Spiritual work
The difference between it and ordinary work
However great your other achievements, nothing you do will ever have the same importance as your spiritual work, even if at first nobody notices it. For if you respect the rules, the results of your spiritual work will be millions of times more worthwhile than if you worked on a purely practical, utilitarian level. Why? Because you will be working with different values that bestow different rewards. Imagine someone who is panning for gold – they may find a little bit of gold, maybe even a lot of it. Now imagine an alchemist who works day and night for years on end to find the philosopher’s stone,* seemingly in vain. In fact, if he works according to the rules, he will eventually find it, and then he will be able to transform mountains of base metal into gold. By comparison, the amount of gold found by the prospector will be negligible. If I have used the example of alchemy it is not that I want to encourage you to go looking for the philosopher’s stone, but because this comparison can give you a good idea of the difference between spiritual work and ordinary work.*
* Related reading:
