The Work Done Because It Must Be Done
Work done simply because it must be done, with clinging and expectation of fruit laid aside — that, the old teacher says, is the purest form of letting go.
Do I weigh work only by pleasure or profit, having lost the plain steadiness of 'I do it because it must be done'?
📝Reflection
The old teacher places the purest letting go in doing 'because it must be done (kāryam iti).' Not for pleasure or profit, but the plain steadiness of doing a thing simply because it is to be done. I weigh everything by fun and gain and wear myself out. But much of life is joyless and unprofitable yet must be done — tending the sick, keeping a promise, carrying one's share. It is like Kant seeing moral purity in 'action done from duty.' Only faithfulness that leans on no pleasure stays unshaken. The one who plainly does their share goes the farthest.
🌱Apply It Today
Do one joyless, unprofitable, but proper task today — plainly and without complaint.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
