Meditation depends on strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when engaged in work. Particular time is meant for novices. – Ramana Maharishi

Dear ones, when I read this quote today, I felt so elated and I felt that I must share it with you all. It was like a revelation, so simple in its meaning and if one does just that, then one will be in a state of joy.

How so? Because whatever task one is doing, one is working to perform at one’s best ability. Sometimes there are so many things one has to do and one looks upon them as tedious chores. Once one changes one’s perception, then performing the activity it is not so hard or impossible.

Whitewashing a fence

How many of you have read Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain? Tom Sawyer was punished by his Aunt Polly (chapter 2) with the chore of whitewashing a massive fence. Tom cleverly tricked his friends into doing the work for him by pretending it was great fun and an exclusive privilege. Tom was forced to spend his sunny Saturday whitewashing a thirty-yard fence.

His friend Ben Rogers approached him, and Tom pretended that painting the fence required great skill and it was an amazing skill. Ben begged Tom to let him paint the fence and he gave him an apple. Subsequently his other friends also came along and they all wanted to paint the fence in exchange for toys like tin soldiers, marbles etc. Tom got the fence painted and was given numerous things. So, you see the perception was that it was a task, which required expertise and it was very enjoyable.

Well, I do not think Ramanna Maharishi meant exactly this. However, view a task unbiasedly and then when one completes it one feels good. When we work, we must try to work without conversing with our thoughts. Then we will find that we will be satisfied and proactive. The concept of Karma Yoga is to work in a happy frame of mind without expecting a reward. The reward is in the task accomplished. And this is meditation, we have completed our task, without getting tangled with our thoughts.

Aim Hrim Klim

Picture by Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Designed by Bradbury Thompson. – U.S. Postal Service; National Postal Museum: American Folklore Issue, Public Domain, Link