Material Success and Happiness Through Yoga Principles

by Swami Kriyananda
(J. Donald Walters)

Copyright © 2005 Hansa Trust
All rights reserved.

Lesson Sixteen
Being a Successful Employee
The Principles
To be a successful employee means more than to be successful as an employee—more, in other words, than to be an employee who receives a decent salary and has an adequate position. To be a successful employee in the sense of bringing success to one’s firm, and a feeling of success to oneself, is to be the kind of person who is a real asset to the company for which he works. This he can be only if he takes an intelligent and supportive interest in the company and in its over-all aims.
In large companies it is common for an executive to have people both above and below him. He must therefore filter the fundamental aims of the company from anyone immediately above him down to those immediately beneath him. The ability to honor high principles while remaining obedient to directives, and to further the policies of the firm itself, depends on several factors:
The first consideration is whether the firm’s policies themselves are principled. The second is whether the people running things are doing their best to honor those principles. Third, does everyone in the chain of command abide by those principles?
An employee has little control over such matters—diminishingly so, the farther down he is in the chain of command. Not even the majority of executives can really “call the shots,” except in matters of minor importance. Indeed, if the company is owned by shareholders the president himself may not be free to do everything he’d really like to do.
For this last reason when, many years ago, I founded Ananda, I rejected the temptation to speed our development with the help of outside investors. My thought was, What if some of them should decide someday to take Ananda Sangha in a different direction from the purpose for which I founded it? The success of a large project requires help from many people, but what most investors want, generally speaking, is simply a financial return on their investment. Even in a spiritual work, where those returns, if they exist, are secondary, the investors may have their own ideas as to what they want the work to accomplish. I decided I’d rather fail than be controlled by people who, potentially, didn’t share my ideal of promoting my Guru’s teachings, and my insights into them. I didn’t want dissension.
It was difficult to go it alone. I had limited funds, and knew of only one way I could earn it: by teaching yoga classes. This I did tirelessly in many cities! Fortunately, I was in demand. With God’s help, and after several years of hard work, I finally succeeded. Probably what helped me to do so was the truth expressed in the well-known maxim, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Even more, what sustained me was my faith in, and the subtle help and guidance from, my Guru.
If one must accept employment under another person, however, his options are even more limited, for decision-making will not be his responsibility. In a large company, you may find yourself transferred from department to department and working under one boss after another. What should you do if even one of those bosses is not so supportive as he might be of the firm’s principles?
Such a situation is ripe for office intrigues. A supervisor who doesn’t wholeheartedly agree with the aims of his firm may be able to mask his lack of support for many years, especially if he supports most of them. Such a person will want everyone under him to agree with him. Thus, he will try to get transferred, or perhaps even fired, subordinates who don’t seem in his eyes to be giving him the backing he wants. Gradually he will gather around him people who are, if anything, even less supportive of the company’s policies than he is himself. From such a team, an infection of negativity sometimes spreads throughout the company. Wisdom dictates that disaffection like this be excised completely—if possible, by eliminating the supervisor himself, but, if not possible, by getting him transferred to a place and a position where he can do no harm. (He will of course try to hide himself carefully, meanwhile, behind smoke screens of protested loyalty.)
Corporations can become hotbeds of office intrigue, politics, gossip, and dissension. I say this although the company my own father worked for and in which he was an executive—Esso or Exxon as it has been re-named in America, both of which are short for Standard Oil of New Jersey, at that time the largest company in the world—was, as nearly as I could tell, stable enough not to be undermined by any negative currents that appeared. I assume, however, from my knowledge of human nature, that such currents existed there also. (I got whiffs of it from time to time, but evidently any such currents were reabsorbed into the mainstream. At any rate, they seemed to be of little concern to my father.)
The truth is, human nature often seethes with ambition and self-interest. These ego-boosters intrude especially where large groups of people work together, and certainly when the main stakes are money and power. Unfortunately, employees are more obliged even than executives to compromise. This being the case, it may help them to reflect that all life is a compromise! We must all accept some need for it in this work-a-day world. The important thing is not to betray our conscience in important matters.
The compromises begin with the simple fact that we have human bodies! We cannot fly like the birds, even if our spirit soars. We cannot swim under water for long distances, like fish, without material assistance. We cannot leap like monkeys, fight like tigers, or lift weights like elephants, no matter how strong we consider ourselves. We must adapt to numerous inconveniences such as the need to eat, breathe, sleep—whatever our private fantasies.
