Laws of Work
Those that go through the daily hardship of earning a living feel like being at the receiving end. And, there is also often no end to these people’s hardship.
Unfortunately, the discrepancy exists regardless of whether one is a part of the corporate sector or a daily wage earner. The poorer you are, the harder it is to get rid of the shackles of hardship.
The rub is worse when the ones at the top of the corporate ladder are seen being paid way more than what they deserve. Have you not been a part of such discussions at the water cooler, albeit in hushed tones?
Those who understand karma would know that it is the karma of the folks at the top of the corporate ladder who placed them there. But, interestingly, the negative karma spawned by their greed might one day put them in the shoes of a daily wage earner. Similarly, those working hard today are generating positive karma that might one day make them a CEO in this or another life! But unfortunately, due to our limited view of a lifespan, we usually cannot comprehend or appreciate the power of karma.
So, there is no point in comparing oneself with anyone else. Everyone is impacting life by the karma that they have collected and are in the process of collecting. Because of this karma, the cycle of life would not end. You and them, most likely, will go through another life based on the karma collected or dissolved in this life.
And this brings to a couple of interesting conclusions that I jokingly call Tas’s Laws of Work.
- There is no escape from work.
- Work you do will pay you back in kind one day.
A large part of karma can be dissolved only through physical work. An idle life by itself would generate loads of karma that you will need to dissolve if you desire liberation from these cycles of birth and death. Until you achieve liberation, you will be going through these pains and pleasures, when sometimes you might see yourself at the receiving end, which is when it all seems unfair.
If you are forced to work hard today, you have a chance to dissolve your negative karma and spawn positive karma. Therefore, completing the work without complaints is better to avoid adding any more negative karma. So, if you do your part, do not despair; you will have your day one day.
And that brings me to the second conclusion that I have often noticed playing out in my life as proof. No matter what work you do, it pays you back in kind sooner or later. You might have noticed yourself when suddenly you get a breakthrough with something you are stuck with, and you realize, ‘Oh, what I did that day is coming in handy now!’ Seeing this from a higher perspective, you would notice that the positive karma you created the other day is playing out to make your life easier today.
Therefore, we can draw these corollaries of the Laws of Work:
- Never complain about the share of work you have on your plate.
- Never be idle. Instead, indulge in doing something good.
What you have on your plate is your share of the work that either you did not complete someday, or it is there with you now to free you up for something better in the future. The best strategy is to take up the challenge and finish that work cheerfully. If you work on it grudgingly, you will only ask for more hardship for yourself.
Never be idle. But watching TV is not what you can do not to be idle. Instead, engage in an activity that makes you move around and involves using your brain. The immediate benefit of being active is staying healthy. Since your life depends on the body, keeping the body in good shape will help you dissolve more of your karma in this life itself. And, as we all know, healthy life is a happy life.
And therefore, this is the final and the most important conclusion:
We are responsible for whatever we are today.
No one else is. The sooner we realize that, the better it would be for us. If we have got ourselves burdened with a lot of work, that is our own doing. If we enjoy the fruits of the work we had put in during our past lives, that is also our own doing.