“I will do my work thinking of Thee, Lord. I offer to Thee the very best that is in me.”
(from Affirmations for Self-Healing by Swami Kriyananda)
Work
a personal reflection by Nayaswami Pushpa
Master told Swami, “You have a great work to do.” Actually, I think we all have a great work to do. It may not impact the world in the expansive way that Swami’s great work has done. However, as far as our souls are concerned, we each have a great work to do in each lifetime, until we are free.
I’ve worked at many jobs in this life and I had never been fired or laid off . . . until I came to Ananda! Divine Mother was waiting to rearrange my ego with her heavenly two-by-four! My attitude needed correcting. Having the right attitude towards work is important. Did I really want to spend forty hours a week wishing that my job, my coworkers, and (heaven forbid!) my boss were somehow different than they actually were.
Krishna told Arjuna that it would be better for him to fail at his own dharma than to succeed at someone else’s. It is so much easier to see the work that others need to do than to tackle the items on our personal, spiritual to-do list. Interestingly, I have found that the more I’ve meditated, the less annoying everyone has become. (Surely, this was just a coincidence!) I have gradually come to the understanding that the less I want things to be different than they are, the happier I am. What is, simply is.
What is my work? I don’t have to look far, for it is right in front of me. I am learning to bloom where I am planted, while remembering to stay even-minded and cheerful. Because, in the highest sense, my only real work is to come to know God.
Prayer
“Beloved Lord, who so wonderfully created the high, snowy mountains; the bounding rivers; the colorful, fragrant flowers; the vast, heaving oceans; and the distant, glittering stars: Manifest, through me, Thy perfect joy.”
(from Affirmations for Self-Healing by Swami Kriyananda)
Bring God Powerfully Into Your Work
A video talk by Swami Kriyananda
Work
by Nayaswami Pushpa
In The New Path Swami Kriyananda shares the story of Master teaching Meera Mata the correct attitude towards work. “‘You work too hard,’ Master told me one day. ‘You must work less. If you don’t, you will ruin your health.’
Meera Mata cut down on her work, and a few days later Master gave her more work. This scenario repeated a number of times with Meera Mata endeavoring to understand the lesson.
She continues the story . . . ”Well, finally one day I looked at Master. ‘Sir,’ I said, ‘instead of using the word work in our life here, why don’t we substitute the word service?’
“Master laughed. ‘It has been a good show,’ he said. ‘All your life you’ve been thinking, work! work! work! That very thought was exhausting you. But just see how differently you feel when you think of work as a divine service! When you act to please God you can do twice as much, and never feel tired!’”
No matter the form our “work” takes—whether that of a teacher, retail clerk, homemaker, or doctor—we can offer our labor as a form of service to others, and ultimately, to God.
In his book Whispers from Eternity Paramhansa Yogananda writes, “O Spirit, as no work is possible without borrowing, from Thee, the power to perform it, teach us to consider no work greater than Thy spiritual work.”
5 Comments
Thank you God!
Well done, dear Pushpa! Thanks for the reminder. Jai Guru! 😍
A lovely bit of wisdom tendered with humility – and delightful humor! Thanks for sharing, Pushpa 🌷
Thank you, Pushpa, for sharing as usual with dynamism and joy!
When I was part of the karma yoga program several years ago at Ananda I would look forward to our weekly satsangs with you. Your gentle wisdom always filled my soul. So glad I now have these monthly writings. Thank you! 🙏