The rule for living a sane life is that one must work with what is, while remaining faithful to higher ideals. If one is not in a position in his firm to make executive decisions, his options in that regard are slim to non-existent. If he has a family, he may have to accept more compromises. Ideally, he should seek work in a place that has high principles. Life, however, is not always so conveniently arranged. Sometimes one finds himself working among people who only seem principled at first, but who in time disappoint those expectations. What can he do?
A friend of mine wrote recently that she was finding herself repeatedly in that predicament. What could I say? She is still looking for work that matches her insistence on truth and honesty. What if she fails? Shall she seek honorable work that is beneath her actual abilities? That, of course, is for her to decide. Is she courageous enough to start a new organization on her own? That, again, is for her to decide.
I must say truthfully, and not boastfully, that I believe I would rather have starved than go counter to my ideals. Still, I am not so naive as to imagine that every student of these lessons will be free to be so firm, even if he wants to be. For one thing, speaking personally, I am not married. I have no family to support. Even the people who depend on me for guidance know that I would never sacrifice a valid ideal for more security—my own or anyone else’s. Indeed, several times in the past I have risked everything for truth. Yet I am fair enough to realize that not everyone is free to risk everything for his ideals. I cannot, therefore, and I will not presume to tell anyone what he must do. In matters of this sort, all must decide for themselves. Even so, you can seek employment in some place that is at least known to have high principles. That can be your priority. You don’t have to “throw in the towel” and resign yourself to the belief that such places don’t exist. They do exist. Good employers also do exist. The more all of us try to create vortices of positive, good energy, the more that energy will expand outward. Perhaps, in time, it will cover the world.
If the place where you work doesn’t meet your expectations, scout around in your free time for alternatives. You needn’t quit your job immediately. You must be practical, of course. Even so, while working in one position you can always look elsewhere. Don’t leap off the diving board before checking to see whether the pool contains water.
Above all, pray to God for help and guidance. As countless people have found, prayer really works!
There is an alternative to intense involvement in the work you do, if high principles seem too demanding to you. Seek work that is moral, of course, but don’t become too involved in it emotionally. Employers need competent workers, but it would be unrealistic for anyone to expect that everyone who works for him will be fully committed to the work. From an employer’s point of view, it is always wonderful to have people who share his vision, but he surely understands that, realistically, the number of such people cannot be vast.
I myself, by patience and forbearance, have been fortunate in attracting more supporters than most who fully share my vision. But then, what I’ve called them to has been not only challenging, but inspiring. Had I started something very different—a plumbing company, for instance—how many would I have attracted whose eyes shone at the thought of creating functioning bathrooms and kitchens? The best I could have hoped for would have been one or two men who, perhaps, really enjoyed their work. It would have been virtually a certainty that most of my employees worked with me primarily, if not entirely, for the salary.
During Ananda Sangha’s beginnings, not many came who understood what I wanted to accomplish. I had to accept some in the hope of attracting the kind of people, eventually, that I really wanted. They did come, gradually. Reflecting on those who came first, I see clearly that they needed first to be convinced.
Thus, if you yourself need to work under someone else, and cannot devote yourself wholeheartedly to the job you get, be at least honest, truthful, and honorable. Work sincerely for your pay. Don’t be a “clock watcher”—one who puts in the necessary hours while he waits anxiously for the day to end. Man’s duty in life is to become, above all, increasingly aware. This path all must follow toward their final destiny, cosmic consciousness. Be the sort of worker, then, who applies himself intelligently, conscientiously, and supportively to the tasks he is given. You don’t have, in other words, to become emotionally involved in the goals of your firm or of your employer to do your work well. Indeed, let Sri Krishna’s advice to Arjuna be your guide: Act without desire for (or attachment to) the fruits of your action.
I once met a Kriya Yogi in Calcutta who was employed, I imagine, in a more-or-less minor capacity; otherwise, I would expect him to have been more emotionally involved in his work than he seemed to indicate. He commuted to work by train every day. While traveling, he would practice a few Kriya breaths, and go breathless. He remained in that superconscious state until his destination was reached, at which point he resumed breathing, returning to outwardness, and descended from the train. This he did going in both directions, morning and evening. I imagine he was inwardly reflective, practicing the presence of God, even while working. Yet he kept his job, and must have been good enough at it to satisfy his employer.
