Why You Need a Job

 

 Gaté Gaté Paragaté Parasamgaté Bodhi Svaha!

---- Heart Sutra

 

Human beings are first the animals

From the previous chapter, we learn that we are always “on the job” because we do many things that have the same attributes of a job, i.e., the activity, the action, and the reward. However, when we talk about “this” job, which is the employment job, we often forget these three attributes. It is like we human beings are animals in the first place, while we very often forget that.

When you walk around a park, do you notice the ants on the ground? They are crawling around everywhere; their legs never seem to get tired. Sometimes, they will stop to examine something with their antennae.

When they find a dead bug, they will try to move it to their home. If the body is too big or too heavy, there is some method for them to inform more ants of this food and they can work together to carry their food home.

These ants are worker ants. If the food is big enough, you will see a road of ants that connects the food and their nest. Some ants are bigger – these are soldier ants, which crawl around to protect the worker ants.

Here, we see a mini-society, a world with order and harmony. Ants work together on their tasks, cooperating to survive.

It is not different from human society.

 

We are in a world of cooperation

In the 19th century, American naturalist Henry David Thoreau in his book, Walden or Life in the Woods, described a natural world based around the lake he lived next to. He had built a small house for himself in the middle of the woods, as part of an experiment to see what it was like to live alone with minimum interaction with human society. The book inspired many generations to live as simply as possible; but Thoreau himself still greatly appreciated the moments of human interaction when he invited others for parties in his cabin.

With the development of modern science and technology, people are more and more dependent on each other. Everyone is connected in some way or other, existing as nodes in a massive, invisible web.  You may not realize you are part of this web until something happens

During the COVID-19 pandemic, to cut off the spread of the coronavirus, states called for their citizens to take their body temperature, wear masks, and keep a social distance from others, etc. When a country or a city went into lockdown, nobody could be seen on the once crowded streets, and the once busy roads became empty without a single car in sight.

When such restriction measures were enforced, people felt very inconvenienced; at the slightest easing of restrictions, many started gathering in the streets and shopping centers, causing infection rates to skyrocket and hence forcing the government to reinforce the restrictions.

This is a good example that people need to cooperate for a better living.  The impact of a single node in the web cannot be underestimated, we should all do our parts to overcome our challenges.

 

Laziness – an obstacle

If you have ever climbed up to the top of a mountain, or if you have sat on a window seat in an airplane, you would have had the chance to observe the earth from a bird’s eye view. You will notice the river bends here and there. Why is the river winding? Because the water simply flows along the path with the least resistance.

This is within our human nature as well – this laziness. It is as natural as water flows. In the morning, we get out of bed at the last minute; after breakfast, we would only wash the dishes when we need to start preparing for lunch; an excuse can be easily found to give up today’s fitness routine…such scenarios are common for most of us.

What will be the result? Well, in rich countries, the “diseases of affluence” are happening to more people and younger people, simply because the energy you have absorbed from the food is far more than what you have consumed. In nature, all animals have to struggle to survive. Human beings as a species can survive through hunting or being hunted, through taking risks of life and death, the human body is the result of millions of years of evolution, or maybe a product of God for people who disbelieve Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

Advanced science and technology in recent one hundred years have saved us from natural hazards, various once deadly diseases, large-scale wars, and have supplied us with more and more food sources. However, our body is still like the body from thousands of years ago, it is not able to process excessive food. The abundance of food supply transforms into energy and accumulates in our body, so our body is now facing various diseases that did not exist thousands of years ago.

People tend to be lazy. The cause of such diseases is a result of a life of excessive comfort. The answer to solve it is then simple: keep yourself in a state of busyness.

Take action, and an employment job will keep you busy and disease-free.

 

Make life meaningful

You may have some idle time with nothing to do and you have to find something to kill time. Time will never stop for you, whether you are doing something or doing nothing.

If you often have to find something to do to kill time, you need an employment job. This job gives you a problem to solve making your life meaningful during the process. You have a target – a destination for a boat – so you won’t get lost in the vast sea.

I used to work with subway systems, where many site works had to be done at midnight after the subway stopped service. When I was on my way back to the hotel in the morning, I saw people on their way to the office. At that time, I felt a sense of satisfaction: it was a small contribution from me to this city, to these people, that they were able to take reliable public transportation to get to their destinations on time, even though they may not know a tired person was only just going home to rest.

Thinking of this, the tiredness seemed somehow reduced.

 

Live with dignity   

In modern countries, the government would have some policies targeting the weaker groups of people to help them enjoy at least a basic standard of living. If you meet the eligibility criteria, you could apply for such support from the government or charity. In the world, some people do need this kind of support.

By turning to these policies, you are asking people to support you. While you are not breaking the law, you may feel a sense of guilt. There are no physical problems preventing you from taking up a job, yet you have to burden others to care for you.

You have the strengths, the capabilities, and the opportunities.

You are in the web of the world. You are connecting to others, and others are connecting with you. You need to create value in this web, and then you can live with dignity. By getting an employment job you could be able to live on your own. With this job, you can pay taxes to the government and contribute to society to help others.

With that said, when should you take up this job?