A friend was sharing how difficult it is to practice his religious beliefs in everyday life and ask me for my perspective on it. He said he felt that the knowkedge are easier to apply on the religious grounds and not in the outside world. I told him that it is similar to part time work/study, going to school and applying the knowledge at work.
Think of all religious institutions as schools that we go to to learn knowledge and internalize them as forms of beliefs, habits etc. And life outside the religious institutions as 'work life' where we apply those knowledge to 'work problems', issues e.g. interpersonal, personal etc that we faced in everyday life. In short, practical application of the religious knowledge and beliefs that we have learned i.e. practice of the religious beliefs.
So if everyday life is work life then who is the boss, who are the customers? It is a one-man company, you are your own boss and your external stakeholders are the whole of humanity, the world which we live in, including the animals and plants. You decide what kind of boss you want to be, be it lax, strict etc. And the internal stakeholders are yourself, your family, your friends and also the whole of humanity.
If that is the case, then what about salary and bonuses? The salary is the mental and emotional peace that we feel everyday and bonuses are the positive things which happened in our lives e.g. a hug from a good friend.
What about office politics? It is your own mind. Your colleagues are the many conflicting thoughts in your mind between positive and negative e.g. wish for peace, happiness and greed, egoism. As the boss, you need to solve the politics to ensure the smooth operations of the 'organization' which is basically you.
In the working environment, we learn the practical application of the religious knowledge. So what if we are not equipped with the necessary knowledge, we go back to schools to 'upgrade' ourselves e.g. getting another professional certification, Masters degree, PhD etc.
If we have already attained the highest qualification there is, what is next? Continued research if academics becomes your work. There is no end to learning. We all as humanity, shared the same end, which is death.
So when do we retire? To say the truth, most of us are workaholics and we usually work till the last day.
Please excuse me for now. I need to get back to work.
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