Spirituality at Work

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

We generally speak of stress, strain and tension. With any kind of activity – even if you perform it successfully – you will find that, before performance, while performing and after performance, the activity is associated with stress and strain. What is this tension and stress? Is it something objective or material, or is it something psychological and inward?

The tension being psychological, the way to deal with it and dissolve it should also be psychological and inner. Therein comes spirituality. The more and more you know that you are a spiritual being, the dimensions, the potentials, and the prospects that open up are infinite. You have to draw on this wonderful spiritual treasure, spiritual store house. Then you will find that the tensions produced by the interactions are correspondingly dissolved in your mind.

Who is a spiritual man? One who is able to live and interact with this world harmoniously, with sufficient integration, without finding any interaction to be troublesome, tormenting or producing imbalance or tension. That is the successful man. We describe him as a stable-minded person.

In this limited time, I will briefly explain the way spirituality works. In all your interactions you will find a number of inputs coming to you – and the inputs come from persons, places or events. Am I clear? In interpersonal relationships you will find a number of inputs – some pleasant and some unpleasant. You may have a very arrogant boss or a very difficult subordinate; you may have some intolerant or jealous colleagues. All these are possible. At home, sometimes, the wife goes on murmuring, creating troubles or, perhaps, the husband goes on picking quarrels, or the children do not behave the way you want. Everywhere you will find interpersonal interactions causing tensions.

Whenever these inputs come, you must have the power to assimilate them. No input whatsoever should make your mind feel helpless and subdued. You should be able to declare: “My dear world, throw any kind of an input to me, I will dissolve it, I will harmonize it, I will integrate it and get enriched by it.” This kind of an approach you must have. I call this confidence, spiritual confidence, spiritual assurance. Your mind is not inert – it is nature’s product and its capacity is infinite. I say: “The sky is the limit of the mind.” 

The body completes its growth at the age of about 21 and you become an adult. And as an adult you have to live for many decades. In all the decades of life after the body has completed the growth, tell me, my dear managers, what part of your personality is going to grow, if it is not the mind and the intelligence? They are the spiritual components.

Suppose an image is formed in your mind. Is this image mental or is it something else? When an elephant is perceived by you and the perception forms an image in your mind, in the mind: is it an elephant or is it a mental image of the elephant? Am I clear?

Your mind is imprinted with a number of images. Whatever be the nature of the images, it is your mind, the image is mental. If it is mental, like a wave in the sea, why should you be ruffled? Can you not assimilate it? Can you not understand it? Why are you fretting and fuming?

Somebody told you something three years back – it was a very harsh word, an unfriendly remark. Agreed that he should not have made such a remark – but he did make it. Now, the person has forgotten the episode and is living happily. But you, on the other hand, even now suffer for no reason. What is the cause for that? It is your ignorance – not knowing the capacity of the mind. You are not prepared to assimilate the inputs from the world.

After assimilating, you must also start expressing it. Whenever necessary, outputs should be generated. Wherever commitment is called for, you should be able to generate and radiate commitment. Where integrity is called for, you must be able to generate it and manifest it to any extent. If there is a duty or demand, never hesitate to meet it. Bodily you may be short or weak, but mentally you are larger than the mountain. Will you admit it when I say this?

[Poojya Swamiji was invited on 22 Jan 2000 by the Trichur Management Association to address its members. The association felt the need of expert advice on achieving professional excellence and sought Poojya Swamiji’s guidance. Here is an extract from the talk. The talk had been titled - Spirituality – The Missing Dimension in Professional Excellence]

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