In my corporate role, my preference for calm, kindness, and inner detachment is often misjudged as a lack of drive or ambition. I hope to transition fully to my creative venture over the next couple of years, but I struggle with how much energy to continue investing in my current job versus my passion. How do I discern the right moment to make this transition? Spiritually, how should I view the ambition to build something of my own, and is pouring full effort into a creative calling consistent with living a detached, grounded life?
You are on just the right track and it is a clear sign of an inner leading. Follow your heart’s intuition. It is leading you along the path of your swabhava and swadharma. Spirituality is not about detachment from work and action but from egoism and ambition. Detachment from the ego makes the action more powerful. Replacing ambition with the pursuit of excellence, for perfection is the spiritual way: yogaha karmasu Kaushalam, yoga is skill in works, as the Gita says. Only the work should be done in the spirit of nishkama karma as an offering to the Divine Mother, as a means of Her worship, in Her service rather than the usual motives of money and ambition.
Affectionately,
Alok da