Would such a man be a loss to firm and family? More likely, his presence was a blessing to both.
An elderly sister disciple of our Guru once told me of a stroll she had taken with him one afternoon on the grounds of his seaside hermitage in Encinitas. As they were walking they came upon Rajarsi Janakananda, his most highly advanced disciple, seated on the ground in meditation. The Master whispered, “Let’s walk very quietly here so as not to disturb him.” The sister’s recollections continued: “When we’d gone a little distance further, Master turned to me and said, ‘You’ve no idea what blessings are attracted to this work when even one member of it can meditate as deeply as he does!’”
A place of business is blessed to have a true yogi on its staff, even if his outward contribution is very minor. The magnetism he emanates will attract success at every level to the organization itself. This is, indeed, the greatest secret of material success: keep an uplifted consciousness.
Success radiates outward from uplifted awareness, whatever outward mechanics are involved. It is entirely possible for a firm to do everything right, and still fail. And it is also possible to do something completely unorthodox which no one has ever succeeded in doing before, and—if one’s consciousness is uplifted—to achieve stunning results. Karma also is involved, of course, but even so one can draw the best from karmic law itself if his consciousness is inspired.
As Patanjali wrote in his Yoga Sutras, when non-avarice is entrenched in a person’s nature “All jewels are attracted to him.” This was a poetic way of saying that material success of all kinds is drawn to one. (Again, this attitude embraces the principle I’ve quoted often from the Bhagavad Gita: action should be performed with inner freedom—that is, without attachment to the results of action: nishkam karma.)
To the worldly mind, material success seems attainable only by “blood, sweat, and tears” (quoting Winston Churchill as he exhorted England to stand firm during World War II). In reality, divine assistance also was involved—something that very few people realized. Karma and Divine Consciousness worked together for England, using the courage of her people as their instrument. Great yogis in India later stated, and my Guru corroborated, that they had been working subtly through Hitler’s and Germany’s karma to ensure their defeat. This is not merely a pious belief. Sri Aurobindo stated that he himself was one of those yogis. My Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, was another. Although the influence of karma is supreme, great masters often do work within that law to hasten its effects, whether nationally or personally. They involve themselves especially when the issues concern the eternal struggle between darkness and light.
A mere employee, especially in a large company, will not usually see himself as being able to influence his company’s policies and directions. Don’t underestimate the power, however, of consciousness itself. Often when a situation seems objectively speaking to be hopeless, a change of consciousness in even one corner of an enterprise may have far-reaching results. Because everyone seeks happiness, though some seek it misguidedly, even one person may, for example if he is radiantly happy, influence others for the better by simply being happy, himself.
One who gives positive, willing, and cheerful support through his work may, even in a minor position, influence everyone around him for the better. It is a simple fact, often stated by Yogananda, that the darkness, although it cannot be driven from a room with a stick, is dispelled at once by simply turning on the light!
An example was told me of a shop, the large parking lot of which had become a teenage “hang-out.” The youngsters played heavy rhythm music loudly all day on their radios. The shop owner did not like the music, and felt that it interfered with his business. He was not in a position, however, to tell the youngsters to lower the volume. He brought a positive solution to bear on the problem: He played Mozart and other soothing classical music through a loudspeaker into the parking lot. The teenagers soon took their fun elsewhere!
Even if the position you hold is subordinate, there is much that you can do to create good vibrations around you by simply emanating a cheerful attitude. You don’t have to express disapproval of certain policies and attitudes, if they need to be changed. You can do much to change the surrounding vibrations by simply expressing a positive energy.
Very few people can be like that Calcutta Kriya yogi. Even so, you can help to uplift the general consciousness at work by projecting positive vibrations, yourself. Realize, however, that a mere lack of interest is usually negative. To be successful at anything requires one to take active interest in something. Never be apathetic. Look upon your work as an opportunity above all for lifting your own consciousness.
Try to find a job that will help your own spiritual advancement. You can do this, to begin with, by analyzing your own deep-seated tendencies. Reflect especially on the nature with which you were born. The tendencies a child expresses during the first six years of its life are a good indication to the nature it developed in its last life. Present life experiences may gradually overlay those tendencies, but were you drawn as a child, for instance, to beauty? If so, was it to any particular kind of beauty: to color, form, texture, or to any other aspect?
Were you interested in mechanics? If so, was it toward design, creating, or operating machinery?
