Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
22 June 2019
Work Hard
“In the present”
Make the best use of life is the advice given by parents, elders, friends, colleagues, teachers and everyone to each other due to knowledge. Knowledge also informs that life is in the present.
Knowledge, therefore, implies that everyone should make the best use of the present. Knowledge also informs that everyone should work hard to make the best use of life.
Knowledge further informs that humans do work hard in life in the present and this strengthens the advice given by knowledge, which is: work hard.
Knowledge informs that those who work hard are not free from the shadows of unwanted emotions, their variety and intensity in any moment, just as those who do not work hard in life in the present are not free from unwanted emotions in any moment.
Knowledge also informs that the present in life is available in every moment of life.
Man and woman with wisdom, however, are free from unwanted emotions in any moment. So what is the wisdom of the advice given by knowledge, which is work hard and make the best use of life, is the question?
The wisdom is that neither man nor woman makes any moment in life, because the moment in life was in life much before man and woman were in life. Wisdom informs that neither man nor woman makes the present moment in life.
Wisdom informs that neither man nor woman can make a moment in life, because he or she needs to be in the moment in order to make a moment. But they cannot be in the moment without a moment being there.
Wisdom informs that neither man nor woman makes a moment and that the moment, which is the present, renews itself every moment continuously, uncontrollably and unpredictably by the intelligence in life.
Wisdom informs that every moment, which is the present in life, is a gift to man by the intelligence in life. Furthermore, that man cannot give this gift either to himself or to another human being because neither man nor woman makes the present moment in life.
Wisdom informs that the content of every moment, which is the present in life, is a gift to man by the intelligence in life. Furthermore, that man cannot give this gift either to himself or to another human being because neither man nor woman makes the present moment in life.
Wisdom informs that the content of every moment is what man and woman are meant to do in the present moment in life. What man and woman are meant to do in the moment is a gift to man by the intelligence in life. Man cannot give this gift either to himself or to another human being because neither man nor woman makes the present moment in life.
Wisdom informs that what man and woman are meant to do in the moment is either working hard or not working hard. This too is a gift to man by the intelligence in life. Man cannot give this gift either to himself or to another human being because neither man nor woman makes the present moment in life.
Wisdom informs that man and woman are aware of what he or she does in the present moment in their life and that it is a gift to man and woman by the intelligence in life. Man can give this gift neither to himself nor to anyone, because neither man nor woman makes the present moment in life.
The enlightened accept what man and woman do in the present and do not expect them to work hard or not to work hard in the moment that is present in life.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2019
Editor’s Note:
There is scarcely one of us that does not use knowledge as the guide in life. The gift of knowledge with its potential is not yet understood to be the gift of the intelligence of life, for man proclaims that, without a shadow of doubt, he or she is the one who knows and behaves. Thus, it is he or she that succeeds or fails in endeavours made or not made. The wise, however, inform, both in this article and elsewhere, that man is neither the knower nor the doer. They understand that each moment of life and what is contained within it is precisely as it is meant to be. This is life’s gift to every human being and to whatever exists. Understanding this is the dawning of realisation.
Julian Capper, UK
German Translator’s Note:
Those who work hard, or believe they are working hard, because hard is relative, want a corresponding wage for their work. There are people who work hard and get relatively little for it, so they can hardly survive, and others who have more money and work hard but work less than the poor who fight for their survival. So the wage for work is relative and not absolute. And let us not forget all the unpaid work such as cooking and caring for children which usually is done by the mother. The same applies to the standard for hard work. What all people have in common, however, is the belief that it is the person who determines how hard he works. The wise, however, understand that every individual is on a mysterious journey that involves a certain amount of work. It is also wise to understand that everyone gets exactly what they are meant to get, and nothing more or less. Dr. Shankar's article does not free man from hard work or concern for survival, but the wisdom contained in it helps each man and woman to accept his or her life's journey and the work assigned to him or her, and to flow with life as it unfolds.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.
Dutch translator’s note:
Many proclamations are made and we find them very obvious, like the advice to work hard in life with the implicit message that not working hard is wrong. In this article of Dr. Shankar there is no judgement about working hard or not working hard. Dr. Shankar shows that the eternally renewing moment in life has everything in it: man, that what is meant to happen and awareness. This unity contained in the moment, is the gift of life to man.
Paula Smit, The Netherlands.