Unit 3 : Secret of Work by Swami Vivekananda

        The world is filled with miseries and physical help alone cannot cure them. Until and unless man’s nature is changed, miseries cannot be removed completely by any of the physical help. In his opinion, the only solution to make people free from misery is to make men pure, spiritually strong and educated. Then alone misery will completely stop in the world.

     Swami Vivekananda described the nature of the work as the mixture of both good and evil. Good and bad both make a chain that bind soul. We should work with a spirit of non-attachment to it, so that we can work as masters, not as slaves. According to Bhagavad Gita, we must work incessantly but should not be attached to it. Every work we do, every move of our body and every thought we think leave an impression on the mind. They work in the subconscious mind and finally they determine our character.  This is what is called Samskara.     

         He compared human being with tortoise. The tortoise tucks its feet, head inside the shell, and will not come out even though you break the shell into pieces. In the same way the character of the man who has control over his thoughts and deeds would remain as unchangeably established character. He controls his own inner forces and nothing can draw him out against his will.

       By this continuous reflex of the good thoughts and good impressions moving over the surface of the mind, the tendency to do well becomes stronger. As a result, we will be able to control the Indriyas (sense organs).such is how the character of man is formed and only a man of character can get truth.

        He emphasized a theory called non-attachment in the work because both good work and bad work make the soul bonded with work. It makes us to do work as a slave, not like a master. If once we detach ourselves from the selfish slave’s work, we can receive love and become free. Real life makes us “unattached”.

             The two most important ways, in which we can work without expecting anything, in return, are to love the world and to become a giver without any thought return.Attachment comes only when we expect a return.

           Swami Vivekananda said “work, but let not the action or the thought produce deep impression on your mind”. He says the Lord himself works incessantly, but ever without attachment.