There are a hundred ways of doing the same thing. Some of these ways are right, some of these ways are wrong– but only one is the very best. We must do our duty in the best way possible, because it is our offering at the Lotus Feet of the Lord. How can we offer Him the second-best or worse? How can we not offer Him only the best?
Do your duty in the spirit of an offering to the Lord. This helps you grow in the awareness that you are an instrument of God, and that He is working through you!
The Lord urges us to perform all actions as dedications to Him. When you dedicate your duty to the Lord, you will indeed feel the difference!
1. When you allow yourself to become an instrument of God, your work will be better, more useful, more effective, for you are freed from your own limitations.
2. Doing your duty to God will also enable you to cultivate the virtues of perseverance and persistence, self-confidence and strength.
3. When you rid yourself of the desire for the fruits of action, when you are free from the anxiety about the result, you are content to leave it to the Lord. You also feel happy that you are acquiescing to His Will, and being a part of His Divine plan. You will find that the greatest good accrues to you, through utter surrender to God’s Will.
4. You escape the great dangers of pride and arrogance on the one hand, and depression and dejection on the other. If your efforts meet with great success, it is His doing; if you should face failure, it is His Will.
5. You really put into practice the maxim: Work is Worship. Doing your duty thus becomes a beautiful prayer. Performed in this spirit, work will always be a pleasant experience for you.
Not what you want — but what you ought to do! This is the mantra of duty.
When we learn to do our duty — selflessly, dispassionately, without desire, without expectation of a reward — we grow in the wonderful awareness, “I am not the doer; I do not expect, deserve, or depend on the fruit of action.” This is selfless action at its best!
Dada J P Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader
