Question:

I quit my job and interviewed for another one. They offered me an entry level position with a pay less than half of what I am currently making. I did not accept the offer. My previous boss is working on getting me back at my old job. By me not accepting the offer and waiting for the old job to come back, I am still seeking, am I not? I did ask myself how I would feel if I do not get back my old job and there is no emotion associated with it. That is, I am fine either way and I am not having an expectation but I also don’t want to jump at the first thing that comes my way. How do I not seek but also open up my avenues? By taking the first thing that comes my way, am I not closing the door to other possibilities? At the same time, opening the door for other possibilities seems like I am seeking.

Answer:

Let’s understand seeking in this job transition situation clearly. There is a difference between what is seeking and what is acting spontaneously for that which comes unsought.

Understand that Karma has an extremely strong power and when a particular karma needs to expire you are cornered into a situation where either you are forced to quit or it leaves you. That’s what happened with your job dear. The karma ended.

By you repeating in your mind, ‘I want a job, I want a job,’ a job will not come. It will not come by ‘seeking’. It will also not come by not taking an action and just sitting on the couch watching TV. All you must do in a situation like this is be spontaneous [act appropriately devoid of raaga and dvesha and then drop thinking about it]. Let’s look at probable events that can happen starting today when you go home.

Event 1 – You quit your job today. The situation demands you to bring food to the table and to take appropriate action for that. Appropriate and spontaneous action is applying for another job. After you complete applying, wash your hands off. If you keep thinking in the mind, ‘I should get this job, this company should hire me, that job description was not good, that should not happen, blah blah blah’ – This is seeking!

Event 2 – Some time has passed since you applied and no result yet – If you sit and cry, “Oh, it was such a good job, had I not done that, I could still be there, etc.” that is a dvesha for this situation, it does not make sense keeping such a dvesha in mind as this is an agami seed, which will sprout in future. If you have a dvesha [or raaga] about something that has past, it is seeking.

Event 3 – Job interview completed – If the mind craves for 2 times your current salary, it is a raaga. It is seeking.  – But if the mind is just being proactive and negotiating, devoid of raaga/dvesha, with this clear understanding that the other party is going to look for a good deal, so being practical, ‘I am going to request at least same pay or 10% increase in pay per the market standards.’ Then you are not seeking as there is no raaga but a practical perspective in the mind.

Event 4 – Offer below current salary level – If the offer is below your current salary level, the most appropriate and spontaneous action for someone who must bring food to the table is to let it go and wait for the right option to come your way without any anger, regret, etc. While the appropriate and spontaneous action for an intern requiring experience to enhance his resume might be to take up the offer. Again both have looked at it from a practical perspective devoid of personal cravings and aversions.

Letting go of the seeking tendency of the mind to not miss a day without getting salary is also a skill. If you keep thinking, ‘should I have taken it? ‘Should I have taken it? This is also seeking. Understand that this was not meant to happen because Karma has its own timing and drop the seeking.

Event 5 – Good job offer comes along – The mind can become greedy and now seek for more than it is getting. Or the mind might find flaws and want to reject as it has developed greed. This is also seeking.

Clearly it is not the action that determines whether you are seeking or not. It is the state of your mind that helps you determine whether you are seeking or not.

To summarize it:
A raaga and dvesha anyways just increase your Blood pressure, what must happen will happen anyways. So stop seeking – running for it or running away from it in your mind is seeking!

When something comes your way, you just attend to it. Attending to it naturally devoid of raaga and dvesha, is called spontaneous action! Attending could mean taking up the job offer or letting go of the job offer – action is unimportant, what is important is that you must be devoid of raaga or dvesha. Then you are not seeking.

Understand that it is all a happening and you are not the doer, you are just a puppet that has to act appropriately without bringing in your emotion. The strings of this puppet are being held by another hand so drop the raaga and dvesha because they are just the puppets emotions and they don’t matter to the hand holding the strings.

Have Faith in that hand! It has taken care of you and will always keep taking care of you! Surrender all your worries and have faith! Your faith will make you strong!

With this thorough understanding and complete faith in THAT hand, the seeking drops away automatically. Got it?