Are YOU the Work You Do?
In Chandogya Upanishad (VIII.7.2-8.5), there is a fascinating story of Virochana. Indra and Virochana went to Brahma to learn about Self, Consciousness and lived there, practising a Brahmacharya lifestyle for thirty-two years.
The story goes that when Virochana asked Brahma to share his divine wisdom, he simply stated, “I am Brahman”. Virochana took it as a great affirmation of who he was and left the ashram, and went on to become a powerful Asura king.
Few days later, Indra asked Brahma to expound the divine wisdom and Brahma’s response was the same. However, this time, Indra stayed on as he began to doubt how could this be true. The story goes on that he stayed longer to inquire deeper and discover the truth of consciousness.
It is said that, thanks to this episode, Indra and Virochana formed different interpretations of the philosophy they had learnt, and hence spread these variations among their races. Virochana is stated to later be killed by Indra during the Tarakamaya War between the Devas and the Asuras.
I often think about this story and Virochana’s misinterpretation in the context of a powerful question: Are YOU the WORK you do? If that sounds metaphysical, let me break it down into simpler terms:
Do you describe the work you do as a "noun"? - "I am a Consultant/ Executive /<Insert your Job Role> with XYZ"
Or do you describe the work you do as a "verb" - "Well, I manage P&L, I do consulting /<Insert your work activity> with XYZ"
I wager that most of you would prefer to answer this question by the former (noun) rather than the latter (verb). In which case, it is most likely that you identify yourself by the Work you do.
We are seduced by this idea that we are the work we do because we love being swayed by stories. What else could Purpose be other than a story born in the intersection of "Who Am I ?" and "What do I do for a living?"
I must confess, It's hard to remain immune to the relentlessly invigorating beat of the stories floating in the digital ether and not be swayed by them.
Stories of entrepreneurs changing the world. Stories of belonging to a community dreaming of a beautiful world our hearts know to be true. Stories of passions blooming like rare wildflowers in barren lands parched of moonshot dreams. Stories of redemption from the rut of the industrial middle-class upbringing.
As we get enamoured by the tunes of stories that sound music to our ears, our lips start humming them. Our limbs start moving to the exuberance of its rhythms. Our bodies start impersonating those storytellers desperately to recreate that feeling we felt when we first heard them.
And when you have gone through all of this, it's definitely not comforting to wake up one day to the truth that emerges when life knocks your socks off the reverie of your story:
You are not the WORK you do!
When you come in touch with those parts of your Life which can never fit into a neat story, no matter how romantic it is, you slowly start to realize that the story was exciting all the while, because it was YOU who was starring at it, and not the other way. And thus begins the game of polarity we've learned to play unconsciously in our lives when we start oscillating between the Self and the System.
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Today, evening at 6 PM IST, I am excited to kickstart the third cohort of my course, "Discovering You and the Brand Called You". This course is an experiment to help individuals discover themselves and the narratives they tell about themselves to the world. Join me for this cohort course if this kind of intense exploration evokes you. More details about the course and registration details are here
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