David said (October 3, 2011):

Dear Henry: Regarding the "Labor of Love" article, I was thinking on the way to work during my long trip once a week, the illusion many people fall for is they believe the structure of modern civilization must be built and reinforced by capitalism and greed when it would be an even better life if this same structure was built and reinforced through love, kindness, gentleness and justice for starters. Until people snap out of their backward spiritual and intellectual dream state, very little positive change will occur.

Anthony Migchels said (September 30, 2011):

This is the essence, the most fundamental message of the Bhagavad Gita. In it, God, in the incarnation of Krishna, teaches us that the highest enlightenment can be obtained by cultivating a personal relationship with Him and by sacrificing the results of our work to Him. This latter part is called Karma Yoga. It is rated higher by Krishna than a life of meditation and prayer, although they too will eventually lead to Him (his words).

We must work for Him only. Our Father will provide us with not only the means to survive, but everything we need.

It is such a profound and yet simple key.

It is the way to God, the way out of this New World Order nightmare.

'Making money', especially in a wealth transfer system like the 'markets' instead of labor and the production of real goods and services, is nothing and leads to Mammon directly.

Letting go of the desire for wealth and the mistaken idea that wealth provides security is of the essence in our time.

Ray said (September 30, 2011):

After I turned 50 (I'm nearly 60 now) and shortly thereafter acquired a young wife who gave me two beautiful sons (and later dumped me, but we still respect each other), I used to advise friends and family members who were caught in the malaise in the following manner:

"You can have anything you want in life, and sooner than you might expect," I would tell them.

"How's that?" they would ask.

"The secret to getting everything you want is to want the right things for the right reasons. Then God will give you whatever you desire."

Same message as your column. It's the wisdom of the ages.

Robert Cinque said (September 30, 2011):

Thanks for sharing your article with me. May I add a comment? Raising a child or any worthy endeavor is certain to create many benefits and blessings, whether it is selfless service to God or performed with or without being attached to results, which I certainly am. I've never been able to figure out how to love without attachment. I am very attached to the ones I love, to my work and its effect, and proud of it. Being non-attached seems to me to be very vague and non specific and spiritually vacuous.

My point is that Happiness is always already the Case, now what? What is my relationship to That? How may I be in alignment with That? As a way of becoming happy? No, as an expression of pre-existing Happiness. Once I am intimately and emotional connected with That, now I am available and fully attentive to the task at hand, not distracted by what I might gain, if it will make me happy, what the results will be. When I am deeply and emotionally connected with Love and Purpose, I already know what the results will be. In this light, Happiness becomes a sacred responsibility, not a commodity to be pursued.

As soon as I disassociate from God, from Happiness and Love, then these become a goal, an object, a pursuit instead of the Platform for action. For me, spiritual life has nothing to do with beliefs about God or anything else. It has to do with being in a sacred love relationship with all beings, all circumstances, all relations. Its about response ability, emotional attachment to the Life Force, passionate embrace between my simultaneously appearing infinite and mortal natures. Its juicy, not dry. Its Truth, not belief, the Territory not the map, the Meal, not the menu.

The most startling realization of all is that I do not live, but am being Lived by a Great Power. That One became me, and everything else, playfully, without stress, fully radiant and Alive. Me as a separate self doesn't even exist, except in my imagination. I am individuated, but not separate. I am always, inherently, already absolutely one with God, with every fraction of infinite Life, now, not as a result of spiritual practice or belief or anything else. It is true in spite of what I may believe or not. Truth precedes belief, and makes it obsolete. If you must believe in something, believe in Life, that's enough.

Brian said (September 30, 2011):

I would say service of the "higher" self rather than self-less service. We don't want to lose our self but come to an understanding of its higher reality with a VISCERAL propulsion (rather than a mental one, i.e.; just thinking about or pondering something)

In this context "higher" can be defined in a literal sense from a view of "homo erectus". In other words, the standing posture of an erect human being. We reach the higher self starting with the heart region. When we CHOOSE to access its depths it becomes understood that it is here which lies what I call the "epitome of trustworthiness" - the pure joy found there. From this region we move to the lungs, throat and mouth areas where we give voice to the joy. Then to the eyes where God is "seen", and on to the head where he is known.

Roshan said (September 30, 2011):

You receive what you give and you lose what you keep sums up you article entitled Labor of love often more successful.

Sarvo said (September 30, 2011):

One day when I was distributing Bhagavad-gitas in the airport in Chicago an incredibly wealthy man came through. Normally he depended on one of his private jets but it was some kind of an emergency and he was coming through O'Hare. I managed to catch his eye and suddenly he was asking me all kinds of questions. We spoke for quite awhile and he told me his whole life story.

Sometimes you'll tell a stranger things you might not tell even your nearest and dearest or even your therapist. He said everyone thought he must be happy but then told me he was really miserable. He said, "My son is in rehab again. My daughter is having an abortion." Then he said his wife was right in the middle of filing for divorce. He said his life was in shambles.

He said he could look back on the happiest days of his life though. He said when he was just starting out and barely had enough to put bread on the table for his wife and kids, those were the happiest days of his life. Before he left he gave me a very generous donation and I stacked him up with a Bhagavad-gita, a Srimad-Bhagavatam, several volumes from the Caitanya Caritamrta and a few other assorted books like the Science of Self-Realization.

He looked at his watch, said he was cutting it close on time, we shook hands and he turned to go. Suddenly, however, he turned back and said, "You know, I have some advice for you. From what you tell me about your life and your effort to free all living beings from the repeating cycle of birth and death, I think you should keep doing what you're doing and you will never be successful. In that way you will never be finished and you will continue to be as happy as you are right now."

DM said (September 29, 2011):

Good article but I can see similarities in all types of women. I grew up in the sticks/burbs where 99.9% of the women you had to choose from were gentiles. They were spoiled rotten and seemed only concerned with image and money.

When I came home from the army and became a steelworker I dated many and settled on a Mexican/Puerto Rican woman who never knew her father. Her mother was a drug addict and she saw her two younger brothers taken away from her and then spent most of her teen years in foster homes.

She is the most grateful mother and wife any man would dream about. She put herself through college while working 3 different jobs and put her career on hold to give birth to twins and finish school later. We fully support each other on equal terms and family matters are top priority. I sometimes wonder why I am so lucky but then again God and love pretty much get things done :)

Dan said (September 29, 2011):

Money is only one of the possible things of value that can come from any venture which involves other people. I learned long ago that even when money is tight it's always better to err on the side of generosity and charity than the side of selfishness out of fear. Money is only one kind of potential value in any venture that involves or impacts other lives.