Practicing spirituality at work place

[Guest guest]

Often it is assumed that spiritual practice

cannot be done when one is at work (that is, while being

on the job). In reality, it is possible to utilize

each and every event in one’s life to do spiritual

practice, including the situations at the workplace. When

at work, besides doing the spiritual practice of

repeating the Lord’s Name* (especially during mechanical

activities like typing, faxing documents, etc., when one is

not engaged in intellectual activity) one can use the

following guidelines regarding office work to develop

qualities necessary for a seeker. Remember that the

specific actions at workplace are designed to help develop

divine qualities at the attitude level.<br><br>a)

Learning to plan - by planning the day’s tasks and at the

end of the day checking to see if one could follow

the plan.<br><br>b) Inculcating thriftiness -<br>1.

Time - the most important and invaluable commodity.

<br>2. Office material - by using office stationery,

utilities, etc., only as much as required, avoiding wastage.

<br>3. Energy - by not engaging in frivolous talks and

thus, saving one’s energy, which otherwise would be

spent unnecessarily. <br><br>c) Correct use of the

intellect - by employing the required amount of thinking

for any assigned task in order to accomplish the task

in the best possible manner. Too much or too little

thought on a task is due the incorrect use of the

intellect and results in inefficient execution of the task.

<br><br>d) Keeping no expectation of results, despite total

involvement in the job - If one does not have expectations,

such as appreciation from the management for one’s

efforts or acceptance of one’s proposals, etc., then one

develops the qualities of accepting a situation as it is.

This enables the seeker to gradually develop true

surrender that everything happens as per God’s will.

<br><br>e) Inculcating the attitude of perfection - by

applying oneself wholeheartedly to one’s tasks at work,

one can achieve perfection in performing the tasks.

This would include performing even trivial tasks with

perfection like arranging files properly in the filing

cabinet, keeping one’s desk organized and clean, checking

the grammatical correctness of written

communications, etc. <br><br>f) Tolerance towards others - by

trying to understand one’s co-workers’ viewpoints,

working well in a team, taking others’ opinion into

consideration, etc. This would aid in reducing one’s ego and

developing prembhav. <br><br>g) Reduction in reactions -

Reaction is a sign of psychological temperament. A

seeker’s goal is to operate at the spiritual level.

Reaction is a waste of one’s energy, which otherwise can

be utilized for better purposes. One can observe

one’s reactions at work and make a note of a reaction

every time one has one. This would gradually increase

awareness of one’s reactions to abort a reaction before it

arises. An important point to remember is that reactions

need not only be negative; even positive emotional

reactions deplete one’s energy. Reduction in reactions

results in better relationship with colleagues, which in

turn leads to increased efficiency. <br><br>h)

Patience - by being aware of the instances when one is

impatient with oneself and others and thus, being conscious

that one needs to practice patience. <br><br>* As per

one’s religion. <br><br>Source :

<a href=http://www.sanatan.org/weekly

target=new>http://www.sanatan.org/weekly</a> (# 106)