“The Job”

Posted on May 5, 2004
Filed Under Journal, Society |

I recently came into the position where I had to consider leaving employment before finding a replacement job. No need to go into specifics, suffice to say things were no longer beneficial to me continuing within that job.

This happened only a few days ago, and since then I have noticed a number of interesting results and reactions.

Firstly though when I use the term “Job”, or “The Job” I am referring to working for a company either private or public, and performing certain tasks or services for them. Therefore in this definition a “job” does not equate to a profession. A profession is an individual’s skills gained or learnt in a variety of manners. An individual hires out the services of their profession to a company, under a contract – the result of which is a job.

Neither by the term job, do I mean “work”. For in one way or another we all have to work, whether it is for financial, physical or some other form of gain. Work can be performed in many ways, and is undertaken to achieve certain ends. One of the many aspects of work is as follows; an individual hires out their services as a worker to a company, under a contract – the result of which is a job.

The third definition of job that could perhaps be used here would be that of a policeperson or military personnel or indeed any other like position. For the usage here, the term “job” does not refer to such positions, as such positions are something entirely different, and beyond the scope of what I want to put forth here.

Results of leaving the job have been two fold; results that have affected me, and results upon others leading to certain reactions.

During the years I was in the job; in retrospect I now see that the distinctions between work and job became blurred. I was unable to separate one from the other. I had come to believe that the job was necessary rather than realising that only work itself was necessary. Further I had found that the job had become a part of the way I perceived things. And in this it seems I am far from alone.

Interestingly, whenever I have so far told another person that I have left the job – rather than asking “Why did you do that?” - Their very first question is always and unanimously “Well…what are you going to do now?” And that marks a very odd reaction. Primarily because it implies that condition of life is inherently supported by “the job”, but deeper than that; it shows a belief that “the job” defines ones very existence.

Without a job therefore, it seems to be believed that a person lacks a certain degree of definition about themselves. Or looked at from another angle, a large aspect of our own definition that we use to apply to others is usually based on the job that other person does. Not merely do we use the thoughts or words, “My friend is a Financial Advisor.” Instead we use those words and then apply to the words concepts, beliefs and perceptions forming an opinion of that job. The opinion of that specific job is then applied to the friend, becoming an integral part of how we see them. It is also true that we apply this very same process to ourselves.

Thus we place additional layers over other people and ourselves that need not be there. It can also be shown that these additional layers are not only unneeded, but also that these additional layers skewer our perception of daily life and the world around us. This is the problem on the individual level.

This issue of skewered perceptions is directly related to these manifold layers we place upon people. However, this skewered perception as a whole is a far larger and problematic matter. Beyond this problem that exists on an individual level; when interconnected with other individuals of like mind, the problem manifests itself into a distorted reality. The perception of many individuals creates an actuality, but one that is only represented within the actual physical world. This physical world is one of materialism, financial issues, commercialisation etc. It does not take into account the condition of the human mind and the negative impact this skewed perception has upon us all.

When for example an individual no longer has a job – due to this manifested skewed reality – said individual may come to question their own worth. Thus they place a value upon themselves in a manner that applies only to the realms of materialism i.e. they relate their worth to the physical world of money or status. Their attention is therefore diverted away from focusing internally on issues of the mind and self-understanding and focused toward issues of material gain and material self-worth.

A focus such as the one mentioned in the paragraph above, begins a process that results entirely in emotions that are negative. It drains an individual’s physical state. However prior to the negative physical effect - such a condition diverts the attention away from the issues of the mind – the individual begins to suffer in ways other than the physical. For example this person could begin to question life, the world around them and their place in it. This occurs due to the fact that the person is only focusing on one aspect of reality. The physical.

It is already widely accepted that the mind can and does exist within its own reality, that whilst not entirely separated from the physical world, it is none the less existent within a realm of its own. As such it works under different rules and laws than those that exist within the physical world. Thus the individual that is entirely swamped with the perception forced upon them by attitude of “job” – as described above – finds themselves in an unenviable position. As they begin to question themselves and the world, they find that the rules and laws they have learnt of the physical world do not entirely correspond to the rules and laws of the mind. From this comes a sense of confusion and frustration as the person in effect tries to match shapes to the wrong hole. There are many effects that result from such a condition, indeed such attitudes can most often be found in those individuals approaching later life as their minds have begun to turn inward to reflect upon “self”.

Upon reflection, it is apparent that there is very little in this skewed manifested physical world which we have created through a false perception (in this example based on “job”) that is conducive toward assisting with matters of the mind. Furthermore, this false perception would indicate that as human beings, we are comprised of one part only. That of the physical.

But as we give further consideration to this issue, and thus begin to move away from these false ideals and beliefs we begin to see that as beings we are comprised of far more than is immediately apparent. In order to avoid the frustrations that can be born of these skewed understandings, we need to take a first tentative step away from the belief that the only part of reality is the physical part.

