Guest guest Posted September 18, 2001 Report Share Posted September 18, 2001 ============================================================= This article is emailed to you by Ram Chandran ( rchandran ) ============================================================= Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com) Three levels of work mentioned in the Gita CHENNAI, SEPT. 19. Scriptures have arranged the myriad of varieties of ``work'' into groups according to their results. ``Natural work'' is being carried out by a majority of people without any enquiry about the ``why'' of it. There are duties, approved by scriptures, which say that if one wants to live for 100 years meaningfully, he should do them and they are grouped as belonging to a higher dimension. In the third category, the secret of works is mentioned as those for which a person should muster all the help that is available. The most valuable one is God's help as it infuses a sense of security in him. The next refers to a combination of work and contemplation, the most significant one is to do a work without the desire for the fruits. Swami Vivekananda has termed it as one that requires the use of head, heart and hand. Poverty will brutalise and prosperity will barbarise man if he has no heart to feel and no head to think. What he should realise is that all the assets in the world are creations of God and so, everyone has equal rights over them and that they do not belong to any particular individual. This attitude will lead him to ask ``why this creation and who does it'' which will put him on the path of self-enquiry. The next in the order is ``inaction'' which has two aspects - a lazy person shunning his or her duty in the name of contemplation which is denounced by the Lord and all spiritual leaders. The other is about a wise man remaining unattached to work and the fruit thereof. The final category is about ``prohibited actions'' which include injury to life, and all kinds of unethical deeds. Lord Krishna gives a complete definition embracing the whole gamut of ``work'' in the Gita in an indirect manner: ``No one can spend a moment without doing work''. In a lecture, Swami Baneshananda referred to Lord Krishna's statement ``Even though I have no duty to perform in the three worlds, still I do incessant work''. The Gita addresses men and women at work, thereby giving it a spiritual dimension. It should also be noticed that there are three levels of work, viz. moral, philosophical and practical. The first involves the individual. One's character is the refinery which receives all sense data and turns them into finished products of absorption, forgiveness and finally love. The head of a family represents this. The philosophic aspect says that we are all one and form a part of one universal self or creatures of one ``Reality''. Practical work represents spiritual activity. All of us should burn ourselves in the fire of Yoga, extract our essence from the dross and shine as pure gold and provide light to others. Copyrights: 1995 - 2001 The Hindu Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the consent of The Hindu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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