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Work as Worship

Work is worship, meaning all life activity is ceremony for the divine. Pūjā is adoration and glorification. Humans possess many hungers—for money, position, beauty—which are endless longings. To be free, one must not be a slave to these senses and mind. The immortal fulfillment comes from that which spoils all other desires. Karma Yoga is this discipline; it is not mere work but worship. It releases stuck energy, purifies the intellect, and brings joy, serving as a profound therapy for the mind.

"Tu manindriyāṇkā rājā, ātmāñantar jāmī." "Mat kar iskī gulāmī, ātmā yantra yāmī."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

My life is your ceremony, O Lord. "Mera jīvan tedy pūjā." But we are the ones performing the pūjā. Pūjā means prayer, ceremony, meditation, and mantras. The word pūjā comes from pūjanā. Pūjanīya means adorable, worshipable—one whom you can worship and adore. That is called pūjā. To respect, glorify, and celebrate is pūjā. So when we have God, an altar, and we perform pūjā, it means we adore and worship. Yet the devotee says, "My Lord, all my activities in my life, my very life is a pūjā for you." We are constantly asking God for something, always expecting answers. When we pray, we ask: "Lord, help me, fulfill my wishes. May I pass my examination, get good marks in school, find a job, find a partner. Lord, may we have good children," and so on. This is called human hunger. Mostly, the hungry being is the human. Other creatures have only one hunger: the hunger for eating. But humans have many hungers because the human mind is always hungry; it always wants to become more. When you earn 100 crowns per hour, you think it would be good to have 200. When you have 200, you want 400. When you have one million, you try to multiply it to five million. When you have five billion, you want to be on the list of the world's richest people. How many hundred billions do I need? This is called hunger. Some have a hunger for money, some for social position, some for beauty, some for a partner. This is bhuk—hunger. And tṛṣṇā—longing. "Tṛṣṇā rūpī agni me sabhī jīv jal rahe"—in the fire of tṛṣṇā, all creatures are burning. Every human wants promotion from a lower post to a higher one. That is it. This is hunger. If you can satisfy this hunger, then that is best. Therefore, one Mahātma said: become immortal by eating that sweet which makes you immortal. That is the best sweet. The sweet which makes you immortal is the best sweet. And "sweet" means the fulfillment of desires. "Amarho, jisko khāne se mitāye ho, to aisā ho. Phatāde man viṣayose khatāye ho, to aisā ho"—and it spoils the mind of desires. What excellent sourness! Just as lemon spoils milk, we need that lemon, that sourness—what we call khaṭāī—which can spoil our desires. All hunger in this world is directed toward this. Therefore, the same Mahātma said: "Tu manindriyāṇkā rājā, ātmāñantar jāmī." O my inner Self, the Lord who is within me, you are the king of the senses and mind. You are the king of your senses and your mind. And desires are limited to the senses and mind. "Mat kar iskī gulāmī, ātmā yantra yāmī." Do not be their slave. And therefore, only that person can understand Karma Yoga. Who understands spirituality? "Mera jīvan terī pūjā"—my life is a ceremony to you. In English it is said: "Work is worship." We say, "Let's do prayer. Let's do ceremony." So it means doing. Thus, whatever Karma Yoga you are doing, it is not merely work; it is a ceremony, worshiping the Lord and placing yourself in discipline. It is Karma Yoga which gives you discipline. It is Karma Yoga which gives you joy. And Karma Yoga is the best therapy against depression. It is the best therapy for people who have schizophrenia or other mental problems, because practicing Karma Yoga means you release all stuck energy from within, and new energy comes in. It awakens the beautiful chakras within you, and your intellect is purified.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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