Material Success and Spiritual Liberation both can be attained through action
Swami Yogananda advised us to be “calmly active and actively calm” which means calmness should always be maintained while we are in action or in inaction. In reality, generally we associate stress with work, and a relaxed feeling with our inactive state.
There is a story about a villager who was enjoying his morning nap, lying on a string cot under a tree, while a traveler came and asked him the reason of wasting time like that. He advised him to be busy in action, so that he can make lot of money, buy things and can be very happy. The villager’s reply was, why go through so much trouble to attain a state of happiness, when he’s already there.
Both of them were right from their own perspectives. One was thinking about being active and that by accumulating more money he can be happy, while the other thought inactive state is the best way to be happy.
According to Swami Yogananda, if we can balance our action and inaction in proper way, with proper attitude, then they can lead us to the path of liberation and joy. He said work should be done as active meditation and the meditative state should be an active inward search to experience our soul consciousness, our blissful nature. They are not separate, but complement each other. One is the inner experience and the other is its outer expression through action.
But in life, we act mostly out of compulsions, mainly to look after our families, to perform duties towards society and others. We keep ourselves busy in making more money and to accumulate more physical comforts all through our life. But at the fag end of our life, we feel exhausted, and we think, only being inactive we can have some peace.
We get some very valuable suggestions from Bhagavad Gita (12th chapter) which says, by abiding some spiritual values in our nature we can face life’s challenges with more courage, clarity and confidence.
By explaining the meaning of “Dharma” and “Amritam” (Chapter 12/verse 20) it says, these two aspects must be observed in our each and every work.
“Dharma” means, whatever duties we do in life, it should be done with a spirit of well being of all. There should not be any conflict between self interest and other’s interest. “Amritam” means, our inner blissful nature, which can be realized through meditation. When we realize the spark of divine consciousness exists in me and in all, then positive values like compassion, understanding, tolerance etc automatically blossom in our nature, and we can work in peace and harmony with others.
When work is done only for self-gratification, and excluding the well-being of others, the result can never bring peace of mind. Even the monetary profit which comes along with our selfish work, by nature’s law, becomes the cause of one’s downfall and misery.
The great karma yogi Swami Viveknanda said, work should be done for one’s own spiritual liberation, and for the good of the world (Atmano moksartham jagad hitayaca). By winning over greed and weakness, we should work like a master, not like a slave; and should always rely only on truth, which can strengthen our body mind and soul in a positive way.
By daily practice of meditation, when we make our mind pure, elevated, free from all negativities, we work as an instrument of God, and relate to others also as God’s manifestation.
Our psychophysical energy, which is our capital resource for our actions, can be enhanced by the application of some spiritual values in our life.
Today’s consumerist culture is ruining our human values in many ways. It also indirectly brings stress and tension in our daily life. When we want to be rich at the cost of others, or we want to get more comfort by destroying comforts of others, end result cannot bring peace in our life. By nature’s law, ultimately we suffer with the pain and unhappiness we have caused. Being over-powered by greed, anger and intolerance, individuals feel exhausted. They burn their own happiness by the fire of negativities created by them. This alarming situation can be seen all over the world today.
Life also can brighten up, if we take little break, and cultivate some creative hobbies like, be in nature, or read some inspiring book, to make life more meaningful. It is important to balance work with right kind of relaxation.
The concept of combining qualitative improvement of mind with quantitative growth and production in work is a necessity in today’s world.
By qualitative development of human mind, society can be free from violence, crime and war. And if a developing country like India pays more attention on quantitative growth through honest and efficient team work, then poverty, illiteracy etc can be removed from society. By balancing these two aspects through our all action, we all can be true karma-yogi, and also can contribute to society and make this world a more loveable and livable place for all.
