Vivekananda Mailing List-12/5/02

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CHAPTER III

 

THE SECRET OF WORK

 

Helping others physically, by removing their physical needs, is indeed

great, but the help is great according as the need is greater and

according as the help is far reaching. If a man's wants can be removed

for an hour, it is helping him indeed; if his wants can be removed for

a year, it will be more help to him; but if his wants can be removed

for ever, it is surely the greatest help that can be given him.

Spiritual knowledge is the only thing that can destroy our miseries for

ever; any other knowledge satisfies wants only for a time. It is only

with the knowledge of the spirit that the faculty of want is

annihilated for ever; so helping man spiritually is the highest help

that can be given to him. He who gives man spiritual knowledge is the

greatest benefactor of mankind and as such we always find that those

were the most powerful of men who helped man in his spiritual needs,

because spirituality is the true basis of all our activities in life.

A spiritually strong and sound man will be strong in every other

respect, if he so wishes. Until there is spiritual strength in man even

physical needs cannot be well satisfied. Next to spiritual comes

intellectual help.

 

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We continue Swamiji's Karma Yoga from Vol. 1 of the Complete Works.