Did money interest you? If so, was your interest in buying and selling, or in simply handling money?
Did sports come naturally to you as something you understood as if from inside?
Did you have a native flair (as many children have nowadays) for electronics?
The field of inquiry is endless. I propose the above possibilities simply in order to interest you in probing the question. To have a flair for anything may be an indication to the kind of work you might do successfully in the present life.
Next, ask yourself this question: What line of activity do I think might expand my sympathies and understanding? In what line do I think I might serve others best? Does any line for which I might have a natural aptitude—public speaking, for example, or acting—awaken images of self-glory, rather than of helping and uplifting others? Activity that leads to personal glory, even though it is successful, could have the spiritual disadvantage of increasing the ego’s grip and leading, thereby, to an increase of inner bondage, not of inner freedom. Normally, any activity that increases the hold of ego is contrary to yoga principles, even if it results in worldly glory. It is important to realize, however, that all desires must be fulfilled. If the dream of glory is deep-seated, it may need in any case to be realized. In this case, try to direct it expansively toward uplifting others, also. The more prominent one’s position in the world, certainly, the broader the good he can do.
A common way to find one’s own natural bent is to ponder not only the strengths, but also the weaknesses of one’s own heredity. For heredity does play a role, albeit a secondary one, in determining a person’s nature. How much we actually inherit from our parents is less actual than may seem to be the case, but to study our forebears may help us toward self-understanding. We inherit some of our physical characteristics, certainly. These are our biological legacy. Each of us comes into this life also, however, with many characteristics that reflect not so much our biological heritage as our former incarnations.
One example, albeit a minor one, may suffice. I personally have always had a somewhat delicate digestion. My Guru once asked me about it. To my reply in the affirmative, he commented, “That’s because you had that trouble before.” This weakness derived, in other words, not from my parents, and wasn’t a genetic transfer from any ancestor. Biologists would say, “Well, it had to be in your genes somewhere.” Maybe, but the mind is stronger than material influences. In the case of human beings, the physical tendencies implanted in the subconscious by past experiences may be stronger than anything inherited biologically.
My Guru stated that the consciousness of a couple during sexual union sends out vibrations into the astral world which express their state of mind at the time. Souls that are ready for rebirth, and that are compatible with that vibration, are attracted to it. Often, what a soul (that is to say, of course, a disincarnate ego) in the astral world shares with the couple is only one particularly strong characteristic. Thus, explained Yogananda, a saintly person may sometimes even be born into a criminal home, if he shares with them a strong attraction for example to peace. Of course, the selection also depends on the number of opportunities that are available at the time a soul is reborn.
From these facts it must be understood that the caste system in India, and the racial or class prejudices elsewhere on earth, are all born of misunderstanding of the way these things work. A brother disciple of mine once asked our Guru, “Are not white people with a strong prejudice against blacks likely to be reborn black in their next incarnations?”
“Of course!” replied the Master, chuckling slightly. That simple fact may explain why many “black people” in America nowadays have a strong prejudice against whites: their prejudice carried over in reverse manner from the past!
The caste system must, then, be understood very differently from the way it evolved in India. So also must the class and race distinctions in other countries. We come into life, as the poet Wordsworth said, “trailing clouds of glory [or of inglory!] from afar.” Originally, as I have explained, the caste system was an enlightened method for guiding people on the path toward their own liberation.
In lower forms of life, an entity evolves upward by natural degrees. Nature herself draws them upward. According to the Indian scriptures, it takes from five to eight million lifetimes for the Spirit, individualized in material form, to reach the human level. At this point, it acquires a nervous system and brain that are refined enough to continue the process of evolution by its own free will.
It takes time also as a human being to develop in consciousness. Sensitivity develops, over incarnations, into a longing for spiritual enlightenment. So-called “young souls” as human beings have more animalistic urges. The ego requires time to realize that it can use its brain for intelligent thought, and not seek only sense gratification. People on this lowest level of awareness were named sudras. Such people think only of their physical needs.
The ancient Indian teachings identified sudras with peasants—workers of the soil, in other words. That label was symbolic, however. There have, to be sure, been highly intelligent peasants who were obliged by circumstance to till the soil, or to do other manual labor. They were not necessarily true sudras: Some of them may actually have been saints. Society in ancient India was itself far more complex than implied by the simple labels of the caste system. Nowadays, sudra types can be found on all levels of society.
