One often gets confused about professional growth and material
prosperity. Professional growth and material prosperity are not the same.
Professional growth comes from values, reputation and satisfaction of
meaningful contribution to clients’ lives and nation building; whereas,
material prosperity could be achieved dehors of professional growth,
e.g. even an uneducated person can be a multi-millionaire. A good professional
is one who lives a value based life and is spiritually inclined. So what is the
connection between a profession and spirituality?
People think that in order for one to be materially prosperous, one
needs to compromise on values. However, the fact is that for being materially
well off, one need not be spiritually bankrupt. Spiritual pursuit, professional
growth and material prosperity can co-exist. In fact it is often found that the
growth of professional practice is in direct proportion to one’s growth in
spirituality. And material prosperity is in direct proportion of professional
growth.
Let me share with you my understanding of spirituality in a different
perspective and its relevance to professional growth and material prosperity:
(i) Living in ‘Now’
Spirituality is not something different
from our day to day living. Doing our daily chores with utmost concentration or
awareness is nothing but a state of being spiritual.
It reminds me of a story. A young disciple
comes for knowledge to a Zen Master. Days and months pass without any sermon or
teachings from the Master. Finally one day the youngster asks his Master, when
will his teaching start? Master turned to him and smiled, it already started
the day you entered this monastery. Haven’t you observed how I live? At that
time, the disciple realised that every act of the Master was meticulous. He was
hundred per cent present in that moment. He was actually living in “Now”.
When one decides to bring this awareness
in the profession, the speed of one’s professional growth increases.
(ii) Work is Worship
Work’s reward is in work itself. I have
observed that whenever I get satisfaction of my preparations for any seminar to
be addressed by me, the same is well received by the participants. My reward is
earned when I derive joy on completion of preparation and successful delivery
of the lecture. Spirituality is nothing but doing one’s work diligently, as an
offering to Lord. When one does one’s work with good emotions at heart, the
work becomes worship.
I am reminded of a beautiful story.
Once upon a time, three masons were
working on a site. A passerby asked the first one, hey what are you doing? He
said “don’t you see, I am laying bricks”; He asked the same question to the
second mason, he replied, “I am constructing a wall”. When he asked the third
person, he said “I am building a temple”. All three were right in their
answers, but the third person was working with divine emotions and therefore
can be termed as spiritual.
(iii) Sharing is Divine
One of the insecurities people have in
professional life is that of competition. However, we all know that knowledge
when shared gets doubled, one with the giver and the second with the receiver.
Knowledge, unlike products remains with the giver and enriches the receiver
also. In fact, the more we share, more we enrich ourselves. The same thing
applies to our clients as well. The more we educate them; more they respect and
love us.
(iv) Trust and Integrity are supreme
For any professional, trust and integrity
are of paramount importance. People entrust work only if they believe in the
integrity of the professional and have a trust in his abilities and intentions
to deliver. Both these qualities come naturally to a professional who pursues a
spiritual path. Whenever a client comes to know about your spiritual pursuits,
his trust and belief in your integrity increases.
Non-indulgence in corrupt practices and
other core values are highly appreciated and respected by clients.
(v) Discipline is Divine
One of the most appreciated traits of a
professional is discipline. Delivering on time and as promised is well
appreciated. We must always strive to produce more than what we consume and
give more than what we take. When we give more than what we take, we often land
up receiving more than what we expected. This would certainly happen, may not
always be in material terms, but invariably in terms of love, respect and
appreciation.
(vi) We are all connected
We are not human beings having a spiritual
experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience. In that sense we
are all connected. When we connect with our customers or clients from this
perspective, we strike a bond of love, trust and friendship which leads to
professional growth.
From the above it is clear that spirituality always helps you in your
professional growth.
Does that mean that spirituality never hinders professional growth?
The answer to the above question is both “yes” and “no”. It all depends
on how one defines professional growth. If one equates the professional growth
with material prosperity alone, then in the short term it may be possible that
you earn less or have to pay more taxes if you walk on the path of
spirituality. However, in the long run, one who follows spirituality,
experiences faster professional growth as he would be at peace with himself and
therefore can express himself or shine in his profession.
It may happen that as one progresses on the path of spirituality, one
finds the futility of this material world and professional achievements. At
that time one may consciously decide to go slow in the professional dimension
as one would not like to trade one’s permanent happiness with the temporal one.
Epilogue
Treading on the path of spirituality along with professional goals is
not easy. There are many temptations on the way. At times the system may force
you for indulgence in wrong practices, at times client wants you to do so and
at times you may simply be lured with the quantum of benefit. Here I am
reminded of one beautiful Gujarati bhajan, whose first line is as follows:
“Hari no marag che surano, nahi kayar nu kaam..”
Meaning – the path to God is for the brave and courageous and not for
cowards.
Once we decide to walk on the path of spirituality, “we must be ever
ready to fight against all low tendencies and false values within and without
us and to live honestly the noble sacrifice and service.”
At the end of the day you will find that spirituality leads to
professional growth, which in turn would bring you prosperity – both material
and spiritual.
