Karmanye vadi karaste…

It was wonderful listening to a leader who wields power next only to the Roman Pontiff, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Father Adolfo Nicolas, who has spent a large part of his active years in Japan as missionary and professor of theology, talk about the Japanese ways and beliefs. At one point of his discussion about common apostolic discernment here in Monto Cocco retreat house off Rome, he said that one of the biggest diseases plaguing the universe today is the search for success. Unfortunately success has become the key word in all spheres of life today, and one can never think of failure, and that may mean the death-knell of not only one’s career, but also one’s whole life. No one wants to face failure, not even the children, who are taught to aspire higher and higher in the success ladder. A year ago we had a class three student, aged 8 years, in one of our prestigious schools, who apparently committed suicide. It was shocking news to all of us, for what would a child of eight years know about committing suicide, and he was not afraid of failure, because he was a brilliant student. His problem was that he could not score 25 out of 25, but only score 21, and was afraid that his mother would beat him for not scoring higher, and so ended his life. Another version tells that the mother beat the boy to death, and complained to the police as if the boy had committed suicide.

But that is the reality we are dealing with today. The lowest rung of the ladder is expected to be success, and one is to climb higher and higher. It does not matter if one is happy or not; that is immaterial. It is believed that more and more of success would automatically bring in happier life, and to a large extent success is put in direct proportion to happiness, though in reality it does not happen that way. It is a way of enticing humanity in showing the way of success as leading to guaranteed happiness, so that people are attracted to aspire towards success. Granted that success in life is accompanied by sweat and blood in most cases, but one does not mind hardships in life, provided with success in life, happiness is awarded or rewarded. The present competitive world not only entices, but also opens up gateways to achieve success in life, of course for a heavy price. At the expense of foregoing one’s personal needs and necessities, curbing social ties, even breaking one’s closest ties with families and siblings. The modern day gurus advocate all means in order to succeed in life.

If half of the fraternity in the commercial world were to know that success does not guarantee happiness in life, they may think twice before jumping into the success-band wagon. Fortunately by now half of humanity has knows that what truly matters in life is happiness, and not necessarily success, but they are yet to know the fact that success does not guarantee happiness. Those who make use of the ignorance of the whole lot of people, have even devised methods of making shortcuts to success; there are crash courses to achieve success at a very short period – you may have to dole out a lot of money, may even forego one’s honor and prestige, should even be prepared to lose all shame and all the virtues we had been taught from the time of childhood. It is a competitive world we are entering into, where what matters is the personal gain, even slaying one’s kith and kin. But that is the business ethics today, the unwritten law of success taught in all management schools, though not in open, but in close circles.

Three of the major religions of the world – Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism have taught one truth that the modern generation will not buy today : do your duty and leave the fruits to me. But perhaps it was articulated in the most emphatic way in the Bhagavad Gita, when Lord Krishna advices his disciple Arjuna to do his duty and not to think about the fruits. What happens if the Lord wants me to be a failure in my work? My mind reacts immediately and retorts, but how can the Lord want me to be a failure? I may have to remember that what is success in the eyes of the world, may truly be failure to the Lord, and what is failure in His/Her eyes may be in fact success. If the fruits of a particular action is success or failure is not for me to determine, but for the Lord. If only I am prepared to embrace even failure, and better still not to be bothered about the fruits of my labor, then I can be a happy person; because one can be happy even one’s failure, when one knows that one had done one’s best, and was satisfied by the sincere efforts made. But the algebra of happiness truly lies in our mental disposition, and not in the objective fruit it yields.

Is it possible for me to forego the desire to be successful? Or let me put the question reverse: will I be prepared to embrace failure? Granted that sometimes failure is thrust upon me, and I may not find an alternative to it; but if I am given an option to choose success or failure, will I have the courage and strength to choose deliberately and voluntarily failure? Today I pause for a while, and go through the different actions of mine from the early morning; I will also remember the kind of fruit I expect and anticipate. Let me take each of the actions and consider their fruits in negative, namely all my efforts ending up in failure. Let me feel deep within what would be the kind of feeling I would experience deep within. If I am able to rise above success and failure, then I would surely rise above happiness and sadness, and such are the persons, whom Lord Krishna calls in the Bhagavad Gita, dear to him (9:16-20). Here is an easy way then, to become close to the Lord, and enter into true happiness, and here it is guaranteed by the Lord himself, and we have nothing to worry or lose. (Rome)