An Excerpt from The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America by David Whyte

David Whyte offers advise on how to keep your soul alive at work. Here is an excerpt on the spiritual practice of yearning.

"Though our self-preoccupation is endless, and corporation or career the central fixation of our lives, if we do not take into account the greater soul of the world which sustains our endeavors, and from which we take our resources, nothing I have said about our personal struggles in the workplace can apply.

"There is a core delusion at the center of our struggles in all organizations. A core delusion that narrows our sense of self and ignores the greater world beyond the organization. It is a world that can inform us of our personal destiny, but also a world that we have lost the time and inclination to investigate thoroughly. Trying to ignore this greater world, we forge a small identity held within the narrow corridors of the building in which we work. Rather than breathing life and vitality into work from the greater perspective which is our birthright, we allow our dreams and desires to be constricted and replaced by those of the organization and then wonder why it has such a stranglehold on our lives.

"The first step to preserving the soul in our individual lives is to admit that the world has a soul also, and is somehow participating with us in our work and destiny. That there is a sacred otherness to the world which is breathtakingly helpful simply because it is not us; it is not defined by our human worries and preoccupations, and it never will be. Its refusal to concern itself solely with our personal ambitions is its greatest mercy; it reserves itself for another kind of nourishment, one we come to when we are ready to drop our reflexive self-concern and look beyond our exhausting self-importance. As the poet David Ignatow reminds himself:

'I should be content
to look at a mountain
for what it is
and not as a comment of my life.

"Looking at the mountain for it own sake opens up a life that can be descried only in the numinous effulgence of poetry or the self-forgetfulness of vital prose. This self-forgetfulness is the essence of firsthand experience. We no longer see our experience as useful for getting something out of someone else, or getting us quickly somewhere else, but as the primary touchstone of both our individuality and the strange way our individuality depends upon everything else. In such experience there is nowhere to go because the experience of interdependence is complete in itself. This experience of belonging satisfies a primary hunger that lies at the center of our soul life; it holds both restful and fiery qualities simultaneously, it is not an easy out. Taking the first vulnerable steps into our own experience, no matter how small or hidden at the beginning, opens us to a more generous life, where what we have to give figures as largely as what we receive. We stop trying to draw infinitely from a finite world and begin to learn how little is necessary to live a life that honors the soul of the world. We learn that in many respects our world works as a partner, sometimes friendly, sometimes terrifying, but always true to its own necessities and by its example drawing us toward our own."

The Heart Aroused by David Whyte

The Heart Aroused
Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America
David Whyte

Keeping your soul alive in the contemporary workplace is an arduous challenge. In this paperback, David Whyte offers some salutary suggestions on how to do this. The author, an English-born poet, consults corporations on the importance of honoring the soulful lives of their workers.

What does he mean by the term soul? Whyte describes it as "the indefinable essence of a person's spirit and being." He sees the soul's signature in our deepest desires, passions, struggles, and changes. While most of us are still apt to think about the soul in more ethereal realms, Whyte sets out in this book to show its imperatives and activities at our jobs.

There are chapters on the ways the soul is evident in our struggles with power and vulnerability in the workplace, our creativity, our attempts to speak out at the office, our handling of innocence and experience in corporate actions, our midlife career challenges, our facing what is sweet and what is terrible, and our quest for an ecological imagination. Whyte helps us see that our souls are at stake when we wrestle with meaning, assess money's importance, relate to our co-workers, and express ourselves.

Using illustrative material from poetry, myths, and his own career experiences, the author makes it clear that silence, contemplation, self-doubt, the waters of the unconscious, grief, and personal renewal are essential to the shaping of our souls. We must pay attention to what is going on around us and what is happening inside us. This means making a special place for imagination in our lives — especially in our work.The Heart Aroused by David Whyte is poignant, poetic, and practical in its treatment of the preservation of soul on the job.

