year, this sense has to be developed and nurtured with care. This method of working develops character in us, which in turn develops self-restraint, which further matures into self-direction, which is nothing but concentration of all our energies. Concentration of all our energies when perfected is called samadhi!

1) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. [hereafter CW] Vol 1: Karma-Yoga – What is Duty? It is interesting to note that Swami Ashokananda, who was editor of Prabuddha Bharata and then headed the Vedanta society of Northern California for over 30 years, and an acclaimed authority on Swami Vivekananda’s message, used to say that this book would become the Gospel of mankind in the days to come! 2) Some readers may object that in the original story in the Mahabharata, and in Swamiji’s rendition of the same, the housewife never really specifies this sense of purity as a requisite. But, when you observe the context in which Swamiji brings in this story in the lecture, it is very clear that he is using this housewife to illustrate the power of a chaste wife. Notice how he begins to explain about chastity and immediately brings in this story. 3) CW. Vol 4: Sketch of the Life of Pavhari Baba 4) CW. Vol 7: Inspired Talks – 6 August 1895 5) CW. Vol 1: Soul, God and Religion 6) CW. Vol 1: What is Religion? References