A mother’s “dharma” (spiritual duty)

Question

Aum Guru

I am a housewife and a mother of two children. I have a maid and a cook, as I simply dislike housework, specially cooking. I am presently looking out for a job.However,I wonder,spiritually speaking, if it is ok to allocate what should be my duties(dharma) to someone else even if i am paying them well? Am I shunning my duties and acquiring bad karma? Does the equation change, if I am holding a job and then the help becomes

necessary?

Thank You

Jaya

—Jaya, U.A.E

Answer

Dear Jaya:

There is no divine law that says a woman must clean her own house or cook the food her family eats. Some women enjoy that kind of work. Some don’t. Regardless of their feelings in the matter, however, few have the luxury of choice, as you do. They have to do it and therefore must master their aversion and find a way to enjoy it.

Cooking, for example, is a way of sharing vibrations and can be a profound expression of love. There are many ways to express love, however, and you don’t have to do it through housekeeping.

You speak of having two children. Are you paying others too look after them or do your use your freedom from housework to give prime attention to them?

The real question is what are you doing with the free time you have bought for yourself? You speak of looking for a job, how serious is your job search? And what are you doing in the meantime? Are you following a creative path? Serving others? Spending time in spiritual practices?

If you can’t answer a resounding “yes” to any or all of these questions, then you do need to reconsider your choices. Not because it is wrong to ask others to clean your house, but because it is wrong to waste the divine potential of an incarnation merely because you have the money to do so. You don’t have to take up housekeeping but you definitely have to do something that expands your consciousness and serves others.

To have money is a result of good karma from the past. If you squander that money on a life of leisure, or worse, luxury, that good karma will run out.

Whatever you do, you need to take hold of your life and mold it to some higher purpose.

In divine friendship,
Nayaswami Asha