Once the ego comes to realize that it can use its intelligence for furthering its self-interest, it acquires cunning; that is to say, it uses its intelligence for selfish ends. The caste system labels such a person a vaishya: symbolically, a merchant. (Obviously, again, the leap from peasant to merchant was simplistic in the extreme.) The term refers to all who see human intelligence as a means only to selfish ends.
When, after further incarnations, the ego begins to feel a concern for others’ needs and sufferings, it acquires a sensitive desire to help others and to improve their well-being. At this level, a person develops sympathy, and wants to help and uplift others. This class of people, anciently, were labeled, kshatriyas. This name generally was applied to soldiers and aristocrats. The soldier best symbolizes this level of refinement, perhaps, for duty calls him to lay down life itself, if need be, to defend others.
As the ego grows further in refinement, it understands that the best way to help others is to show them how they themselves can attain happiness. At this stage, the ego realizes that other benefits are only means to that higher end. What everyone wants, basically, is true joy. Indeed, happiness has its roots in God, Satchidananda: ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss. Happiness cannot be found through physical acquisition or sense-gratification. The service one renders who has reached this level of refinement, therefore, is primarily spiritual, not material. Such a one is a true brahmin, a label identified with the priestly caste.
There is, indeed, a higher level still: triguna rahitam, a state transcendent above all caste distinctions and human characteristics. It is the state of the true brahmin, the knower of Brahman, or God. From such a person alone emanate those subtle insights which enable souls to escape the prison of ego, and to realize oneness with the Infinite. Philosophical thought alone cannot grant such insight. It can be granted only by a true guru, who himself has attained those heights. The Sat Guru alone can transfer Self-realization upon the disciple who is ready for it.
This teaching, of course, takes us far above the level of lessons on material success. I can only indicate it, here, as the direction in which everyone must develop if he follows yoga principles to the end.
If you desire to be a good employee and at the same time to grow in consciousness, seek work that will somehow uplift your consciousness! Labor that is done automatically and mindlessly with the mind fixed only on the income received takes one downward in consciousness again, toward the sudra state.
How many ascents and descents are experienced before the ego finally determines that it must and will lift its consciousness to infinity! The fluctuations of fortune are uncountable; they depend entirely on the individual’s free choice.
Seek work above all therefore that is compatible with your own needs for spiritual development: work that will assist you in releasing the hold your ego has upon you and deepen your understanding and empathy with others. Keep those ends consciously in mind while you work. Try to please your employer, but never by flattering him. Please him by taking an interest in whatever work he gives you to do. Mental acceptance of whatever must be done is uplifting to one’s consciousness. Mental rejection has a lowering effect.
If you work in a large company, and feel you’d rather work under some other company executive, show an intelligent interest in what that person does. Everyone who has others working under him is pleased when they show an active interest in the activities of his department. It will therefore be reasonable for you to hope that, when an opening occurs in that department, the boss may ask that you be re-assigned to him. Meanwhile, do as well as you can in whatever department you are now in.
The Application
Keys to Relating to the Boss
1.    Be neither too formal nor too familiar toward him. The customs that govern relationships between employer and employee differ from country to country, but certain modes of behavior apply more or less universally. If custom requires a relationship of strict formality, there may be little communication between you and, therefore, little feeling of cooperation. Even in such a case, however, a supportive attitude accompanied by an occasional smile can go far toward developing mutual appreciation.
In modern times, especially in America, familiarity is often encouraged in order to facilitate easy communication. Many bosses want their subordinates to address them by their first names. Although this may be good, it can also become tricky. Over-familiarity encourages employees to take undue advantage of their bosses’ good will—blinding them to the fact that they must still do as they are told. Excessive familiarity can also impair the boss’s ability to express himself firmly when necessary.
Even friends who find themselves in that relationship need to draw a line between the friendship they enjoy outside the office and the more formal relationship required at work. Since these things depend so much, not only on custom, but on the personalities involved, no rule can be made. Nonetheless, it will help everyone to realize that familiarity can impair the boss’s judgment also, while detracting from a high sense of purpose in the employee.
2.    Never be a sycophant, or “yes man”: one whose priority is to please the boss, rather than to do his job well and conscientiously. Some employers foolishly encourage this spirit in their subordinates, favoring those who curry favor with them. The resulting spirit can harm the whole firm.