It would be wrong to say that we must move away from such ideals entirely, for though they are skewed they nonetheless form a part of the physical world. Rather what we need to learn is that such ideals are not the only ones that exist. In short, moving away from such ideals starts a learning process that brings the realisation that this manifested physical reality is not reality in its entirety. Physicality is but one part of reality. As indicated above the realm of the mind is another part of reality.

There is yet another part of reality that forms a part of our being that is also negatively affected when we adopt the attitude forced upon us by the skewed perception outlined above.

Over time, this perception we adopt integrates itself more and more into our thoughts and ways of life. Ultimately, it becomes as much a part of us as breathing and eating. As our physical body hungers we feed it food. As our mind hungers we feed it with thoughts or information from the senses. However when we are at peace in our mind and body a third aspect comes forth. This aspect is also present within us during sleep. It is the part of our being that is neither of the physical being nor of the mind. This third aspect cannot be accounted for by methods of physical reasoning; however we can feel it – and thus prove its existence to ourselves when we cease all activity within our minds.

As our mind comes to rest, and we cease thinking thoughts with words and imagery, our mind becomes empty. At this point we can begin a form of thought without words. This part of the mind is capable of speaking to us without undue influence of the world around us. Indeed this is part of our being that can speak without reliance upon laws of the physical world. In part this is because it does not rely upon the nature of structured language in order to communicate to us. We can prove this to ourselves if we meditate in silence, after a while we find that this part of the being pushes forward all sorts of imaginative ideas and concepts that are wholly unreliant upon the world around us. Indeed it is true that this part of the being can exist without any input from the senses or any form of structure from the external world. For the sake of giving this aspect of our being a label for easy reference, we can term it as the “Spiritual being”.

To the person that is only just beginning to encounter and notice this area of our being it can perhaps be frightening. But we need not fear because this is a very healthy process. It allows our mind to break away from the every day mendacity that exists all around us in the physical world. In short it allows our mind to rest, but also it shows us that our mind can exist separate from the physical laws we ourselves create. Thus giving our being the chance to heal what can become a rift between the external physical world and the internal workings of our mind.

Unfortunately it is easy to interrupt this healing process by adopting the continuing attitude of false perception of “job” as aforementioned.

Once the physical negative affects have conditioned the mind as previously highlighted, the next step of this destructive path is where the structured reasoned mind enforces its laws upon the spiritual being.

At this point a number of things may occur; the spiritual being can become ignored, or the spiritual being can become conditioned by the structured laws of physicality that do not by nature apply to it.

These interruptions then stop the mind from listening to the spiritual being which under natural circumstances heals the mind of the everyday conditioning of physicality. Without the spiritual being to assist it, the mind becomes rigid, unmalleable and structured. This results in the mind only being able to perceive the world from pre-defined perspectives that are set according to the physical laws we have lived to. This is obviously inherently negative, purely because the mind is no longer able to relate to reality. Rather such a mind relates only to a constructed pre-fabricated reality built upon set rules and beliefs.

To a person that lives under such conditions life will progress satisfactorily to them, until reality no longer reflects their pre-fabricated reality. Many negative outcomes occur from this…some of which have been outlined above. Other negative aspects will begin to manifest themselves physically.

The mind that can no longer relate to or accept reality, becomes confused and intolerant. As these negative emotions accentuate, external physical issues begin to appear. Examples of which are tiredness, a drained appearance, weight loss / gain etc. there are of course many others.

Ultimately we have a cyclic situation. A physical situation (which can be anything but here the example used is “the job”) that employees rigid rules, structures and imposed laws, defines for itself its own physicality. An unrealised mind eventually adopts this false physicality as “reality”. This then is the first negative impact upon our being, as at this point the mind fights to impose this reality upon every aspect of the world around it. As this negative situation continues the mind becomes conditioned, and eventual begins to impose this false reality upon the spiritual being. The spiritual being naturally exists free of structure and reasoned physical laws. Thus this is the second negative impact upon our being, as the spiritual being is conditioned and eventually becomes unable to perform its healing work upon the mind. This in itself further conditions the mind as the false reality becomes totally uncontested within the individuals mind. The third negative impact upon our being then, is our very minds become rigid, structured and inflexible. Finally, such a rigid mind no longer correctly relates to reality. This forms in the individual negative emotions which result in the last negative impact upon our being. A decrease in the body’s physical condition.

Thus the individual that accepts a false reality built upon a physical structured beliefs, begins a process that starts externally in the physical world, enters into the very core of our being, to eventually release itself in a negative physical state.

In the end, the issue is one of perspective and recognition. Our world of materialistics has imbued us with the belief that only the external physical world exists. As we strive to understand life and reality with the limited tools of thought that such a physical world has afforded us, we find that it reduces our ability to relate to life as a whole. With this realisation we discover that we cannot define our existence purely on ideals formed in physicality

But rather than allowing this to destroy us – it is something that can enrich us. For through living purely with materialistic beliefs we can learn there is more to life than the physical. Indeed, it has given us the chance to arrive at a new spiritual awakening.

Marcus - 2004