The Evolutionary Journey Of A Wayfarer

Sufis believe in evolution of the individual into a complete person through experience and understanding . Their spirituality is reflected in their conduct and behaviour; it is not something external , but is part and parcel of their being. The individual is Gods highest creation, having knowledge and bliss, yet he is not perfect. Sufis make a conscious effort to evolve as perfect beings. The essence of Sufism lies in keeping to the right path and achieving perfection. Conforming to the outer form of religion is important only to the extent that it does not inhibit spiritual progress the real objective being to grow beyond religion, to understand the real meaning of religion and to realise the Truth by experience. 
Sufis consider spiritual training as a journey and the seeker as a wayfarer, passing through various stages and experiences . Although different Sufi Orders or Tariqats state them differently , most of them agree on the basic tenets. The first step for the wayfarer to prepare himself for higher stages of spirituality is Tauba, to repent for his past sins and resolving not to repeat those mistakes. This is awakening from a state of unconsciousness. The wayfarer becomes alert and keeps an eye on his actions. However , if he is not committed to repenting for past sins and resolving to take care not to repeat them in the future, then he is not a true repentant. 
The next step after Tauba is renunciation of worldly possessions i.e. living in poverty. The real meaning of poverty is lack of desire for worldly possessions. The sense of possession is to be given up. Everything originates from God and He alone is the real owner of whatever exists. If he possesses something, he thinks himself to be the caretaker of that thing which is to be used for the benefit of all. In reality living a life of simplicity and contentment is living a life of poverty. 
After renunciation comes abstinence i.e. to control ones mind and to restrain it from indulging in sensuous pleasures against the dictates of scriptures. To do so people often adopt practices like observing fast, silence and solitude. Sufis, however, lay stress on the evolution of the inner-self and consider it more important than physical restraints. True repentance, Satsang, company of ones Master or other realised souls and receiving grace of the Master or Tavajjoh are considered more helpful. In the company of the Master, the seeker starts feeling that the knots of sensual pleasure hitherto tying his mind are loosening and their place is being taken over by the love for the Master or God. 
After this the wayfarer reaches the state of Tawakkul, the state of complete trust in God, and then to Raza, to live as God desires. Trust in God means complete dependence on God. As the Sufi saint Rabia has said it does not befit a devotee to look towards anyone else except God. One should have firm faith in Him. All that happens, happens according to His desire. With this firm faith, the seeker now learns to be thankful to the Almighty in whatever condition He keeps him. He learns to live according to the desire of the Almighty. Both sorrows and joys are considered to be His blessings. Reactions become dull and one starts accepting things as they are. Fully content the seeker now sees His grace in everything. The ego vanishes and the seeker now moves to the state of fana or annihilation , which is considered to be the end of the journey. 

SUFISM

Sufis believe in evolution of the individual into a complete person through experience and understanding . Their spirituality is reflected in their conduct and behaviour; it is not something external , but is part and parcel of their being. The individual is Gods highest creation, having knowledge and bliss, yet he is not perfect. Sufis make a conscious effort to evolve as perfect beings. The essence of Sufism lies in keeping to the right path and achieving perfection. Conforming to the outer form of religion is important only to the extent that it does not inhibit spiritual progress the real objective being to grow beyond religion, to understand the real meaning of religion and to realise the Truth by experience. 
Sufis consider spiritual training as a journey and the seeker as a wayfarer, passing through various stages and experiences . Although different Sufi Orders or Tariqats state them differently , most of them agree on the basic tenets. The first step for the wayfarer to prepare himself for higher stages of spirituality is Tauba, to repent for his past sins and resolving not to repeat those mistakes. This is awakening from a state of unconsciousness. The wayfarer becomes alert and keeps an eye on his actions. However , if he is not committed to repenting for past sins and resolving to take care not to repeat them in the future, then he is not a true repentant. 
The next step after Tauba is renunciation of worldly possessions i.e. living in poverty. The real meaning of poverty is lack of desire for worldly possessions. The sense of possession is to be given up. Everything originates from God and He alone is the real owner of whatever exists. If he possesses something, he thinks himself to be the caretaker of that thing which is to be used for the benefit of all. In reality living a life of simplicity and contentment is living a life of poverty. 
After renunciation comes abstinence i.e. to control ones mind and to restrain it from indulging in sensuous pleasures against the dictates of scriptures. To do so people often adopt practices like observing fast, silence and solitude. Sufis, however, lay stress on the evolution of the inner-self and consider it more important than physical restraints. True repentance, Satsang, company of ones Master or other realised souls and receiving grace of the Master or Tavajjoh are considered more helpful. In the company of the Master, the seeker starts feeling that the knots of sensual pleasure hitherto tying his mind are loosening and their place is being taken over by the love for the Master or God. 
After this the wayfarer reaches the state of Tawakkul, the state of complete trust in God, and then to Raza, to live as God desires. Trust in God means complete dependence on God. As the Sufi saint Rabia has said it does not befit a devotee to look towards anyone else except God. One should have firm faith in Him. All that happens, happens according to His desire. With this firm faith, the seeker now learns to be thankful to the Almighty in whatever condition He keeps him. He learns to live according to the desire of the Almighty. Both sorrows and joys are considered to be His blessings. Reactions become dull and one starts accepting things as they are. Fully content the seeker now sees His grace in everything. The ego vanishes and the seeker now moves to the state of fana or annihilation , which is considered to be the end of the journey. 

