According to a recent survey in India, 80% of the people are miserable 80% of the times on their jobs. Is this conducive to true spirituality? Lots of American authors have written extensively on the subject.

First, I shall explain what I understand by spirituality.Anything that is legal, moral and leads to peace, happiness and equanimity comes under the purview of proactive applied spirituality which emphasizes more on prevention rather than cure . It has more to do with correct thinking since incorrect thinking leads to wrong action and undesirable consequences. It is concerned more to solve problem at the cause level than at the effect level( Running after different types of meditations and divine knowledge).

The word education is derived from the two latin terms “ek” and ‘ducere’. Ek means ‘out’ and ducere means to draw. Therefore, the word education means to draw out from within, not to stuff in. This is totally against the established practice of imparting all kinds of knowledge in schools and colleges. Does imparting more and more knowledge make us more and more intelligent or more and more knowledgeable

The two most important decisions in one life is one’s wife and one’s career. How can anyone who is unhappy with his life’s work which takes up a major portion of his life ever be peaceful and happy which is what spirituality is all about. The spiritual master, Osho even goes to say that going around trying various meditations when you are a job misfit is like missing the wood for the trees because meditation does not make anyone relaxed and happy. It is actually the other way around. When you are happy by being in tune with your life’s work you are automatically meditative. Even the latin meaning of the word educere( from which education) is derived is to draw out and not blindly stuff in.

If one does not love work one is truly unhappy in life. In order to be truly happy in life, one must love work.” – The mother

In India’s ancient spiritual texts, the shastras there is a word called Svadharma which is one’s vocation in life which need not necessarily correspond to the degree that one may work for in life. Even the epic Bhagvad geeta says that one should do one’s own duty though less profitable rather than do somebody else’s duty. Spiritualists such as Swami Vivekanand and Shri Aurobindo have said that ideally everybody should be able to decide their career correctly in school and college itself to avoid lifelong suffering . Teachers such as Osho and J. Krishnamurthy have said the same thing. Everything cannot be everybody’s cup of tea and one man’s meat can be another man’s poison.

Abraham Maslow who propounding the hierarchy of needs described self-actualization as a person's need to be and do that which the person was born to do. It is his "calling". "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write." If these needs are not met, the person feels restlessness, on edge, tense, and lacking something. How can one be so miserable and spiritual at the same time.

In our book, Destiny, Karma and Career the American author, Mrs Nanatte Hucknall makes one do a special type of meditation and even takes one to one’s previous life to determine what one should do in one’s current life. Some of the cases are so extreme that they have to go back to school to get the degree and then try the new profession. There are whole chapters devoted on how family and friends have to adjust. In another book,”What should I do with my life”, American writer Po Bronson gives 70 cases of how people overcame being in the wrong profession. He had collected 900 such cases.

Going back to school I feel is only desirable for really talent intensive professions.. Just as experience without formal learning is better than formal learning without experience, natural talent without formal qualifications is better than vice-versa. A donkey if flogged for a day shall give no response but thoroughbred (horse) needs only a prod. Even if they have to go back to college, special crash courses should be arranged for these people so that they can return to practical life as soon as possible The issue is to be able to arrest the problem at its root and revamp the outdated education system. One wonders who will bell the cat “Who will educate the educators”?