162. Pre-occupation of the Being

Loneliness is unendurable. One always seeks company. To us companionship is friendship. Psychologically it is occupation or chewing the cud. The educated man is mentally occupied, i.e. his mind gets meaninglessly engaged with trivialities. He who does not fritter away his mental energies thus becomes a thinker. The efficiency of the Westerner arises from the fact of his Individuality that is work-oriented. Man seeking company for its own sake seeks vital occupation.

Such vital occupation renders us inefficient whereas the Westerner is efficient because of his work orientation and Individuality. The lower personality seeks occupation. In silly superstitious characters, it degenerates into pre-occupation. He who does not seek physical pre-occupation becomes the efficient worker. He who does not squander his mental energies in mental occupation blossoms into a thinker. Yoga or tapas is a process by which the Spirit is relieved of its various occupations as well as their minor versions of pre-occupation. That leads to moksha, the liberation.

The highest efficiency is the efficiency that arises from our psychological detachment. To be able to do a work without being attached to it is nishkamya karma whose efficiency is the highest. Mind is not capable of full detachment, while the vital - feelings - is incapable of detachment of any description. Spirit is incapable of attachment. So, the Spirit emerging in the Mind and working makes for the highest efficiency and it is the very antithesis of Occupation or Pre-occupation. Unfailing success and ultimate efficiency combine to create LUCK when the Spirit is commissioned to undertake our routine daily work. The superstitious person is occupied with religious rituals. The vivacious social personality loses itself in social functions and delights in it. The serious thinker refuses mental preoccupation; the one who seeks luck invokes the Spirit.