The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self & Relationship

looks beyond the notion of work-life balance to the triumphs and tragedies of human belonging in three crucial areas that most individuals simply can't avoid: in relationship, in work and in all those strange and inexplicable inner ways we belong to ourselves. It looks at what happens along with the way when we become more interesting: when we get out of the dynamics of self-entrapment and fall in love - with a person, a future, a work, or with a new sense of self.

Thinking of work, self and relationship as three marriages offers the possibility of living them out in a way in which they are not put into competition with one another, where each of the marriages can protect, embolden and enliven the others and help keep us mutually honest, relevant, authentic and alive.

Understanding the human need to belong - and expressing, fulfilling, and accommodating it throughout the recurring seasons in a life - has proven to be a central theme in all of Whyte's work. In The Three Marriages, the aclaimed poet-author explores this need in the dynamics of the three core relationships we all negotiate - that of the intimate other, that with work, and that with our self. They are separate yet interwoven life threads, capturing the need to belong to another, to belong to community, and to belong to something larger and deeper within ourselves. Each is vital, and neglecting any one weakens the others. But it's not simply about "balancing" them, Whyte warns. It's a bold lifelong adventure of keeping them in an open and honest conversation. When we allow these marriages to learn from and revitalize one another, we risk becoming vulnerable but we also open to a life that is "innocent, dangerous, and wonderful all at the same time."
                                                     - SHIFT Magazine, Spring 2009

An Excerpt from Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity by David Whyte

David Whyte's book is, as he puts it, "a midnight conversation" on the union of work and soul, yearning and satisfaction. Here is a cogent passage on how speed can become an obstacle to expressing the best that is in you.

"Speed in work has compensations. Speed gets noticed. Speed is praised by others. Speed is self-important. Speed absolves us. Speed means we don't really belong to any particular thing or person we are visiting and thus appears to elevate us above the ground of our labors. When it becomes all-consuming, speed is the ultimate defense, the antidote to stopping and really looking. If we really saw what we were doing and who we had become, we feel we might not survive the stopping and the accompanying self-appraisal. So we don't stop, and the faster we go, the harder it becomes to stop. We keep moving on whenever any form of true commitment seems to surface. Speed is also warning, a throbbing, insistent indicator that some cliff edge or other is very near, a sure diagnostic sign that we are living someone else's life and doing someone else's work. But speed saves us the pain of all that stopping; speed can be such a balm, a saving grace, a way we tell ourselves, in unconscious ways, that we are really not participating.

"The great tragedy of speed as an answer to the complexities and responsibilities of existence is that very soon we cannot recognize anything or anyone who is not traveling at the same velocity as we are. We see only those moving in the same whirling orbit and only those moving with the same urgency. Soon we begin to suffer a form of amnesia, caused by the blurred vision of velocity itself, where those germane to our humanity are dropped from our minds one by one. We start to lose sight of any colleagues who are moving at a slower pace, and we start to lose sight of the bigger, slower cycles that underlie our work. We especially lose sight of the big, unfolding wave form passing through our lives that is indicative of our central character. On the personal side, as slaves to speed, we start to lose sight of family members, especially children, or those who are ill or infirm, who are not flying through the world as quickly and determinedly as we are. Just as seriously, we begin to leave behind the parts of our own selves that limp a little, the vulnerabilities that actually give us color and character. We forget that our sanity is dependent on a relationship with longer, more patient cycles extending beyond the urgencies and madness of the office."

Crossing the Unknown Sea:Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity BY David Whyte

Maturity and energy in our work is not granted freely to human beings but must be adventured and discovered, cultivated and earned. It is the result of application, dedication, an indispensable sense of humor, and above all a never-ending courageous conversation with ourselves, those with whom we work, and those whom we serve. It is a long journey; it calls on both the ardors of youth and the perspectives of a longer view. It is achieved through a lifelong pilgrimage."

Whyte reveals many of the questions, crises, and turning points in his own search for meaningful work suited to his nature. He discusses his stint as a naturalist in the Galapagos Islands and the important role his ancestors have played in shaping the structure and form of his creative work. This emphasis upon our inheritance from those who have gone before us is quite impressive and convincing.

Whyte's use of pilgrimage imagery alludes to the importance of the soul and questing in finding our true vocation. Or as he puts it, "Seen in the light of a pilgrim's journey, work takes on a greater significance than merely paying the bills and keeping the ever present wolf from the door." The author spells out these amplified meanings of work with material on a sense of dedication, waking the giant inside ourselves, standing up to others, overcoming obstacles, incarnating passion, using our intuition, and being creative.

Whyte taps into the resources of poets such as William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Rainer Maria Rilke, Walt Whitman, and William Wordsworth as he unravels the yearning we have for work that we love. Crossing the Unknown Sea is a philosophical masterwork by an author who has hit high stride in his appreciation and honoring of fulfilling work as a spiritual practice.