Stephen Cope

At the end of life, most of us will find that we have felt most filled up by the challenges and successful struggles for mastery, creativity, and full expression of our dharma in the world. Fulfillment happens not in *retreat* from the world, but in *advance*—and profound engagement.

In fact, the Bhagavad Gita was written precisely to show us how to make the world of action (the marketplace, the workplace, the family) an arena for spiritual development. Indeed, it portrays the ‘battlefield’ of life—real life, everyday life—as the most potent venue for transformation.

‘The Call’ is an archetype of the spiritual imagination. It is nothing less than the call to be absolutely yourself.

When she [Susan B. Anthony] was once asked, ‘Do you pray?’ she responded, ‘I pray every second of my life; not on my knees but with my work. My prayer is to lift women to equality with men. Work and worship are one with me.’

These great exemplars of dharma each took a craftsmanlike view toward life: Do your daily duty, and let the rest go. Poke away systematically at your little calling. Tend the garden a little bit every day. You do not have to exhaust yourself with great acts. Show up for your duty, for your dharma. Then let it go.

We work first because we have to work. Then because we want to work. Then because we love the work. Then the work simply does us. Difficult at the beginning. Inevitable at the end.

At the end of life, most of us will find that we have felt most filled up by the challenges and successful struggles for mastery, creativity, and full expression of our dharma in the world. Fulfillment happens not in *retreat* from the world, but in *advance*—and profound engagement.