3.    Relate to your boss from your own inner center to his. Doing so will help to keep your interrelationship on a high, creative level.

4.    Try always to relate to the best that you can see in your employer. Human nature being what it is, you may feel there is not a natural affinity between you. Look, then, for his good points (reflecting that he must have some!), and concentrate on them.

5.    Frequent contact between employer and employee can often create emotional tension—perhaps especially in the subordinate. A superior of mine once remarked to me, “Let’s face it: You have no taste!” I was outraged. I think this was the only time I actually wept in frustration over our relationship. The truth is, I felt that, of the two of us, it was I who had good taste and she who lacked it! In any case, to have to submit to her judgment on matters unrelated to our work, merely because she was the boss, was an excellent lesson for me in even-mindedness—a lesson which, I’m afraid, I failed that time to pass. Might I have done better? Yes, by remaining centered in myself; by directing my heart’s feelings upward; by concentrating on her good points; by nishkam karma—giving our relationship to God; and by enjoying the humor of the situation—which in fact I did inwardly, despite my tears!

6.    Develop a supportive attitude. Remember, it isn’t likely that your boss will actually enjoy bullying you; probably he wants simply to do as well as he can at his job. If in fact, however, he gives you a hard time, what better “revenge” than to support him quietly, with a friendly smile?

7.    How can you change your boss’s mind if ever you think he is mistaken? One way is to agree with him in principle, but then to add, “On the other hand, what would you say to this suggestion? . . .” Or perhaps, “What would you say, were I to try it this way? . . .” If the friendship between you exists on firm ground, be completely honest with him. Say, “I suggest we do. . . .” A good boss, even if the two of you are not close friends, will listen to you with respect. Don’t insult a person of such honesty by implying, through excessive tact, that you think his ego needs pampering. Tact is a virtue, but with truthful people it should not be wrapped carefully in cotton wool! That very effort may offend them.

8.    Concentrate impersonally on what is being done, not on who is doing it.

9.    Familiarize yourself with your boss’s nature and work with it realistically. Most people have their ups and downs. Understand when to express your personal feelings, and when not to. This doesn’t mean you should wheedle, ever. Rather, it indicates a sensitive regard for who and what kind of person your boss is.

10.    Be completely true to your word. Never promise to do a thing and then forget to do it. Let your simple word be your bond. The boss who knows he can rely on you will place his full confidence in you. You will be one of the greatest assets any firm can have.

11.    When your boss assigns you something, try to go beyond his expectations. The truly conscientious employee is the one most likely to receive promotion.

12.    Be loyal to your boss. Never speak against him. Answer firmly and supportively of him any criticism others make against him.
I remember once many years ago an announcer in a radio station who, after playing a recorded song of mine, made what I thought was a ridiculous suggestion regarding it. I casually mentioned what he’d said to the receptionist in the front office. She replied, “Oh, that man has no taste.” I agreed, and mentioned to my father later on what had happened. I was surprised, and gratified, by his reaction.
“She had no right to say that!” he stated indignantly. “As long as that firm pays her, she should support it and say nothing to its discredit.”
He was right. It had been a mistake to chuckle at her words.

13.    Be completely sincere. Don’t pretend reactions you don’t really feel, simply in order to please your boss. At the same time, respect the fact that he, like most people, probably has foibles of his own. If, for example, he tells what you consider a bad joke, smile kindly even if you don’t laugh. To “smile kindly” means not cynically or sarcastically, but pleasantly! To be sincere doesn’t mean to show disapproval. Be supportive in spirit, above all.
Keys to Relating to Your Fellow Employees

