Karma Yoga

by

Mitch Hall, PhD

Commentary on The Secret of Work by Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)


    Swami Vivekananda’s transcribed talk, The Secret of Work (Vivekananda, 2007), has an intriguing title. In common-sense perspective, work signifies labor to produce goods and/or services that others will value receiving enough to give in exchange something of value to the worker. There does not appear to be any secret to this. However, the title implies that work itself has a singular secret. What could it be? Let’s follow the developing argument of the talk to see if we the readers are able to learn what the author believed on this subject.

    In the opening paragraphs, the Swami spoke of a hierarchy of ways to help others. If the main topic of this talk is about work, as the title indicates, the beginning may imply, although it does not explicitly state so, that the secret of work lies in altruism, working unselfishly for the benefit of others. Is this the case? It is too early to say. The author promptly posited a hierarchy of modes of helping--spiritual, intellectual, and physical. He asserted that, “spiritual knowledge is the only thing that can destroy our miseries for ever” (Vivekananda, 2007, p. 36). Therefore, he believed that, “he who gives man spiritual knowledge is the greatest benefactor of mankind (Vivekananda, p. 36). This is followed in order of importance by giving intellectual help, and in last place comes physical help.

    In reading up to this point, I was reminded of Maslow’s different sense of the hierarchy of human needs (Maslow, 1962). He distinguished between deficiency motivation and growth motivation . Accordingly, when a human being’s basic needs for food, water, shelter, warmth, and other essentials of life itself are not met, that person will be primarily motivated to meet those deficiency needs before being able to attend more fully to being needs for self-actualization. In this sense, physical needs are not trivial. They are essential for survival and provide a basis for the evolving spirit’s self-realization. Which kind of help is of the most importance at any given time depends upon the circumstances of the person in need of help. At times, physical help is most appropriate and important. Will it further self-realization? Not necessarily. However, it may be a tangible expression of human compassion, and, as such, may inspire the helped person to seek beyond the physical for the meaning of life as well as to perpetuate toward others the circle of compassion.

    To return to Vivekananda’s talk, he next cited the authority of the Bhagavad-Gita regarding the fact that while we are compelled to work, “every work must necessarily be a mixture of good and evil” (Vivekananda, 2007, p. 38). This is posited without supporting evidence. The key implication of the premise is “that if we do not attach ourselves to the work we do, it will not have any binding effect on our soul” (p. 38). So, is non-attachment the secret to which the title alludes, so that the imperative to work, with its inevitable good and evil effects, does not prevent spiritual realization? If this is the secret, then clearly for the Swami the liberation of the soul from any possible bondage is the summum bonum of human existence.

    The Swami next expounded upon the concept of samskâra, which he translated as “inherent tendency “(Vivekananda, 2007, p. 38), whereby he was referring to the imprinting on the malleable human mind of all our actions, thoughts, and impressions, for relative good or ill, that will then influence our action tendencies and make up our character. “What we are every moment is determined by the sum total of these impressions on the mind” (Vivekananda, 2007, p. 39). This is an ancient theme in spiritual discourse, as expressed in the first verse of the Buddhist scripture, The Dhammapada: “all that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts” (Babbit, 1965, p. 3). Vivekananda recommended accordingly that humans do good deeds and thinks good thoughts to such a consistent extent that good character will be firmly established. He believed that “such a man is safe for ever; he cannot do any evil” (Vivekananda, p. 40). This is an optimistic view of human potential.

    However, Vivekananda posited a state of human development beyond good character. “There is still a higher state than having this good tendency, and that is the desire for liberation. You must remember that freedom of the soul is the goal of all Yogas” (Vivekananda, 2007, p. 41). For such freedom to manifest, one needs to be unattached to the good just as much as to the bad because “a golden chain is as much a chain as an iron one” (Vivekananda, p. 41).  He exhorted that work be done without attachment to the outcome because this existence in the world of nature is evanescent. For him, “the very reason of nature’s existence is for the education of the soul; it has no other meaning; it is there because the soul must have knowledge and throug knowledge free itself” (Vivekananda, p. 43). In this argument, Vivekananda was approaching what he considered to be the secret of work.

    Then he went to a deeper level. If we do our work in an unattached way, we can be masters rather than slaves of the work, he asserted. This is because, as masters, we will be working in a spirit of freedom and love. He posited that, “every act of love brings happiness; there is no act of love that does not bring peace and blessedness as its reaction. Real existence, real knowledge, and real love are eternally connected with one another” (Vivekananda, 2007, p. 44).