1.    Never try to give the impression that you are “in” with the boss in ways that others are not. This is, universally, a good principle to follow. I could have resolved many a conflict during the founding of Ananda by telling dissenters simply, “I knew our Guru. You did not. Don’t you think you should listen to what I say?” I’ve never once held that club over anyone’s head. Instead, what I’ve always done is let “sweet reason” persuade for me. If I’ve failed, I’ve simply let it go at that. Your co-workers will accept you better if you never try to “pull rank” on them.
2.    If you disagree with the boss in anything, never voice the fact generally. If you do speak of your disagreement to a few friends, let it be outside of office hours, on your own time.
3.    Try never to compete with your co-workers. Allow each his “place in the sun.” Try, rather, to win by merit, and never by attempting to show up anyone or by displaying yourself as better than others. Such generosity is compatible with yoga principles. It is true that one may sometimes win by scheming. To do so will, however, make you fail in other ways, eventually. The truer you are to the truth itself, the more likely you will be to attract the success you need and deserve.
4.    Be kind to your fellow workers. Help them whenever they need it, and when the opportunity presents itself. If you act thus, they will respond to you in kind. A pleasant atmosphere in the workplace will bring blessings to everyone there.
5.    Go out of your way to show an interest in your co-workers, in their lives, in their problems. Do everything you can to offset a spirit of competitiveness, if it exists, even if it is encouraged from above. If that atmosphere exists, it may even be wiser for you to seek employment elsewhere. For when such a spirit emanates downward from above, there may be nothing you can do about it—though it might be a fascinating challenge for you to try!
6.    Never share information with others that you’ve been given in confidence. On the other hand, remember always the scriptural dictum: “If a duty conflicts with a higher duty, it ceases to be a duty.” If the confidential information concerns a harm that is being plotted against anyone, don’t feel in this case that your lips are sealed by the word you gave. To do so would be to compound one mistake with another, even greater!
7.    Make a point to look consciously for good qualities in your co-workers. In disagreements, try to see also their point of view. When you win a point, never beat them down by saying, “I told you so!” Give them a graceful way out.
8.    Greet your fellow workers in a friendly manner at the beginning of each day. At the day’s end, again, wish them well. Little courtesies like these do much to keep the machinery of our relationships running smoothly.
9.    Keep to yourself any sad mood you feel. It isn’t fair to dump your private worries onto others, like a bucket of cold water.
10.   Politeness is something people often reserve for strangers or for people they meet seldom. It will help to keep the “machinery” of your daily relationships running smoothly if you are polite and considerate also to those you work with daily.
11.   The patterns of speech you use toward your co-workers can have an uplifting or a depressing effect on the entire work force. Be clean-minded, courteous, and never coarse. Be just as much so in your relaxed speech.
12.   During the humorous banter that naturally occurs among co-workers, laugh with them kindly. Never laugh at them.
General Suggestions
Depend on no specific thing to get you interested. Develop a habit of just being interested. Interest depends not on the energy you receive, but on what you give out to your work, to others, and to the world. Thus, referring back to that Kriya yogi in Calcutta, although he was probably not deeply involved in his work, yet he must have given it willing energy and shown an interest in the sense that his work commanded his full and concentrated attention. God is in everything, after all. To know Him, one must seek Him either in everything or in nothing! One can adopt an attitude of “Not this, not that” (neti, neti), thereby eliminating gradually from his heart every desire for anything external to himself. This is not a useful attitude, however, for employees in a workplace.
The other attitude is to see the Lord everywhere, and in that spirit to enjoy everything one does.
A beautiful book by Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place, describes a Nazi concentration camp, to which the author and her sister were sent after they’d been discovered helping Jews in Holland to escape. Corrie’s sister, especially, was an extraordinary woman. At one point she said to Corrie, “We must thank God for everything.”
Corrie balked. “Even for the fleas infesting our barracks?” she protested.
“Even for them!” retorted her sister.
Some time later, the two sisters were in their barracks holding a forbidden prayer meeting with a few other prisoners. All of a sudden the guard of their barracks arrived at the door with a group of military visitors whom she was showing around. Had they entered and discovered that group, all of them would have been summarily shot. The guard, however, on reaching the door, turned to her companions and said, “Let’s not enter here. This place is infested with fleas!”
Corrie’s sister died in that camp. After death, her face was radiant with divine bliss.
Whatever motives you have for gratitude, remember something Paramhansa Yogananda said: “Conditions are always neutral. They seem either sad or happy depending on the sad or happy attitudes of the mind.”
To be a good employee, then—satisfying to your employer and even more satisfied within yourself—remember: Whether you enjoy your work and do well at it depends less on the work itself than on the attitude you hold toward it.
Meditation
Visualize yourself as a traveler in a foreign land. Carry a bright light, like a torch, in your heart, shining forth energy and joy onto everything. Whatever pleasure you derive from the sights around you depends on how you react to them.
Shed light everywhere around you. Smile with confidence in the fact that, as you are within, so will this foreign land be for you. Be joyful inwardly first then. With that joy, observe everything around you. What you bring to the world will determine what you gain from it.
Affirmation
“I enjoy life; I enjoy myself, 
no matter what is bestowed on me!”

Points to Remember
1. To be a successful employee means to be the kind of person who takes an intelligent and supportive interest in the company and in its over-all aims.
2. One must work with what is, while remaining faithful to higher ideals. Ideally, he should seek work in a place that has high principles. 
3. If you need to work under someone else, and cannot devote yourself wholeheartedly to the job you get, be at least honest, truthful, and honorable. Be the sort of worker who applies himself intelligently, conscientiously, and supportively to the tasks he is given. 
4. The greatest secret of material success is to keep an uplifted consciousness. A change of consciousness in even one corner of an enterprise may have far-reaching results. 
5. One who gives positive, willing, and cheerful support through his work may influence everyone around him for the better. 
6. Never be apathetic. Look upon your work as an opportunity above all for lifting your own consciousness.
7. Try to find a job that will help your own spiritual advancement. You can do this, to begin with, by analyzing your own deep-seated tendencies. Next, ask yourself this question: What line of activity do I think might expand my sympathies? 
8. Seek work that will assist you in releasing the hold your ego has upon you and deepen your understanding and empathy with others. 
9. Take an interest in whatever work your employer gives you to do. Mental acceptance of whatever must be done is uplifting to one’s consciousness. Mental rejection has a lowering effect.

Keys to Relating to the Boss
10. Be neither too formal nor too familiar toward him. Relate to your boss from your own inner center to his. Doing so will help to keep your interrelationship on a high, creative level.
11. Develop a supportive attitude. Familiarize yourself with your boss’s nature and work with it realistically. Never speak against your boss.
12. Be completely true to your word. Never promise to do a thing and then forget to do it. 
13. When your boss assigns you something, try to go beyond his expectations. 

Keys to Relating to Your Fellow Employees
14. Be kind to your fellow workers. Help them when the opportunity presents itself. Do everything you can to offset a spirit of competitiveness, 
15. Never share information with others that you’ve been given in confidence
16. Make a point to look consciously for good qualities in your co-workers. 
17. Keep to yourself any sad mood you feel. 
18. It will help to keep the “machinery” of your daily relationships running smoothly if you are polite and considerate to those you work with daily.
19. The patterns of speech you use toward your co-workers can have an uplifting or a depressing effect on the entire work force. Be clean-minded, courteous, and never coarse. 

General Suggestions
20. Depend on no specific thing to get you interested. Develop a habit of just being interested. Interest depends not on the energy you receive, but on what you give out to your work, to others, and to the world. 
21. Whether you enjoy your work and do well at it depends less on the work itself than on the attitude you hold toward it.
22. Shed light everywhere around you. What you bring to the world will determine what you gain from it.

Workbook Ideas
by Joseph Bharat Cornell

Where Would I Go?

In snow country, sled dogs are noted for their tremendous enthusiasm for running and pulling heavy loads. Yet, as with humans, not all sled dogs are alike. The secret of a successful sled dog team is taking advantage of the strengths of each dog. Some dogs are strong, but they don’t listen very well. These dogs are placed close to the sled, where they can do good hard work, and follow the other dogs. 
	
The dogs in front of them are “team dogs.” They, too, do best following other dogs, and they provide the “horsepower” to move the sled. Some dogs enjoy the mental challenge of being the lead dog. These dogs have the energy to run very fast, but they must, in addition, be good listeners. The musher, or driver, depends on them to listen for and follow his commands. Lead dogs also keep the sled’s “tow line” taut to prevent his team from tangling up.

The lead dogs, however, would be unable to turn the rest of the team without the help of the “swing dogs.” These dogs run immediately behind the leader; they help him keep the fast pace and aid him in getting the team to turn when necessary.

Another ingredient in a successful team is that each dog participates fully. Occasionally a dog will run with the team but not pull any of the weight—he is betrayed by his slack tug line, which ties him to the main tow line.

The parallels to humans in the work place are obvious. The goal is that each person be able to use his strengths to the utmost, and that in doing so he fully pulls his weight for the organization. Not every employee can be a leader. But every employee can be energetically supportive. Remember, what you bring to the world will determine what you gain from it.

Action Item:
Reflect on your attitudes at work and ask:
1.   If I were a sled dog, where would my strengths and temperament place me? 
2.   How can I apply myself more intelligently, conscientiously, and supportively at work?
3.   What two things would I like to implement this week. Write them below:

Action Item:
Yogananda said: “Conditions are always neutral. They seem either sad or hap  py depending on the sad or happy attitudes of the mind.” How much you enjoy your job depends less on its tasks than on your attitude. 

This next week, vow that you will greet each part of your job with enthusiasm. Experiment by welcoming each challenge and putting your best energy into it. Pay attention, and see if doing so brings you not only more enthusiasm but more energy and creativity as well.