    How is it possible to work in such an unattached way that will lead to such bliss? Vivekananda affirmed the following sine qua non for work as a pathway of spiritual liberation: “if you can invariably take the position of a giver, in which everything given by you is a free offering  to the world without any thought of return, then will your work bring you no attachment. Attachment comes only where we expect a return” (Vivekananda, 2007, pp. 46-47). This is a stringent requirement, and it is hardly practical for working people who are struggling to provide for their families’ basic needs while elites with political, military, and financial power extract from their dealings much in excess of their own needs and provide precious little in exchange.

    Vivekananda seemed to anticipate this critique of his other-worldly call to work without thought of recompense. He stated that, “there are two things which guide the conduct of men: might and mercy” (Vivekananda, 2007, p. 47).  He denounced the former as “invariably the exercise of selfishness” and praised the latter as “heaven itself” (Vivekananda, p. 47). He advised those who believe in a personal God to “give up all the fruits of our work unto the Lord” (Vivekenanda, p. 47). How can one survive in this world by such an approach? The parable  he cited did not give a reassuring answer. It told of an impoverished family who gave up  the little food they had in a cultural sense of obligation to be hospitable to a hungry stranger who happened to come to their door. The stranger, who seemed greedy, ate all, and the four family members died. This was hailed symbolically in the parable as laudable self-sacrifice, but the lack of compassion for the family members clouds over, for this reader, whatever spiritual light Vivekananda hoped to shine through this story. The dichotomy of either attending to one’s own needs or those of others is not subject to critical questioning, nor is the ancient motif of sacrifice.

    Toward the end of his talk, Vivekananda lamented that “this idea of charity is going out of India” (Vivekananda, 2007, p. 50). He also disparaged as a generalization “the Western idea--every man for himself” (Vivekananda, p. 50). This led to the conclusion of his talk: “Now you see what Karma-Yoga means; even to the point of death to help anyone, without asking questions. Be cheated millions of times and never ask a question, and never think of what you are doing” (Vivekananda, p. 50). Vivekananda’s statement here, if taken categorically, has alarming implications. Countless materially poor people of the world have indeed been cheated millions of times, while, for example, the financiers of Wall Street receive billions of dollars in ill-gained bonuses for their schemes that have not contributed to reducing human suffering. The liberation the poor need is not, in my opinion, sufficiently, or even adequately, met by spiritual knowledge. It also involves systems that protect social justice, human rights, equitable distribution of resources, fair compensation for goods and services, health care, education, and a sustainable natural environment. This world and our physical bodies are indeed ever-changing and impermanent, but they are precious nonetheless.

    Perhaps Vivekananda’s audience members were primarily privileged Westerners, and he intended his comments to spur them on to greater acts of charity. In that case, his advice can be seen in a different light. He told the privileged, “never vaunt of your gifts to the poor or expect their gratitude, but rather be grateful to them for giving you the occasion of practicing charity to them” (Vivekananda, 2007, p. 50). This advice is consonant with lessons life has provided me. Working as a mental health counselor for underprivileged, frequently traumatized, urban youth, I am indeed grateful for the opportunity to get to know them closely, to witness their strengths in spite of their hardships, and to assist them in their struggles toward discovering their ethical and ontological bearings in a rough and violent environment. I remain aware while doing this work that it is service and, as such, an aspect of my own spiritual path. I could not afford to do this work without a modest salary and health insurance, and I am happy when I see a client making progress, not for my benefit, but for the client’s and for the good of those who will, in turn, be affected by the client.

    As his closing thought, Vivekananda, himself a renunciant, paid tribute to those involved in the world of families and work, by stating, “thus it is plain that to be an ideal householder is a much more difficult task than to be an ideal Sanyasin; the true life of work is indeed as hard as, if not harder than, the equally true life of renunciation” (Vivekananda, 2007, pp. 50-51). To sum up his perspective, the secret of work is that it can be a pathway to spiritual liberation provided that it is truly altruistic, that it is done honorably without attachment to results or rewards, that it is motivated by mercy rather than by might, and that it comes through a spirit of love and freedom. He appealed to individuals to adopt these admirable attitudes and aspirations. If social and economic systems were designed and governed in practice along such lines, so that the mighty few could not prosper materially at the horrific expense of the impoverished many, deficiency needs could more widely be met as a precondition of greater realization of being needs, including  compassion, service, and self-realization.

 
References

Babbit, I. (Trans.). (1965). The Dhammapada. New York: A New Directions Paperback.

Maslow, A. (1962). Toward a psychology of being. Princeton & New York: D. Van Nostrand & Company.

Vivekananda, S. (2007). Karma yoga: The yoga of action (Thirty-eighth Impression). Kolkata, India: Avaita Ashrama, pp. 36-51.